Spices (final)

More than you ever wanted to know about brassicas, which include mustard, horseradish, wasabi, rapeseed, broccoli, cauliflower, turnip, radish, and cabbage. 

• Mustard comes from three plants: black mustard, brown Indian mustard, and white mustard. (Not sure why it's called white mustard when both the flowers and seeds are yellow.)
• The earliest reference to mustard is from India in the 5th century BCE. When a mother loses her only son, she takes his body to the Buddha to find a cure. The Buddha asks her to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a family that has never lost a child, husband, parent or friend. When the mother is unable to find such a house in her village, she realizes that death is common to all, and she cannot be selfish in her grief.  (Mustard seeds are also mentioned in the New Testament and the Quran.)
• The Romans mixed grape juice (known as "must") with ground mustard seeds (called sinapis) to make mustum ardens — "burning must" — hence "must ard"
• Dijon, France, became recognized for mustard by the 13th century. In 1777, one of the most famous Dijon mustard makers, Maurice Grey, started making mustard with white wine, called Grey-Poupon.  It was the first mustard to use automatic machines.
• The use of mustard on hot dogs was first seen at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, when the bright-yellow French's mustard was introduced.  (George French actually thought of his mustard as a salad dressing.)  The bright yellow is from turmeric.
  
• Powdered mustard lacks any potency; it must be soaked in water to develop its heat.
• Mustard does not need to be refrigerated, but will retain its flavor and spiciness much longer if it is.
• Horseradish is poisonous to horses.  (Oh, the irony.)
• In the west, wasabi is often referred to as "Japanese horseradish." In Japan, horseradish is referred to as "western wasabi."  Wasabi and horseradish are different species.
• Wasabi is difficult to cultivate, which makes it quite expensive, so a common substitute is a mixture of horseradish, mustard, starch and green food coloring.  Real wasabi is darker and more coarse than the powder-made paste, and isn't nearly so astringent and head-searing.
  
• Rapeseed oil was produced in the 19th century as a lubricant for steam engines, but was not used for food because of its bitter taste and contained more than 50% erucic acid, a known toxin. Varieties were developed with a better taste and less than 2% erucic acid.  One strain, bred in the 1970s at the University of Manitoba, Canada, was labelled "Can.O., L-A." for Canadian Oilseed, Low-Acid.  The name was trademarked, but soon become generic (like Xerox, Kleenex, and Band-Aid).
  
• In 1998, a disease- and drought-resistant strain of canola was produced by genetic engineering. In 2011, 96% of canola crops were genetically modified.
  
• The noun rape comes from the Latin word "rapum," meaning turnip. The verb rape comes from the French raper, "to seize, abduct,"
• The rapeseed blossom is a major source of nectar for honeybees.  The state of Oregon prohibits it from being grown in three counties for fear it will attract wild bees away from crops such as carrots, which require bees for pollination.
  

Spices (cont.)

• Black peppercorns are actually the cooked and dried fruit (with seed) of a flowering vine. White pepper are the seeds with the fruit removed.  (Salt is a mineral, not a spice.)
  
• in the Victorian era, the term "pepper" become synonymous with "spirit" but has since been shortened to "pep" (as in a pep talk).  When Christopher Columbus first encountered spicy fruits in the New World, he called them "peppers" after the spice.
  
• Paprika is made by drying and grinding bell peppers or chili peppers.  Cayenne pepper is the same.  Chili powder is usually a mixture of paprika and other spices.
• Carobs are a legume, like peas, and the seeds -- known as locust beans for some reason -- are used as animal feed, while the pods are dried and crushed to make an imitation chocolate.  Locust bean gum is often used as a thickening agent in food.
  
