WHAT ARE HARI TORI? COURGETTES OR ZUCCHINI - HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES: COURGETTES IN BEER BATTER EASY RECIPE

COURGETTES, ZUCCHINI, SUMMER SQUASH, HARI TORI, KOLOKITHAKIA, CUCURBITA PEPO

These green vegetables are actually a fruit as they are the swollen ovaries of the courgette plant’s flowers. In the UK and France they are called courgettes, while in the States they are zucchini from the Italian zucchino, or Italian squash. In Urdu they are hari tori while the Greeks call them kolokithakia. They are related to the melons and cucumbers and also the other squashes and gourds such as petha or ash gourd and the pumpkin. They were developed by the Italians from the marrow or winter squash which can grow to enormous sizes.

  The flowers are edible and can be stuffed with cream cheese, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried, or cooked with the leaves and eaten as a green vegetable.

  The courgette is bland and so was not greatly admired by the French until chefs began to realize that the small fresh young courgettes were actually very tasty. In Britain they were popularized by Elizabeth David who was a keen Mediterranean cookery writer in the 1950s and 60s. She helped to promote the aubergine and courgette in Britain at a time when the middle-classes were beginning to take foreign, and mostly Mediterranean, holidays. While marrows were a popular winter vegetable in Britain, courgettes were not eaten on the whole. Elizabeth David brought moussaka and ratatouille to the attention of British cooks and these soon grew in popularity although the Brits still adhere to their root vegetables, parsnips, carrots and swedes, and turnips to a lesser extent and the brassicas, cabbage and broccoli for example.

  The courgette originated from the giant pumpkin grown in Central and South America which has its origins between 7000 and 5500 BC. Christopher Columbus took the seeds with him to Spain and Africa in the 15^th century and since then they have been cultivated in those regions.

  Courgettes contain the precursors of vitamin A as well as vitamins C and K, some of the B-complex vitamins and folate. They are rich in minerals, notably potassium and manganese, but they also contain calcium, copper, magnesium, phosphorous, and iron. They also have amino acids and Omega-3 fatty acid in them. The yellow and orange varieties of courgette are rich in beta-carotene, which is useful in combating cholesterol and reducing the advancement of atherosclerosis.

  Folate is useful for breaking down a dangerous metabolic by-product, homocysteine which is thought to contribute to the risk of heart attacks and strokes when the levels of it are too high in the body.

   Vitamin C and beta-carotene have powerful antioxidant properties and anti-inflammatory action, so are good for sufferers of asthma, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. 

  The juices from courgettes are similar to those found in leeks, pumpkins and radishes such as mooli or daikon radish, which have the ability to prevent cell mutations which may cause the growth of cancerous cells. Courgettes eaten with other phytonutrient rich vegetables may help in the treatment and reduction of Benign Prostate Hypertrophy (BPH) or an enlarged prostate gland which causes both urinary problems and sexual dysfunction according to modern medical research.

  Courgettes continue to evolve today with new varieties being bred, such as the golden and orange as well as round varieties. They can be eaten raw in salads, especially the small tender ones, and are good to include in tuna sandwiches, grated. They are particularly good with pine nuts which have been lightly fried in olive oil, or toasted. You can use them in moussaka instead of aubergines, and there is a recipe for vegetarian moussaka which uses courgettes, aubergines, tomatoes and potatoes. They are good with pasta and fennel too with lots of garlic an olive oil. In Greece and Turkey they are thinly sliced lengthways and fried in olive oil along with aubergine slices treated in the same way, then drained and served with natural yoghurt and topped with fresh coriander leaves or flat-leaved parsley, served as an appetizer. Try the recipe below to give them a different taste.

COURGETTES IN BEER BATTER

Ingredients

2 medium-sized courgettes, sliced

¼ pint brown (dark) beer (You can use Guinness if necessary)

200 gr flour

water

parsley, finely chopped

oil for frying

Method

Mix the flour with a little water and whisk. Add the beer and whisk until the mixture is foaming. Leave to settle and chill for an hour.

