Slumgullion Stew a Historical Mystery

Gullion is a surname. Unfortunately:

  1. The meaning of GULLION is a vile worthless person.
    Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

    ​

    I think slumgullion was a way to use up leftovers instead of throwing them out.

 
I don't mind a decent stew and let us be honest it is what I would call peasant food. It reminds me of the stone soup story. Finding what you have and making a meal out of it.

You have Irish stew, beef stew etc. It makes the meat go further and in large families that is very welcome. If the meat breaks up after long slow cooking, it makes you think you are getting more than you are. It also uses the cheapest cuts of meat.

I would intensely dislike having my stew flavoured with blood or cooked in a stomach like paunch. Sounds disgusting, even the name sounds disgusting. It reminds me of tripe the stomach linings which no one should ever be forced to eat, as we were. Nothing makes that taste nice.

But I must admit I have never heard of slumgullion before. That is a new word to add to the list of words I have never heard of or used.
 
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balshan said:
I don't mind a decent stew and let us be honest it is what I would call peasant food. It reminds me of the stone soup story. Finding what you have and making a meal out of it.

You have Irish stew, beef stew etc. It makes the meat go further and in large families that is very welcome. If the meat breaks up after long slow cooking, it makes you think you are getting more than you are. It also uses the cheapest cuts of meat.

I would intensely dislike having my stew flavoured with blood or cooked in a stomach like paunch. Sounds disgusting, even the name sounds disgusting. It reminds me of tripe the stomach linings which no one should ever be forced to eat, as we were. Nothing makes that taste nice.

But I must admit I have never heard of slumgullion before. That is a new word to add to the list of words I have never heard of or used.
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Whoa! I remember that in fifth grade my friend invited me to dinner and my mother gave me permission. I was never allowed to invite anyone to dinner at our house. So we sat down to kidney stew. I was scared. I kept watching Ellen. She wasn't taking a bite of kidneys. I feared doing it. Finally her mother said, "Okay, girls. You don't have to eat the kidneys."

WHEW!
 
Janice Bower said:
Whoa! I remember that in fifth grade my friend invited me to dinner and my mother gave me permission. I was never allowed to invite anyone to dinner at our house. So we sat down to kidney stew. I was scared. I kept watching Ellen. She wasn't taking a bite of kidneys. I feared doing it. Finally her mother said, "Okay, girls. You don't have to eat the kidneys."

WHEW!
Click to expand...
I love beef pie but did not like steak and kidney pie. My husband loved it. But even as a child the kidney flavour destroyed the whole pie in my opinion.
 
Janice Bower said:
Whoa! I remember that in fifth grade my friend invited me to dinner and my mother gave me permission. I was never allowed to invite anyone to dinner at our house. So we sat down to kidney stew. I was scared. I kept watching Ellen. She wasn't taking a bite of kidneys. I feared doing it. Finally her mother said, "Okay, girls. You don't have to eat the kidneys."

WHEW!
Click to expand...
I will add I never wanted to invite anyone home. My husband was shocked the first time he met my mob. I remember a previous boy friend who rang me on the phone and got my father, he said in future I needed to ring him. He was immediately given his marching orders. I had to face my father every day, why would I want someone who could not handle the heat.
 
balshan said:
I will add I never wanted to invite anyone home. My husband was shocked the first time he met my mob. I remember a previous boy friend who rang me on the phone and got my father, he said in future I needed to ring him. He was immediately given his marching orders. I had to face my father every day, why would I want someone who could not handle the heat.
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I don't think I ever received phone calls. I was afraid of my parents displeasure.
 
balshan said:
I love beef pie but did not like steak and kidney pie. My husband loved it. But even as a child the kidney flavour destroyed the whole pie in my opinion.
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I ate beef liver and didn't feel squeamish about it. But to this day I don't know what kidneys taste like. Germans make blood pudding (not a dessert) but I won't try it.
 
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