• The term "carat" is from an ancient practice in the Middle East of weighing gold and gemstones against the seeds of the carob tree.  In late Roman times, the pure gold coin known as the "solidus" weighed 24 carat seeds (about 4.5 grams). As a result, the carat also became a measure of purity for gold. Thus 24-carat gold means 100% pure, while 18-carat gold means the alloy contains 75% gold
• Celery seeds are actually the fruit of the plant. In the UK, a different variety of celery is also grown for its root, which is called celeriac and is used in the same way as celery stalks but lasts much longer.
• Chicory roots are baked, ground, and used as a coffee substitute or additive, especially in New Orleans. Other varieties of chicory are grown for their leaves, and are known as Radicchio or Belgian endive.
• Dill seeds are what create dill pickles. (Duh.)  Pickling is a method of preserving food by storing it in an acid solution, such as vinegar, and adding antimicrobial herbs and spices, such as mustard seed, garlic, cinnamon or cloves.* (I should note that the term "pickle" is actually a 16th century Dutch word meaning brine; before that, a pickle was a mixture of fruits, vegetables, and spices served as an accompaniment.)
  
• The flowers of Sambucus nigra are used to produce elderflower cordial, very popular in the UK.
• The phytochemicals responsible for the sharp flavor of garlic are produced when the plant's cells are damaged, and are a defense mechanism to deter animals from eating the plant. (Oh, the irony...)
• Traditionally, safflower was grown for its seeds, used for colouring and flavouring foods, and making red and yellow dyes. Safflower dyes have been identified in Egypt c. 2000 BCE. It is only in the last fifty years the plant has been cultivated mainly for vegetable oil.
• The use of marshmallow to make a sweet dates back to ancient Egypt. The stem was peeled back to reveal the soft and spongy pith, which was boiled in sugar syrup and dried to produce a soft, chewy confection.  In the early 19th century, French confectioners extracted the marshmallow sap and whipped it with sugar to make a confection similar to modern marshmallow. In the late 19th century, French manufacturers began using egg whites or gelatin, along with corn starch, to create the chewy base.  In 1948 an American patented a fully automated machine to make marshmallows which extruded them into cylindrical shapes. Since gelatin is made from animal collagen, most marshmallows are not vegetarian.
• Annatto is extracted from the flesh around the seed of the achiote trees. (Think pomegranate seeds.) This yellow to orange food coloring is used in cheese (e.g., Cheddar, Velveeta), and margarine.  In the 16th century, high levels of carotene in the grass during the summer months would have given the milk an orange color which was carried through into the cheese. This orange hue was regarded as an indicator of the best cheese, so inferior cheese was dyed with annatto. In the UK, yellow cheese is now considered inferior.
• Oil from the dried root bark of the sassafras tree was a primary ingredient in root beer until the FDA banned it as carcinogenic.  Today, however, it is a precursor for the manufacture of MDMA (ecstasy).
• Turmeric is a rhizome, like ginger, and in fact they are part of the same family. (Cardamom is part of the same family, but it is the seeds that are used.)
• For longer-term storage, ginger can be placed in a plastic bag and refrigerated or frozen.
• After saffron, the most expensive spices by weight today are vanilla and cardamom.

Badger cull

After 4 years in England I've still not seen a live badger (although I've seen quite a few roadkill) and if the government has its way, I may never see one.

That's because badgers carry bovine tuberculosis, and last year 26,000 cattle in England had to be slaughtered after contracting the disease.

A nine-year trial showed the spread of the disease could be slowed *slightly* if more than 70% of badgers in an area were eradicated. But it also found that if less than 70% were killed, the spread of TB could *increase*. (I don't understand it, I'm just reporting it.)

The alternative is to vaccinate the badgers, which is only 50% to 60% effective. The Welsh government opted to vaccinate while the English decided to cull. (Scotland is officially TB-free.)

Needless to say, there was a huge public outcry against the cull, leading to at least two years (and no doubt millions of taxpayer pounds) in legal challenges, but the court finally gave the go-ahead this year in two counties.