Dip the courgette slices in the batter and then fry in hot oil for a few seconds on either side until the batter is crisp and brown.

Drain on absorbent kitchen paper and serve as an appetizer, with drinks or as a side dish. 

Sprinkle with parsley or add the parsley to the batter with the beer.

There have Taste and are a Treat.

 

  

VIOLA OR WILD PANSY, OLD OWL IN PUNJABI - HEALTH BENEFITS

VIOLA, WILD PANSY, VIOLA TRICOLOR

These flowers look as though they are faces, clowns faces and their name in Punjabi, buda oulu, means old owl as it is thought that it looks like an owl’s face. In English, it goes by a variety of names, such as Heart’s Ease, Love-in-Idleness and Love-Lies-Bleeding. Viola was a character in Shakespeare’s plays and he refers to the viola in Act 1 Sc.1 of “The Taming of the Shrew” when Lucento says to Tranio,

    “O Tranio, till I found it to be true,

      I never thought it possible or likely;

      But now, while idly I stood looking on,

      I found the effect of love in idleness;”

The wild pansy or viola is native to Europe, North America and temperate zones in Asia. There are more than 500 species of pansies, of which viola is the original. Most garden varieties of pansy have been crossed with Viola tricolor and these are Viola x wittrockiana, notably. The English word pansy comes from the French penser meaning to think, or pensie, a thought or remembrance. The violet is also a member of the pansy family. Its name “Heart’s Ease” seems to come from the idea that loving thoughts bring comfort, or thinking of one’s loved ones is comforting, like this little viola with its clown’s face.

  The viola has been used in traditional medicine on the three continents for centuries, and was used by the ancient Greeks, according to Homer to moderate anger. Pliny wrote that the viola was used by Romans to prevent headaches and dizziness as well as being added to love potions. In Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” it is used in the love potion given to Titania which inspired her somewhat inappropriate love for Bottom the weaver who at the time had an asses head. Oberon asks Puck or Robin Goodfellow, the mischievous imp, to get him the wild pansy and describes it in this way in Act II scec1:

  “Yet mark’d I where the bolt of Cupid fell;

    It fell upon a little western flower,

    Before milk-white, now purple with love’s wound,

    And maidens call it love-in-idleness.

    Fetch me that flower, the herb I shew’d thee once;

    The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid

    Will make man or woman madly dote

    Upon the next live creature that it sees.”

  Writing in his Herball in 1597 John Gerard said that the flower could cure infantile convulsions as well as chest and lung problems caused by inflammation and that it was also good for problem skin conditions. Like honeysuckle, violas contain salicylic acid as well as rutin, saponins, flavonoids, and a volatile oil, violine. The rutin and salicylic acid are thought to strengthen capillaries and blood vessels and rutin helps heal broken capillaries and prevents bruising. The salicylic acid and rutin are believed to be anti-inflammatory and useful in ointment for tender, sensitive skin.  The plant is useful for its diuretic properties, and the whole herb can be dried for later use in tisanes. It is thought that it might help in the treatment of arteriosclerosis as it mildly stimulates blood flow around the body. The later English herbalist, Nicholas Culpeper believed that the viola was a useful agent to cure venereal diseases. It has also been used as a mild sedative and to calm nervous complaints such as hysteria. The tisane below can be used as an expectorant and for bronchial problems, and also as a skin wash for eczema, skin irritations, rashes etc. You can also add a litre of it to bath water to soothe the skin.

   Use 3 grams of the dried herb to one cup of boiling water and allow it to steep for 15 minutes before straining and drinking. You can drink this 3 times a day. For a skin lotion you should steep 5-20 grams of the herb in a cup of boiling water and allow to stand for 15 minutes and then straining. Allow to cool and use on irritated skin.

  The viola is a protected wild flower in Britain but you can buy seeds and sow them in the garden or in flower pots. In Pakistan these flowers grow along the roadsides and in the countryside.

