Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 07.197 May 14, 1998 The Mendele Companion to Gogl-Mogl 1) (Iosif Vaisman) 2) (Leon Rosenberg) 3) (Bernard Gershen) 4) (Feygl Infeld Glezer) 5) (Milton Stark) 6) (Harold L. Orbach) 7) (Izaly Zemtsovsky) 8) (Andrey Bredsteyn) 9) (Ruben Frankenstein) 10) (Leybl Yelgin) 11) (Michael Steinlauf) 12) (Marvin (Meyer) Engel) 13) (Shaya Mitelman) 14) (Rachel Juni) 15) (Sheva Zucker) 16) (Bernard I. Kouchel on behalf of 7 anonymous respondents) 17) (Leo Haber) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 16:46:40 -0400 (EDT) From: Iosif Vaisman Subject: gogl-mogl for the birthday party It came softly, at first, then louder, then very loud. But it was not the hiss of fire. It was more like the hiss of water. And now it became a gurgling sound: "Guggle! Guggle!" Gaston Leroux, Fantome de l'Opera I did not realize that an innocent question about gogl-mogl posted by Bernard Kouchel (and independently forwarded to Mendele by Dan Leeson from another forum) can open a real Pandora's box. Mendele has not seen such intensity of responces to a single query since the Great Davenen Debate. The diversity of pronunciations, etymologies, recipes, applications, and attitudes toward the drink stretches imagination. I have no doubts that shortly after this issue of Mendele will be delivered to more than 1,500 mailboxes, the refrigerator doors in many kitchens around the globe will open, milk, honey and eggs will travel to the tables and end up in the glasses of various shapes and sizes. On this sweet and cholesterol-rich note Mendele closes its seventh annual cycle. Let's raise our gogl-mogl glasses. Many happy returns of the day! Lekhaim! Iosif Vaisman, who has had his fair share of the yellow cocktail 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 20:55:56 -0700 From: leon t rosenberg Subject: guggle-muggle Without guarantee that the formula was universal: Guggle-muggle = hot milk(with the skim on it), honey, and a raw egg (which is left unbeaten to surprise the innocent victim as it slips down the throat). I doubt there is a sensible etymology. I think the name comes from the sound made by the poor gagging child who is tricked into drinking the concoction. Supposedly, there were those who drank it willingly, or even with pleasure. One exposure suffices to ruin all future egg nogs. leon rosenberg 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 00:03:32 -0400 From: gershen1@juno.com Subject: Guggle-muggle Re: Vol 07.194 item 7, Bernard Kouchel asks for the ingredients of a Guggle-muggle. I remember once having that concoction forced down my throat. As I recall it consisted of a raw egg mixed into milk. Probably a Jewish version of Egg-nog without the rum. My father came from Roumania and perhaps this is a cure of that country. Bernard Gershen 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 00:40:12 -0400 From: yiddish1@juno.com (Feigl I Glaser) Subject: GOGL MOGL Bay undz in Lodzh hot met dos gerufn a GOGL MOGL(nit gugl mugl) un gemakht hot men dos take vi a refuye ven me iz geven krank un me hot mikloymersht gevolt zikh bafrayen fun der farleygter flegme oder laykhter tsu makhn dem hust. Ikh hob zeyer lib gehat a Gogl Mogl azoy lang vi me hot nit arayngeton derin keyn vareme milkh. Faktish darf me oysteyln dos gelbl funem ey (on kholile hobn arayngemisht a bisl vaysl funem ey); Tsu dem darf men nit zayn mer spetsyalist, talantirt oder knaker vi ven men tseteylt di vayslekh fun di gelblekh baym greytn zikh tsu bakn a shvom oder shoym kukhn (sponge cake). Dan shit men arayn a sakh tsuker ("vos merer --vos ziser un beser") un me misht un misht un misht -- mit a gopl (elektrishe mishers zaynen dokh a relativ-naye derfindung), biz vanen es zaynen mer nito keyn zemdlekh funem tsuker un dos maykhl glitsht zikh mamesh arop durkh der kel. Itst darf men loytn ongenumenem derekh araynton heyse milkh, ober oyb ir hot zikh a bisl lib un zayt