"Wayne Harrison" wrote in message
r.com...

"Wolfgang" wrote

Calamatas are a type of olive. You'd like 'em.......they taste like
deep
fried wild turkey.

um, knowing your love of accuracy in all things, the proper spelling
is
"kalamata".

Yep, that's the way the Greeks spell it.....well, mostly.....here in the
U.S., anyway. I'm not real familiar with the Greek language but I do know
they've got a funky alphabet of their own. It wouldn't surprise me much to
learn that the word looks a lot different back in the old country. At any
rate, as others have noted, the "C" spelling is also widely accepted, and
theat's the one I first encountered when I discovered the treat described by
the name. Despite a fairly large Greek community here in Milwaukee, you
tend to see the "C" spelling more frequently than the "K".....doubtless, in
part, because the popularity of the olive has spread far beyond the Greek
community, though I have no idea where the variant spelling came from in the
first place. I get mine mostly from non-Greek stores simply because there
are more of them conveniently located. At the annual fair sponsored by and
held on the grounds of the large Greek orthodox church less than a mile from
here, the food vendors sidestep the orthography problem neatly by simply
advertising their wares as "olives" or "Greek olives". As the Greeks
produce other types of olives, this would naturally lead to some confusion
except that the K(C)alamatas are the only ones they sell there.

Anyway, I plead force of habit. Besides, I think that Mr. Conner's
characterization of the "C" spelling as a *******ization is a bit
harsh......um.....if I understand him correctly....please stand by while I
consult with Messrs. Flesch and Kincaide, or whatever the hell their names
are.

yfitons
wayno (i didn't spend 25 years with a greek girl for nothin!)

Yeah, I'll bet a shiny new nickel it cost you plenty.

Wolfgang