   The petals are edible and the flower heads can be crystallized and used as decoration for cakes or whole for salad garnishes and in refreshing summer drinks. They can be used like violets, nasturtiums, the kachnar tree’s flowers, those of the red silk cotton tree (Bombax ceiba), borage and rose petals. Wild pansy flowers are good with ice cream, chilled fruit desserts and cold soups, as well as with natural yoghurt. They contain precursors of vitamins A and C and may be used in syrup with honey for coughs.

HONEYSUCKLE - WONDERFUL PERFUME AND HEALTH BENEFITS TOO: HISTORY, HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF HONEYSUCKLE

 HONEYSUCKLE, WOODBINE, LONICERA PERICLYMENUM AND LONICERA CAPRIFOLIUM

Honeysuckle has been known by many names throughout the ages in Britain and was, in Chaucer’s time called Eglantine, which is now the name of the sweet briar rose. It was, by Shakespeare’s time called woodbine (from the Old English wudebinde which referred to all climbing plants with tendrils), although this is also confusing as this was and is also a name given to the convolvulus. The variety that is native to Britain is the Lonicera periclymenum while the Lonicera caprifolium (goat’s leaf) is native to the Mediterranean and is sometimes referred to as Italian honeysuckle. Chaucer’s prioress in his “Canterbury Tales” was called Madame Eglantine (an unlikely name for a nun) and in Shakespeare woodbine is mentioned both in “Twelfth Night” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

  In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” the mischievous imp Puck says this:

   “I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,

    Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows

    Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine

    With sweet musk-rose and with eglantine

    Where sleeps Titania sometime of the night,

     Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight.”

Clearly Titania only slept for a little while in her bower as the scents of the violet, musk-rose, eglantine, woodbine and thyme would have combined to make her feel in a party mood, as they have strong heady scents. They weren’t reputed to have aphrodisiac effects but they would have been mood enhancers. In the Bach flower remedies, honeysuckle is for grief and to bring people back to a happier present.

   In “Twelfth Night” Act 3 scene 1 Ursula says that Beatrice “Is couched in the woodbine coverture,” meaning that she was wrapped in sweetness from the blossoms.

  Honeysuckle can be dried and used in pot-pourri along with dried rose petals, lavender and other flowers such as marigolds. It was believed that if you wore honeysuckle or had it under your pillow at night you would dream of your one true love, and it is often an ingredient of herbal sleep pillows today. There are other superstitions regarding the flower, and they are lucky. Having the plant growing around your door means that witches cannot enter your house and its presence in a garden prevents evil from lurking there. If you pick the flowers and take them into the house they will bring money with them. However in Victorian Britain, girls from middle class families were told not to bring the flowers into the house as the perfume might cause dreams which were not thought chaste or appropriate.

  In the Mediterranean area the honeysuckle is often a night-flowering one which is pollinated by the hawk moth, and grows along with jasmine, one blooming during the day and the other at night, or perhaps both being night flowering varieties. Walking past them when they are flowering, one gets an amazingly sensuous smell, certainly a mood enhancing one.

  Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) named the honeysuckles Lonicera after a botanist Adam Loncier (1528-1586). There are many varieties, which grow around the world, including in the Himalayas and south Asia.

  The physician and herbalist, John Gerard had honeysuckle in his garden and says the honeysuckle is “neither cold, nor binding, but hot and attenuating, or making thin” then he goes on to quote Dioscorides who wrote his Materia Medica in the first century AD,

  “The ripe seed gathered and dried in the shadow and drunk for four days together, doth waste and consume the hardness of the spleen and removeth wearisomeness, helpeth the shortness and difficulty of breathing, curing the hicket (hiccups) and so on. A syrup made of the flowers is good to be drunk against diseases of the lungs and spleen.”

 He also says that it is good for sores in the digestive tract. It has been used as an expectorant and a laxative and the flowers in syrup were given for bronchial diseases and asthma. A decoction of the leaves was given for the liver and spleen and they were also thought to be useful in gargles, although Culpeper disagreed. He said that if you chewed the leaves they would cause, not cure a sore mouth or throat. He considered the honeysuckle to have “cleansing, consuming and digesting” qualities and so it was, he thought “in no way fit for inflammation.” He agreed that it was good for the lungs and says

  “It is fitting a conserve made of flowers should be kept in every gentlewoman’s house; I know of no better cure for asthma than this besides it takes away the evil of the spleen: provokes urine, procures speedy delivery of women in travail (child birth), relieves cramps, convulsions and palsies and whatsoever griefs come of cold or obstructed perspiration.”