tsepyeshtshet (vi ikh bin geven), lozt dos nit araynton, vayl, loyt mir, iz es geshmaker on der milkh. Nu, hot a refuye shleyme. Agev, beys der bafrayung fun "gehenem oyf der erd", bin ikh geven in a kleyn shtetl in tsofn Daytshland. A daytshe mishpokhe hot shtark rakhmones gehat oyf mir (kh'bin geven unterdernert, krank un shvakh un tsu zekhtsn gevoygn 27 kg. Zey hobn mir gegebn "aheymtsunemen" -- a por eyer, a bisl farin (manne-tsuker) un a tepele milkh oyf tsu makhn a GOGL-MOGL (zey hobn dos andersh gerufn, ober fun dem vos zey hobn mir derklert, iz dos geven dos zelbe maykhl un di zelbe refuye). Dos bavayst az dos maykhl un rifuyezaynen oykh ongevendt gevorn durkh andere mames. Zayt ale gezunt, Ayer, Feygl Infeld Glezer 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 01:12:43 EDT From: MStark3643 Subject: guggle-muggle guggle-muggle is butter melted in hot milk, a sure cure Milton Stark 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 00:18:45 -0500 (CDT) From: Harold L Orbach Subject: "guggle-muggle" Bernard Kouchel (07.194) asks about "guggle-muggle." I leave it to the experts to fathom the etymology, but this _cure-all_ for ailments of the head, throat and chest as made in my family by my mother and tantas, all from the Lodz area of Poland, started with tea and hot milk in almost equal amounts to which was added a raw egg, honey, some spices (cinammon I recall) and a bisle bronfen like slivovitz. Served in a glass, like tea, it was usually dreadful (unless enough slivovitz was added) and was more like a purge than a cure. I hated it! The threat of a _guggle-muggle_ was almost enough to cure my ailments. Harold L. Orbach Manhattan, Kansas 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 23:24:28 -0800 From: zemtsov@socrates.berkeley.edu (Izaly Zemtsovsky) Subject: Guggle-muggle My family (from Belorussian Jewry, exactly Nevel of Vitebsk region) knows this name as "Gogol-mogol". The main word is "gogol" (like the last name of well-known Russian-Ukrainian writer, by the way) and second one is just a senseless paired rhyme to this word -- like in numerous children's verses and singing games. One has to check this paired word -- just in case -- in the famous Russian dictionary compiled by Vladimir Dal (unfortunately, this valuable book is not on my desk for the moment). The word might be even onomatopoeic. I never heard "guggle-muggle" but this sounds to me onomatopoeic as well. However, let us double check. Apropos, I myself used to prepare this delicious both remedy and delicacy in my childhood taking two yolks and energetically stirring them up with two table spoons of sugar -- as long as the mass becomes almost white and dense. Enjoy without getting ill! Izaly Zemtsovsky Berkeley, CA 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 12:22:58 +0400 From: "Andrey Bredstein" Subject: gogl-mogl In Mendele 07.194 fregt undser khaver Bernard Kouchel vegn "gogl-mogl". Ikh muz moyde zayn, az vibald ikh hob dos vort derzen, iz zikh teykef in mayn moyl tsegosn di amolike gogl-mogldike ziskayt un ikh bin gevorn breyter vi lenger - aza shlite hobn dokh af unds di zikhroynes fun di kindershe yorn. Mayn zeyde olevasholem iz geven an emeser boki in makhn gogl-mogl, take eyn berye af der velt. Er flegt nemen dray eyer, tseshlogn zey in a gloz un gebn a shtarkn drey mit a bazunder lefl. Dernokh hot er tsugegebn tsuker un oykh a min bsomim vos me nutst beshas oysbakn zisvarg. Zayn gogl-mogl iz geven shney-vays un azoy batamt, az ikh fleg aroysnemen fun gloz di letste tropns mitn finger - vayl mit a lefl lozt men dokh tsu fil af hefker! - un im oyslekn... Dos vort gogl-mogl iz faran in ukrainish (gogol-mogol) un bolgarish (gogal-mogal), avu es iz gekumen fun rusish (gogol-mogol). Der taytsh iz "a gelkhl fun an ey, ufgeshlogn mit tsuker un amol oykh mit rom." Heyst dos, az mayn zeyde o"sh hot gahat zayn eygenem nusekh - gelkhl mit vaysl tsuzamen. Inem verterbukh shteyt a bamerkung - dos vort shtamt fun daytsh "Gogel-Mogel" (khotsh mayn daytsher verterbukh farshvaygt aza vort). Der mekhaber funem rusishn etimologishn verterbukh (P. Ya. Tshernikh) halt, az "do hobn mir bli sofek tsu tun mit punkt aza gegramtn oysdruk fun a geredter shprakh vi "figli-migli" (vos shtamt, dakht zikh, fun poylish: "figle-migle"), "fokus-pokus" aa"v. Der tsveyter farshtarkungs-teyl hot keyn shum zelbst-batayt un es vert banutst bloyz tsulib dem gram". In di yidishe mekoyrim felt "gogl-mogl" oykh nit. In Vaynraykh hot ir: GOGL-MOGL der (en) - egg flip Der godl Harkavi git dem zelbikn taytsh: egg-flip (af hebreish: mezeg beytsim) un bamerkt, az dos iz a fargrayzt daytsh vort "Hoppel-Poppel". Andrey Bredsteyn Rusland, Moskve 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 10:39:35 +0200 (MET DST) From: Ruben Frankenstein Subject: guggle-muggle To cure the throat of Bernard I. Kouchel (07.194) I would suggest to mix hot milk, sugar, or better honey, egg yolk, liqueur and or rum. Harkavy lists it under "GOGL-MOGL" and translates it as an egg-flip and believes it stems from the German "Hoppel-Poppel" which means either: breakfast made from scrambled egg with ham and fried potatoes - that is of course the nonkosher version and a real "Goyim-Nakhes" - or: eggnog. Both Ben-Amotz/Ben-Yehuda (The World Dictionary of Hebrew Slang - Part Two) and even Even-Shoshan (4th Volume - supplement) list the word with different ingredients. The last supports the Harkavy etymology. Abi gezunt! Ruben Frankenstein 10)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 09:23:14 -0400 From: LOUIS_YELGIN@HP-Andover-om3.om.hp.com Subject: Guggle Muggle As a child, I remember being offered a guggle-muggle by my grandmother. I hated the concoction and would not wish it on anyone. However, the ingredients and directions were: beat the heck out of a few beaten eggs, honey and milk. Drink quickly. regards, Leybl Yelgin 11)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 14:25:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Michael Steinlauf Subject: goglmogl That's the way it was pronounced ba mir in der heym by my Warsaw father. My mother, also from Warsaw but whose main language was Polish, said gogelmogel. The drink consisted of warm milk mixed with honey and a raw egg yolk. Michael Steinlauf New York, N.Y. 12)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 14:29:49 -0400 From: marvin engel Subject: guggle-muggle Khaver Kouchel asks for the formula for guggle-muggle. I had one rather unhappy experience with this nostrum that nearly cost me my then very recent marriage. Be that as it may, my wife of over forty years provides the following account of my father-in-law's procedure: one egg yolk "rubbed" with sugar (lots) (She interprets this as a manditory lengthy process to try dissolving the sugar in the yolk.) add hot milk to fill one glass. (No, I have no idea why the sugar is rubbed before the milk is added) Drink! Marvin (Meyer) Engel 13)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 20:45:11 -0400 From: Serge Mitelman Subject: Gogl-mogl. I believe "gogl-mogl" comes from the Russian "gogol'-mogol'". And here's what the dictionaries say: Mordkhe Tsanin's "Fuler yidish-hebreisher verterbukh": (der) goglmogl (-en), translated into Hebrew as "gogl-mogl". Uriel Weinreich's "Modern yidish-eynglish verterbukh": (der) gogl-mogl (-en), translated into English as "egg flip". Nachum Stutchkoff's "Der oytser fun der yidisher shprakh"(p.227): gogl-mogl. "Rusish-yidisher verterbukh" (tsunoyfgeshtelt fun Moyshe Shapiro, Ruvn Lerner, Khayim Loytsker un Moyshe Maydansky; R ussky yazyk, Moscow, 1984): gogl-mogl (-s), menlekh, translated into Russian as "gogol'-mogol'". The variants, therefore, are goglmogl, gogl-mogl; and the plural forms - goglmoglen, gogl-moglen, and gogl-mogls. Now, "Russian-English Dictionary" (under the general direction of prof. A.I.Smirnitsky, Russky Yazyk Publishers, Moscow, 