Except now there's a problem: It appears badger numbers are higher in Gloucestershire and Somerset than previously thought. A government spokesman said, "It would be wrong to go ahead if those on the ground cannot be confident of removing at least 70% of the population."

Brian May, guitarist for Queen who has campaigned against the cull, said, "Let's be very clear: this is a scientifically flawed, ethically reprehensible, economically unjustifiable and reckless policy that needs to be abandoned, once and for all."

The government insists it will do the cull next year.

Spices

I recently had the pleasure of home-made chai tea: Tea with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and fennel seeds. It was delicious, but it was also the first time I'd used cinnamon sticks, and it was pretty obvious it was...tree bark. That got me reading about other spices, and some interesting facts:

• A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance primarily used for flavouring, colouring or preserving food.  (Herbs are the leaves.)
• The spice trade was always lucrative, and made many port cities (such as Venice and Alexandria) exceedingly rich.  In the 15th century, the Europeans sought to circumvent the normal land routes, driving the trans-global sailings (and incidentally, the discovery of the New World).
• The Maluku (or "Spice") islands in Indonesia originally accounted for all nutmeg and clove trees in the world.  In Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries, cloves were worth their weight in gold.
• So valuable was nutmeg during the 16th century, the Dutch traded their interest in the New World with one of the Spice Islands from the British, to gain a monopoly on nutmeg trees. (The British promptly renamed "New Amsterdam" to "New York.")
• In the 17th century, The French and British both smuggled nutmeg seeds from the Spice Islands to their colonies in Mauritius and Granada and started successful plantations, bringing prices down significantly.
  
• Like most nut tress, the nutmeg fruit consists of a casing (or "rind") which encloses the nutmeg seed.  In addition, the seed has a reddish lave covering, which is mace. (See photo.)
• Cloves are the dried flower buds of an evergreen tree.
  
• Apiaceae is a group of aromatic plants with hollow stems, and includes anise, caraway, carrot, celery, chervil, coriander/cilantro, cumin, dill, fennel, hemlock, parsley, and parsnip.
• In the UK, coriander refers to the leaves or seeds of Coriandrum sativum. Cilantro is the Spanish word for coriander. However, the US has confused the two, and refers to the leaves as cilantro and the seeds as coriander.  The plant is native to the Near East and southern Europe.
• The ancient Greeks kept ground cumin at the dining table, much like pepper is today
• Caraway "seeds" are actually its fruit.
• Licorice (UK "liquorice")  is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra plant, which is a legume (related to beans and peas). In the US, only "black licorice" is made from licorice extract; red licorice isn't licorice at all.
• Cinnamon is obtained from the inner bark of several trees. "True cinnamon" is native to Sri Lanka; however, the more common cinnamon is from the cassia tree, also known as "Chinese cinnamon."  Cinnamon bark is one of the few spices that can be consumed directly.
• Allspice is the dried unripe berries of Pimenta dioica, . The English thought it combined the flavour of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
• Chocolate is produced from the fermented seed of the cacao tree, native to Mexico, and has been cultivated since 1100 BC. (Unfortunately the Aztecs didn't know about sugar.)  Today Western Africa produces almost two-thirds of the world's cocoa, with the Ivory Coast growing almost half of it.
• In the 19th century, John Cadbury developed an emulsification process to make solid chocolate, creating the modern chocolate bar.
• Vanilla is derived from an orchid, primarily from Mexica, which the Aztecs also cultivated.
• Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus. Each crocus bears up to four flowers, and each flower has three stigmas, which are then dried. Today, Iran accounts for 90% of the world production of saffron. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world.
• Coffee is made from the roasted seeds of the Coffea plant. Coffee's energizing effect was probably first discovered in Ethiopia, but coffee cultivation first took place in southern Arabia.  The first evidence of coffee drinking in the 15th century.
• Fenugreek seeds are often used in Indian food, but also for flavoring artificial maple syrup.
  

