Footnotes to a Conversation, March 11, 2024

“He who rejects change is the architect of decay.” – Harold Wilson

Breakfast Beauty

Want people to find you attractive? Then make sure you’re eating complex carbohydrates (whole wheat bread, porridge) rather than pastries and white bread for breakfast. “Researchers in France found that people who ate a breakfast rich in refined carbohydrates were rated less attractive than those who started the day with healthier unrefined carbs. Scientists at the University of Montpellier believe the subtle shift in facial attractiveness may be driven by changes in blood sugar and insulin that can affect skin appearance and have longer-term effects on sex hormones.” [The Guardian]

Murder in the Garden

In Gardening Can Be Murder: How Poisonous Poppies, Sinister Shovels, and Grim Gardens Have Inspired Mystery Writers, Marta McDowell explores why gardens have been a popular setting for murder mysteries. There is certainly a connection with poisonous plants (or weedkiller). Gardens would have been a familiar setting for the women writers of the interwar period. Alternatively, gardens refer back to paradise lost and the story of Adam and Eve, lending themselves to discussions of sin and punishment. [JSTOR Daily]

What Makes Cheese Cheese?

Visit your local grocery store and you’ll find vegan alternatives to dairy-based cheese. Some have excellent flavour, but none of them, to my mind replicate the taste of cheese made from milk.

So what makes cheese cheese? Some say it’s the casein: “Dairy cheese owes its texture and meltiness to casein, a protein found exclusively in animal milks. During digestion, it’s converted into casomorphins, which can attach to opiate receptors in the brain and release dopamine, the feel-good neurotransmitter associated with all of life’s most delectable things, including sex and chocolate.” Other people say the product must be fermented if it’s to qualify as cheese.

I found one vegan cheesemaker’s response particularly thought-provoking: “If you grew up in China drinking soy, that’s what milk is to you . . . Couldn’t the same be true of cheese? We’ve made cheese for thousands of years from animals, but we also rode horses as our main form of transportation . . . It doesn’t mean we have to do things that way forever.” [The Walrus]

Fit for Royalty

Damask fabric, originally made from silk, is tightly woven with a reversible pattern. The thickness of the weave makes it heavy and long-lasting. It was a byword for magnificence and luxury and well loved by Henry VIII.

“Damask’s fortunes changed dramatically in 1801, when the Frenchman Joseph-Marie Jacquard invented the Jacquard loom. Previously, each bolt had to be painstakingly designed and then woven by hand, but the loom (programmed using a system of punched cards) made weaving complex textiles easier and, crucially, cheaper.”

Damask’s fortunes have risen and dipped over the centuries. Apparently, it’s back in fashion again. [Elle Decoration]

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. I also post occasional articles on other dates, including frequent book reviews and travel tales.

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