1990) translates Russian "gogol'-mogol'" into English as nothing other than "gogol-mogol", and explains: beaten-up eggs and sugar. S.I.Ozhegov's "Slovar' russkogo yazyka" (Dictionary of The Russian Language, Russky Yazyk, Moscow, 1986) reads: " gogol'-mogol' - syroy zheltok, styortyy s sakharom" (raw egg-yolk, ground out with sugar). Although linguistically gogl-mogl comes from Russian, it is made differently in the Russian and Jewish homes. Thus, Russian gogol'-mogol' is a delicacy, made from a beaten-up egg-yolk, ground out with sugar, and usually cacao powder and butter, with no remedial properties. On the contrary, the numerous naturalistic studies, performed by our bobes with the Jewish gogol'-mogol', have found it effective in both sore throat and common cold alike (second only to "a golden yakhele"). With gogl-mogl it takes only a week to recover, without it - 7 days. Double-blind studies of the matter are clearly warranted. And here comes the recipe, exactly as I hear it now in my head: Me nemt a geylekhl tsi tsvey, yn a tey-lefele piter mit a tey-lefele melets (oder an eslefl onyk) yn a olb tey-lefele sode. Me tserabt dus ingontsn zeyer git biz se vert git tsemisht. Me gist aran a bisl eyse milekh yn me misht iber nokhamul. Dergist men eyse milikh biz a file glyuz. Me misht es nokhamul iber yn me trinkt es us tsibislekh, m'zol nisht zikh upbrien. Zol akh voyl bakimen! Shaya Mitelman. 14)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 12:59:30 -0400 From: rachel g juni Subject: guggle-muggle My Baba made guggle-muggles (I am 75) so here is the old recipe for a sick adult: hot milk, tea, honey, and as much bronfen as will keep you sleeping a good while. Recipe for sick children: cold milk, egg, 3 scoops of ice cream , ginger ale all blended, and a kiss on the head. Recipe for a sick cat saucer of milk and 1 egg, mixed well and fed by spoonfuls to cat by worried children. Guaranteed success! Zayt gesund. Rachel Juni 15)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 16:44:53 EDT From: SCZUCKER Subject: Gogl-mogl, a sgule tsu romans I'm sure by now the electronic waves (or however this gets transmitted) are full of recipes for gogl-mogl as well as countless etymologies and pronunciations. I'd just like to add one anecdote. Years ago, when my husband and I were just a bokher un a meydl going out, I mentioned to him that I had a sore throat. He told me to try a gogl-mogl and told me how to make it -- a glass of warm milk, a raw egg, and some honey, I think. I was so impressed that he knew what a gogl-mogl was (since he was then not really a Yiddish speaker, I had not expected such pearls of folk wisdom) that my romantic ardor increased. I was thrilled to find that this professor from the South (naturally, transplanted from the North) was, as Annie Hall, (or was it her Bobbe Grammy Hall), would have said, "a real Jew." And so, reader, I married him. Sheva Zucker 16)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 22:46:59 -0400 From: Bernard Kouchel Subject: gogl-mogl: a compilation of replies My thanks to all who replied to my gogl-mogl query. No one seemed to know the origin of the term. One reader wrote that ex-Mayor Ed Koch talks about it on his radio show. Perhaps a New Yorker will phone him for his input. Attached below is a compilation of eight replies. I guess a gogl-mogl and a mustard plaster were the common home-remedies for a variety of ailments long ago. If those remedies didn't work, doctors could make house-calls, remember? Bernard I. Kouchel Q: "Guggle muggle" [gogl-mogl], was some sort of home remedy for sore throats, made by my bubby, long ago. Does anyone know the origin of the term, and perhaps the concoction's ingredients? [B. Kouchel] A1: I was practically raised on the darn things due to childhood illnesses. it is simply about 10 or 12 oz of hot milk, into which are added one egg yolk (just the yolk, and these days this could be hazardous to your