Diamond Jubilee city

Last year I mentioned Reading (pop 370,000) was a town, not a city. That's because in the UK, the title of 'city' is an honorific given by the Crown, and has nothing to do with population size. In fact, one city has less than 2,000 residents! For the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, 3 towns were given city status, one in England, Wales, and Scotland. Sadly, Reading was not selected; Chelmsford (pop. 120,000), in Essex, was. It will likely be many years before the opportunity comes up again; the last time was in 2002 for the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

By the way, London is not a city, but it contains two of them: the City of London (pop. 7,000) and City of Westminster (pop.108,000)
If you want to understand more about this bizarre situation, watch this fantastic video:

-our

As you know, words like colour, flavour, harbour, honour, humour, labour, neighbour, rumour are spelled differently in the US and the UK.  Oddly, most of these words were spelled -or or -ur until 1066, at which point the French Normans changed the spelling to -our.  Of course, that was 500 years before Columbus re-discovered the Americas, so it is only coincidence that Americans switched back to the "original" spelling, and primarily due to Noah Webster whose 1828 dictionary was less a reflection of current spelling and more a political statement about becoming distinct from the English empire.

Of course, it isn't so simple.  Words like contour, velour, paramour and troubadour retain the u in the US, while words like chancellor, ambassador, emperor, governor, inferior, error, horror, mirror, tenor, terror, and tremor have lost the u in the UK.  America keeps the u in glamour but not in glamorous. Saviour is common in the US. Space Shuttle Endeavour has a u in it as it was named after Captain Cook's ship, HMS Endeavour. 

In the UK, the u is kept in neighbourhood, favourite, and honourable but dropped in honorary, invigorate, and laborious. The u is kept in  humourless but dropped in humorous.  Pearl Harbor is spelled without a u in Britain. "Savory" is an herb similar to sage, and is spelled the same in the US and UK, but the adjective savoury and verb savour have a u in the UK. An arbor (tree) is different than arbour (shelter).

Most interesting of all, though, is that honor is used at the end of the United States Declaration of Independence, even though the US was a colony and long before Webster had his say:

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

However, it seems to be a typo--in Jefferson's original draft it is spelled honour!

(Thanks, Wikipedia -- or is it Wikipædia?)

More English expressions

I haven't done this for awhile, although I should--Even four years on, I still hear new phrases, and if I don't write them down I will forget them.  So new phrases I've heard in the past week:

"Good innings" (as in "he had a good innings") -- a long and good life.  (In cricket, as in baseball, an "innings" is the time one team is at bat.)

"Hang fire" (as in "hang fire until tomorrow") -- the delay between pulling the trigger and the bullet firing.  Generally, this delay is not noticeable, but if there is a problem with the powder then it might be a few seconds -- just long enough for someone to open the gun and get a shattered bullet to the face.  This expression just means to wait for a while.

damp squib (as in, "Well that was a damp squib") -- a squib is a small explosive, similar to dynamite, that miners used to break coal from the rock.  If it got wet, it wouldn't ignite--hence a "damp squib" is anything that doesn't meet expectations. More interestingly, however, is that the film industry started using squibs to simulate explosions, and then switched to compressed gas as it was safer -- but referred to that as a "squib" as well.  Now squib is  a term for anything that expels gas quickly -- including the mechanism is an air bag. :-)

In a fug -- almost self-explanatory, a "fug" is a hot, stale, or suffocating atmosphere, and "in a fug" is feeling poorly.

totally chocka -- from the term "chock-a-block" meaning completely full.  (I love when idioms give rise to other idioms.)  While its origins are unclear, "chock" seems to come from the term "choke" and was used to indicate when a port was so full, nobody could move. The "block" refers to block and tackle, when a sail was raised to its fullest extent there was no more free rope and the blocks would jam tightly together.

Compassion fatigue -- Not an British expression at all, I first heard this one from Aung San Suu Kyi, and means "a gradual lessening of compassion over time." It was first diagnosed in nurses in the 1950s.