  He also says that is good in ointment for skin problems including any discolouration, sunburn and freckles.

  Pliny recommended that honeysuckle flowers should be boiled in wine for the spleen, so perhaps they are good for this purpose. If you take a few handfuls of the flowers and pour a pint of boiling water over them, you can use this for coughs and colds and for headaches. The leaves and flowers contain salicylic acid the precursor of aspirin which makes them good for pain relief.

  The red berries of the honeysuckle are toxic and should not be eaten, but the flower heads make a good garnish for desserts and cakes, and can be made into a conserve with sugar. You should eat the petals only, though not the whole flower head.

  Honeysuckle is related to the Viburnums and Sambucus plants which includes the elderberry tree (Sambucus nigra). It is the decoction of the leaves which was considered good for the spleen and liver, made by boiling leaves in water; the seeds have diuretic qualities too, but are not as effective as the flowers and leaves.

  In the language of flowers honeysuckle symbolizes fidelity and affection and the twining qualities of the plant represent the unity of a couple. You can make honeysuckle wine from the flower heads, but I have been unable to track down a reliable recipe as yet.

SALAD BURNET : AN OLD - FASHIONED HERB WITH MODERN USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS: SALAD BURNET WINE CUP RECIPE

SALAD BURNET, SANGUISORBA MINOR, POTERIUM SANGUISORBA

Salad burnet is not as popular as it used to be, but it can be found growing wild in Europe and western Asia as it originates in the Northern Temperate Zones. It is distinguishable because its flowers don’t have petals. The Greater burnet is the one most commonly used in medicinal treatments, but the smaller, salad burnet is useful as an astringent and coolant. It’s a member of the rose family of plants as is the peach tree and the apricot.

  You can add the tender young leaves to salads or use it in soups and sauces along with dill, oregano and basil. Older leaves are bitter–tasting but the young ones taste of cucumber, which is why they are used to flavour drinks (try the one below). Salad burnet is also one of the French fines herbes along with others such as tarragon and rosemary. It is sweet-smelling and Francis Bacon remarked that it should be grown in pathways along with thyme and water mint “to perfume the air most delightfully, being trodden on and crushed.”

  Gerard writing in his Herball of the 16^th century says that “It gives a grace in the drynkynge” which is a reference to the way it was commonly used both in the Renaissance and in Pliny’s time in ancient Rome. It was steeped in wine sometimes with other herbs to make it more refreshing. One of its Latin names Poterium means “drinking cup” reflecting this use. Sanguiscorba means absorbing blood, and warriors would drink this herb in wine before going into battle in the hope that their wounds would be lessened by its effects.

  Gerard also says of salad burnet:-

   It gives “a speciall helpe to defend the hart from noysome vapours and from the infection of the Plague or Pestilence and all other contagious diseases for which purpose it is of great effect, the juice thereof being taken in some drink.”

  He continues “ It is a capital wound herb for all sorts of wounds, both of the head and body, either inward or outward either in juice or decoction of the herb, or by the powder of the herb or root, or water of the distilled herb, or made into an ointment by itself or with other things to be kept.”

  The whole herb is best harvested in July and hung in an airy, sunny room to dry in small bundles so that the air can pass through it. An infusion of the whole herb can help in fevers to promote sweating, and can be used on wounds. It used to be recommended to those suffering from gout and rheumatism. It contains the bioflavonoids, quercetin and kaempferol and vanillic, caffeic and gallic acid along with tannins and saponisides. It also contains vitamins C, A and some of the B-complex ones, along with the minerals iron and potassium.

  You can make a tisane with the whole herb by chopping up a plant and pouring 2 pints of boiling water over it and allowing it to steep for 15 mins. The tisane is good for fevers and for diarrhoea and upset stomachs. It can also be used on the skin to clean wounds.

