"Mutton meat" "the oldest"

[Rachel Adams]

Is "meat" unnecessary after "mutton" and should I use "the oldest" or "the eldest"?

"A ram head was the most unusual food I have ever tasted. It is served with mutton meat. The head is given to the oldest person. It is named Beshpaemak."

A friend from Kazakhstan told me about this dish and I used it in my answer to the question "What is the most unusual food you have ever eaten?" It is from the book "Reading Challenge" by Casey Malarcher and Andrea Jansen.

 

[teechar]

Is "meat" unnecessary after "mutton"

No. "Mutton" already incorporates the meaning of meat. It's no different from beef, lamb, pork, venison, etc,

and should I use "the oldest" or "the eldest"?

You can use either.

"A ram's head [STRIKE]was[/STRIKE] is the most unusual food I have ever tasted. It is served with mutton. [STRIKE]meat.[/STRIKE] The head is given to the oldest person. [STRIKE]It is named[/STRIKE] The/That dish is called Beshpaemak."

A friend from Kazakhstan told me about this dish, and I used it in my answer to the question "What is the most unusual food you have ever eaten?" It is from the book "Reading Challenge" by Casey Malarcher and Andrea Jansen.

 

[Rover_KE]

Delete 'meat'.

You can use either the oldest or the eldest.

(Cross-posted and agreeing with teechar)

 

[Rachel Adams]

No. "Mutton" already incorporates the meaning of meat. It's no different from beef, lamb, pork, venison, etc,


You can use either.

Can I say "The most unusual food in my life was.." instead of "I have ever tasted"?

 

[Rachel Adams]

Delete 'meat'.

You can use either the oldest or the eldest.

(Cross-posted and agreeing with teechar)

Are they always or perhaps it is better to say "usually" interchangeable?

 

[teechar]

Can I say "The most unusual food in my life was.." instead of "I have ever tasted"?

Use "I have ever tasted". It's more natural.

 

[teechar]

Are they always or perhaps it is better to say "usually" interchangeable?

Rover_KE did not say that they are always interchangeable. Anyhow, "oldest" should work in lieu of "eldest" in most contexts.

 

[Rover_KE]

Use 'eldest' only for people in a group.

Click here for more examples.

The same goes for 'elder'.

 

[Tdol]

And, no offence, that is not a good example of unusual or extreme food.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Rover_KE did not say that they are always interchangeable. Anyhow, "oldest" should work in lieu of "eldest" in most contexts.

Why is it wrong to use "was" in my sentence instead of "is" after "head".
"A ram's head is the most unusual food I have ever tasted. It is served with mutton."

 

[emsr2d2]

Use "is" because "I have ever tasted" includes the present time. So, so far, it is the most unusual thing you have ever eaten. It allows for the possibility that you will eat something more unusual in the future. To use "was", you'd need a different sentence. For example:

Until last week, a ram's head was the strangest thing I had ever eaten, but on Tuesday my friend dished up boiled pig's testicles in a pineapple and avocado sauce!

 

[Rover_KE]

Yeeuch! What a disgusting, stomach-churning sauce to serve with those delicacies!:-|

 

[Tdol]

Yeah- leave the pineapple off pizzas and testicles.