Footnotes to a Conversation, June 28, 2021
The Culture of Trees
Recent books as well as an art display in London, UK, seem to indicate that the arts are turning their attention to trees and nature as well as humans. One author is considering rewriting Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard from the point of view of the trees: what if the orchard became simply a portal “to the whole story of trees, right back to the carboniferous period. The presence of humans would be fleeting and fragmentary.” [The Guardian]
Tea, Nutmeg & Colonialism
I find it interesting to learn about history and culture through food as the focus is then on ordinary people rather than wars and politicians. The histories of chai and nutmeg in these two articles are informative, and the information I quote is just skimming the surface – I recommend reading the full articles.
Tea plantations were introduced in India to satisfy the British craving for a cup of tea. It was not drunk locally until 1930 when India had a bumper tea crop. The Depression had reduced demand in Europe and North America; it was time to market tea to the locals who quickly made it their own. Indian tea buyers “realised that they could save up to half of the quantity of tea needed per cup, if they added spices and milk. . . . What came about was the copious addition of milk, and ‘double boiling’ the milk to keep it from spoiling in the heat. The addition of spices also made sure that the beverage had some medicinal properties.” [Diaspora Co.]
When Elizabethan physicians claimed nutmeg could cure the bubonic plague (sounds familiar), the price skyrocketed and the search was on to locate its origins. The Dutch were determined to have a monopoly over the nutmeg growing on the Indonesian Banda Islands. The locals weren’t interested, wanting to sell to the highest bidder, so the Dutch waged war on the locals, killing all but 1,000 of the original 15,000 Bandanese on the main island. They then imported slaves, convicts, and indentured labourers from other colonies to repopulate the island. [Diaspora Co.]
In the Kitchen
I love carrot cake, but I’ve never thought of combining niblets corn with raspberries – have you? This article includes a number of other ideas for using vegetables in desserts. [The Guardian]
Nothing says summer to me like potato salad. Here are 10 recipes, many of them quite unusual. Nepalese potato salad is spiced with turmeric and tamarind, while the Japanese potato salad uses mashed potatoes and rice vinegar in the dressing. [The Guardian]
Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
If you share my love of nature, I suggest you also read EcoFriendly Sask that I publish in collaboration with my brother, Andrew. Check out EcoFriendly Sask’s Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces (downloadable directly from the website).
Photos: Ile Ste. Marguerite, Cannes, France