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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Blackening

Blacken \Black"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blackened; p. pr. & vb. n. Blackening.] [See Black, a., and cf. Black, v. t. ]

  1. To make or render black.

    While the long funerals blacken all the way.
    --Pope.

  2. To make dark; to darken; to cloud. ``Blackened the whole heavens.''
    --South.

  3. To defame; to sully, as reputation; to make infamous; as, vice blackens the character.

    Syn: To denigrate; defame; vilify; slander; calumniate; traduce; malign; asperse.

Wiktionary
blackening

n. The act of turning black in colour; a black stain or mark. vb. (present participle of blacken English)

WordNet
blackening

n. changing to a darker color [syn: darkening]

Wikipedia
Blackening (cooking)

Blackening is a cooking technique used in the preparation of fish and other foods. Often associated with Cajun cuisine, this technique was popularized by chef Paul Prudhomme. The food is dipped in melted butter and then dredged in a mixture of herbs and spices, usually some combination of thyme, oregano, chili pepper, peppercorns, salt, garlic powder and onion powder. It is then cooked in a very hot cast-iron skillet.

The characteristic brown-black color of the crust results from a combination of browned milk solids from the butter and charred spices.

While the original recipe calls for redfish, the same method of preparation can be applied to other types of fish and other protein sources, such as steak or chicken cutlets.

Blackening

Blackening, Blackened, or Blacken may refer to:

  • Blacken (basin), a basin in Lake Mälaren in Sweden
  • Blackened (song), a 1988 Metallica song
  • Blackening (chemistry) or black oxide, a conversion coating for ferrous materials
  • Blackening (cooking), a cooking technique commonly used in the preparation of fish
  • Blackening (Scottish wedding custom), performed in the days or weeks prior to marriages in Scotland
  • The Blackening, a 2007 album by thrash metal band Machine Head
Blackening (Scottish wedding custom)

Blackening is a traditional wedding custom performed in the days or weeks prior to marriages in rural areas of Scotland.

The bride and/or groom are 'captured' by friends and family, covered in food, or a variety of other - preferably adhesive - substances, then paraded publicly for the community to see. Frequently, the couple are driven in the back of an open-backed truck, accompanied by the clattering and banging of pots and pans by the couple's 'captors'. There are no strict rules regarding the act of blackening itself, only that the couple must be rendered messy and uncomfortable, and that as many people as possible should witness the occasion.

Blackenings occur predominantly in rural areas of north-east Scotland, the Highlands and the Northern Isles. The origins of the custom are obscure, however PhD researcher, Sheila Young of the Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen has shown that the blackening has evolved from an earlier Scottish ritual called the feet-washing. There is uncertainty surrounding just when it began, but it probably started as a solemn washing ritual for both men and women on the eve of their wedding and included a blackening of the feet and legs by the early 19th century. A little later, it had developed into a kind of a game, with the legs and feet being alternately blackened and scrubbed clean, and then by the end of the 19th century early 20th century escape, capture, tar and feathering, and pillorying had become part of the ritual. In order for this to happen the ritual had to move out of doors. The move out of doors appears to have coincided with a change in wedding practices, with more people marrying in the summer months. A ritual, which began as a washing ceremony, developed into a dirtying ceremony. It is probable then, that a change in the form of the ritual led to a change in name. The blackening's roots are Scottish, though a similar practice, called a doing, is to be found in Northern Ireland.

Usage examples of "blackening".

These cases of the simultaneous darkening or blackening of the glands from the action of weak solutions are important, as they show that all the glands absorbed the carbonate within the same time, which fact indeed there was not the least reason to doubt.

The first effect of the carbonate and of certain other salts of ammonia, as well as of some other fluids, is the darkening or blackening of the glands.

They turned away from the bodies curling up in the flames, from the bloody flesh blackening and cracking, and they vomited into the snow.

There were dead men and women in the streets, their bodies blackening in the growing firestorm.

There were thousands of them, blackening the sky, one-man sleds with souped-up engines for more speed, armed to the teeth with bolted-down energy guns and heavy projectile weapons, with long ribbons of bullets.

A gout of fire bloomed in the heaving mass of rats, blackening and roasting scores of the creatures.

Tramps or ex-soldiers passing through town had scattered trash through the rooms and built unconfined cook fires on the hearths, blackening the walls and scorching the ceilings.

He pointed to a broken-backed ruin which stood on the point of land that jutted out onto the waters of the lake, a crumbling structure slowly blackening with time.

On the latter, oddly enough, were still his grimy boots, blackening the white sheets on which they rested.

Beyond his pain for Lizzie, and his distress at the blackening of her reputation, he, too, missed the McGillivrays, missed the joy and comfort of suddenly being part of a large, exuberant family, after so many years of loneliness.

Party-Size Cubelets, all four legs dog-paddling uselessly, the dark surface of the lawn blackening in a pulsing curve before its jaws that open and close.

Over the surface of Hova, the blackening moved like some colossal paintbrush.

The garden is no longer green with fruits and flowers--the festoons no longer grace the lowly portals--the white palings are down and blackening in the gloomy mould--the roofs have fallen, and silence dwells lonely among the ruins,--the only inhabitant of the place.

His forearms showed a strange pattern of blood stains, barbed and striped, the blood blackening and seeming to seep into his skin.

But liberals could at least hope to redeem the Democratic Party by dedicating themselves to rewriting history and blackening reputations.