  Try this cooling drink recipe in summer using salad burnet.

SALAD BURNET WINE CUP
Ingredients

1 bottle sweet white wine

500 ml sherry

6-8 sprigs of salad burnet (young tender shoots and leaves)

1 lemon sliced

1 litre soda water

crushed ice

Method

Mix the white wine and sherry in a jug and add the salad burnet and lemon slices.

Chill for an hour or two and when ready to serve add the soda water and pour into glasses over crushed ice.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

RED SILK COTTON TREE - HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES

RED SILK COTTON TREE, BOMBAX CEIBA/ BOMBAX MALABARICA

This is a truly spectacular tree seen in spring when the branches are bare of leaves but full of waxy red flowers, the young buds of which, like those of the kachnar tree are edible. There is a tree near our house which has an eagle’s nest perched safely in a fork of the tree and it can be clearly seen as there are, as yet no leaves. It is one of the tallest trees on the Indian subcontinent and is used in traditional medicine for a plethora of purposes, including as an aphrodisiac.

  It is also known as the Indian Kapok tree as it has fine silky kapok like fibres growing around its seeds. These are said to be inferior to kapok, which comes from Ceiba pentandra but nonetheless are used for stuffing and to put on burns to prevent blistering and help prevent scarring. The name Bombax means silk worm and malabarica = from Malabar. The tree is a member of the Bombacaceae family of plants, so is related to the durian and the baobab tree..

  The tree also yields a gum which is sometimes used as a substitute for gum tragacanth and which is used in bookbinding, cosmetics and to thicken ice cream and medicine. It is said to be an aphrodisiac when taken with gur and cow’s milk. The gum is known as Mochras in India. It is said to have astringent properties and be good for diarrhea and dysentery, for female problems including irregular periods, to ease the pain of piles and to purify the blood among other remedies.

  The young one or two year old roots are thought to be useful as a sex tonic and aphrodisiac. They are called Semul (the local name of the tree) Musli and like other Muslis such as Safed Musli, they are used to stimulate the male libido. In some area the local healers or hakims prefer to gather the roots on Mondays, but why this should be so is not apparent. In traditional medicine in Myanmar the roots are given to cure impotency and to increase the sperm count. The bark of the tree is thought (in Myanmar) to help in cases of heart disease and spermatorrhoea. In India the bark is given with gur and milk for the same purposes.

  The flowers are given with honey to stop internal bleeding, and are fried as a vegetable in ghee. Flowers are boiled slowly overnight and given with mustard seeds to reduce the size of enlarged spleens. The juice of the fresh bark is supposed to stop diarrhoea. The fruit, which can be seen under the flower, is also used as an aphrodisiac, and as an expectorant. The bark is also used for wound healing, and can be made into a paste for skin problems, with the leaves also used for these. The flowers are also said to be good for the skin and complexion, and for piles. Young fruit is used for chronic inflammation associated with arthritis and rheumatism, and for bladder and kidney problems as well as to treat gonorrhea and chronic cystitis.

  The wood of the tree is used to make matchsticks, coffins and crates and is useful in water, so well-linings and dugout canoes are made from the tree. The bark is used in rope-making.

  Modern medical research has shown that extracts from the stem of the tree contain lupeol which has antiangiogenic¹ properties in vitro, and it also has potent hypotensive activity, so can be extremely useful. However the research is still in its early stages. It also contains the flavanol shamimicin which is also under investigation.

 

Antiangogenic agents inhibit the growth of new blood cells. Such growths play crucial roles in many diseases including some that cause blindness arthritis and cancer. They are found naturally in certain plants and can be manufactured in labs.

