tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jul 11 03:00:41 2006
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Klingon WOTD: qagh (noun)
This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Tuesday, July 11, 2006.
Category: Food
Klingon word: qagh
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: serpent worm (as food)
Source: TKD-A (183 KE, 190 EK)
Swedish: ormmask (som mat), ~gagh~
Additional Notes:
KGT p. 86. Perhaps the most representative Klingon food, certainly the one best known outside of the Empire, is [gagh] (or, in Klingon, {qagh}): serpent worms in a thick sauce (called {ghevI'}). Prior to the preparation of this dish, the worms are fed only {'Iw puj} ("diluted blood"; literally, "weak blood"), which the worms find unappetizing and therefore consume only when they are nearly starving. (The type of animal from which the blood has been taken has a great deal of influence on the eventual flavor of the {qagh}, and individual cooks, as well as individual eaters, have their own preferences.) As the final step in preparing the dish, the worms are poured into a bowl filled with the {ghevI'} (sauce), which contains, among other ingredients, pellets of an extremely flavorful herb that the hungry worms quickly ingest, even though it is toxic to them and kills them within minutes. Since {qagh} is considered best if consumed while the worms are still alive, it is important to keep the worms out of the sauce until just before the dish is to be served. For the same reason, it is customary to eat {qagh} as quickly as possible. If, for some reason, the {qagh} cannot be consumed before they all die, the entire mixture of {qagh} and {ghevI'} is saved and later heated up as a sort of stew (the general term for which is {tlhIq}; thus, {qagh tlhIq} may be translated as "{qagh} stew"). Although not as desirable as live {qagh}, this is a comon way to serve leftovers.
Homonyms:
qagh (verb) - interrupt
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