health with all the bacterial problems!) a tablespoon of honey, and a slice of butter. Stir very well and drink/sip. BTW, these days, it is said that honey is not recommended for really young children, so even that is not a good idea if the idea is to help a child, consult a doctor first. The amounts of honey, butter, etc. are variable to taste. Neither I nor my parents (who are both 'old world' and made these for me all the time!) have any idea of the origin of the name, so I can't help you on that part. [BG] A2: My cousin who is from Lithuania used to make this concoction for his kids. The three of them managed to survive without salmonellosis or honey-osis. Neither of the two of you indicate where in Europe your family-members came from, who are responsible for inflicting guggle-muggle on you. Could they also have been from Lithuania? Or did the term have wider use? {RG] A3: Gogl-mogl - Egg-flip. a strong drink mixed with eggs and naft. ("naft" = Petroleum). (Yiddish-english-hebrew dictionary, by Alexander Harkavy [y7] [I wonder what 'petroleum' was used, perhaps mineral oil???[BK]] A4: I remember as a child being forced to drink this horrid concoction. At best it contained a raw egg ypolk, sugar and milk. To add high octane to it they sometimes added chicken fat. Remember kashrith can be suspended in case of illness [YbL] A5: I too remember my mother making goggle-moggle for sore throats. I have searched in vain for a recipe (particularly in her own collection). To the best of my recollection, it was made with cocoa (or bitter chocolate), honey, & butter. I have no idea what else went into it or in what proportions. It was refrigerated, but seemed to have the consistency of apple butter. [AS] A6: I spoke with my mother ... and was told that her mother and my father would take milk-eggs-honey and mix together for a sore throat. By the way the ex-Mayor of New York Ed Koch talks about it on his daily radio show. [ZM] A7: If I am not mistaken this was a concoction of cod liver oil and chocolate syrup. My father would take me to the druggistnik to make a guggle muggle when I was constipated or just had the blahs. That's a long time ago. [BK2] 17)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 23:30:47 -0400 From: Leo Haber Subject: The Survey [Moderator's note: the following text is the beginning of a wonderful story by Leo Haber. The story was published in Serpentine (vol 2, no 1, Jan 1998, http://www.serpentinia.com/latest_issue/ss_3.htm) - don't miss it! -i.v.] The Survey I came down with a heavy bronchial cough one year to the day after my Bar Mitzvah and on the very day that my mother went to the hospital to give birth to her third child, a baby girl, my little sister. My father tended to me in her absence. When on the third day of my illness the cough hadn't disappeared in spite of my taking medicine prescribed by a doctor, my father took matters into his own hands. He put together a concoction that his own parents had given him when he was a child: the yellow of eggs, one squeezed lemon, one spoon of honey, and two or three teaspoons of sugar, all mixed together and taken down as if I were drinking a milkshake or an egg cream in the candy store downstairs. Unlike all other medicines, this tasted fine. In fact, I made note of the ingredients so that I could put all that stuff together for myself secretly, even when I didn't have a cold. "What is it called?" I asked my father. "In our shtetl in Galicia and in Russia, an uggle-muggle," he said. "In Rumania, a guggle-muggle. In France, a chateau, but what do they know." "What is it supposed to do?" I asked hoarsely. "With God's help," my father said, "it's supposed to break up the phlegm and clean your throat out." [...] Leo Hager ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 07.197 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu Mendele on the Web: http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html