TOOTHACHE TREE - INFORMATION : HEALTH BENEFITS AND HOW TO USE TOOTHACHE TREE

TOOTHACHE TREE, WINGED PRICKLY ASH, ZANTHOXYLUM ALATUM ROXB. ZANTHOZYLUM ARMATUM DC

Zanthozylum alatum or Z. armatum, is known as the Toothache tree or Yellow Wood (a translation of Zantho=yellow and zylum=wood) or the Winged Prickly Ash, (the tree has thorns) although it is no relation to the ash tree being a member of the Rutaceae family so a relative of the lemon tree and rue. It also has many other names and in Pakistan its fruits are known as timbar, tajphal, kabab khandan among other names. The dried fruits are a substitute for pepper and it is said to be one of the ingredients in Chinese Five Spice Powder. However some people have mistakenly called it the Szechwan pepper, which it isn’t; that being a relative, however. The fruit is easy to harvest as it grows in clusters. It grows in the Himalayan region and is native to Pakistan, India and Bhutan. It also grows in North America.

  It is called the Toothache tree as one of its uses in traditional medicine is to alleviate toothache. It is also used in traditional medicine to relieve mouth pain caused by food and to cure gingivitis or bleeding gums. The seeds of the fruit (each fruit comes with a hard outer skin and has a single seed in the middle) are ground with a pinch of black salt, a little fresh chilli, and ordinary salt, and given as a cure for stomach disorders. The seeds combined with the bark are combined to make an aromatic tonic and given when someone has a fever or cholera. Modern research has shown that an extract from the fruit may help with mouth irritation. The root of the tree is used for toothache, stomach ache, fever, boils and rheumatism and in Ayurvedic medicine, apart from these uses it is used to expel internal worms and heal piles and stop anorexia. It is used externally for various skin diseases and local people use a decoction or infusion of different parts of the tree to cure the common colds, coughs, fevers (as parts of the tree have diaphoretic properties, that is they promote sweating) and common stomach upsets. An infusion can be made with 1-2 tsps of tree bark to one cup of boiling water and should be allowed to steep for 15 minutes before straining and drinking three times a day.

  The fruit is also used to purify water, and the trees have religious significance and are reputed to have magical properties by some. The branches are often used as toothbrushes like walnut tree and Viburnum grandiflorum bark.

   The essential oil from the leaves is high in linalool and also has a significant amount of limonene, and is used as an insect repellant. However the oil quality varies depending on the altitudes the trees grow at according to one research study. This volatile oil may have anti-fungal properties, but research is still being carried out on this tree as two new flavonoids were reported from it in June 2010.

  The wood from the tree is close-grained and durable and used for making walking sticks among other items. The beauty industry is currently selling day cream which contains extracts from the Toothache tree; one such product also contains iris milk and chamomile.

  The bark contains the coumarins, xanthyletin, zanthoxyletin and alloxanthyletin, resin, tannin, volatile oil, and various alkaloids including laurifoline, g-fagarine and b-fagarine.

HIMALAYAN WILD PEAR ( PYRUS PASHIA) - INFORMATION , USES AND MEDICINAL BENEFITS

HIMALAYAN WILD PEAR, PYRUS PASHIA, PUNJABI PEAR

The Himalayan wild pear is also known as the Punjabi pear and the Indian Pear, and has the Latin synonyms, Pyrus kumaoni and Pyrus variolosa. Locally it’s known by many names such as shegal and kainth but is rarely found in bazaars as the fruit doesn’t travel well. It looks a little like the russet apple, and has an astringent but sweet taste when ripe. It is apparently best to eat when it is decaying slightly, and has a grittier texture than the cultivated pears. This means that it helps reduce the risks of colon cancer and can prevent the growth of polyps.

  The astringent juice is used medicinally to stop diarrhoea, but little else seems to be known about the ways locals use the fruit. Most of the vitamin C content is in the skin of the fruit, which is not eaten as it decays first, but the pear contains minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, calcium and iron.

   The wild pear tree grows commonly at altitudes of between 700 and 2000 metres and because the tree has thorns, farmers use it as a live fence to keep livestock in or out of their fields. It is also used for firewood and for items such as walking sticks and small agricultural and household implements. The tree is also used as rootstock for other pears and it is hoped that this will not cause them to die out.

   Their range extends from Pakistan to Viet Nam and from southern China to northern India and Bhutan. The trees flower from late February to mid-March and the pears begin to ripen during the first week of November and are over by the last week of December. Unfortunately they do not travel well so never reach the bazaar here, and locals who have the pears can’t benefit by selling them as they can from selling the kachnar buds and the wild fig. The wild pears can be dried and used, but it seems that people do not do this as a matter of course during the fruit season, so everyone loses out on a wild food source.

  Little research has been done into this wild pear, so its medical properties are so far unknown.

GREENGAGE, CALLED ALOOCHA IN URDU - HISTORY, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS: GREENGAGE - VANILLA JAM RECIPE

GREENGAGES, ALOOCHA, PRUNUS DOMESTICA ITALICA

Greengages are basically wild green plums that have been domesticated over the centuries. They have a difficult to research past, and seem to have re-emerged in Britain in the 18^th Century having been introduced from France by the gage family who resided at Hengrave Hall, outside Bury St. Edmonds.

  It is believed that the Romans first introduced the green plum into Britain, but all the material I have read says that these trees mysteriously disappeared after the Fall of the Roman Empire, so that must have been sometime in the 5^th century as Rome was captured by the Germanic general Odacer or Odovacar in 476 AD. After this period Europe fell into the Dark Ages as the early Middle Ages were called. However no one has linked (as far as I can tell) the “Cataclysm” of 535 AD with the disappearance of these wild plum trees from the British Isles. It is known that there was a period of climate change from 535 to 565 or 575 due it is thought to a comet or meteorite impact or more likely the eruption of the Super Volcano Krakatoa which caused a similar weather phenomenon in the 1880s.

  Certainly the climate became colder at this time as scientists have found from examining tree rings around the world. This could have caused the death of the wild plum trees, or they might have been affected by disease which might also have been brought about by a volcanic eruption.

  The wild green plums continued to be grown in Italy and were known in Britain in the early 17^th century although they were called Verdoch, undoubtedly from the Italian name for them, Verdocchio. John Parkinson, (1567-1650) was the apothecary to James I of England (James VI of Scotland) refers to these plums as Verdoch, so they were known in Britain before they were reintroduced from France in the 18^th century.

  On her marriage to Francis I of France, (1499-1524) Queen Claude took trees of green plums with her from Italy to France. There they became known as Reine Claude (Queen Claude) after her. These are still grown in France with the best said to come from Moissac.

  There are several stories as to how greengages arrived in Britain in the 18^th century, but all of them relate to the Gage family. A John Gage, an English Catholic priest, was studying in Paris in 1724 and sent some trees to his brother at Hengrave Hall. In transit the fruit trees lost their labels and the gardener planted them as green Gage in honour of his employer. British horticulturists developed these fruits until they became the green gages we have today. William Coxe (1747-1836), an English historian said of them, they are ‘universally acknowledged to be the finest plumb of this or any other country.” Other eminent men have also commented on the sweetness of this “exquisite” fruit.

  Greengages are a type of plum and related to other trees in the rose family such as the apricot and almond. They have similar health benefits to other plums being rich in vitamin C and the mineral potassium.

  In Pakistan there is a wild green plum aloocha, which is from the genus Prunus aloocha, which may be a close relative of the Italian variety. It is generally believed that greengages came from Armenia, although clearly the wild green plum that grows in Pakistan is a native species, or has become naturalized, perhaps having the same Persian origins as the aloo Bukhara or Persian plum.

  Greengages are best eaten as a fruit and do not take well to being pickled or made into chutney. They are good in jam (see recipe below), pies, tarts, fools and sorbets and the jam goes well with vanilla ice cream or spooned into custard.

GREENGAGE -VANILLA JAM

Ingredients

1½ kilos greengages

1½ kilos sugar

2 vanilla pods

15 gr unsalted butter

Method

Wash the fruit and pick out any blemished fruit or over ripe squishy ones. Slightly under ripe ones are OK.

Put them whole in a pan with 250 ml water and the 2 pods of vanilla. Simmer the mixture gently for about ½ an hour until the fruit is extremely soft.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar, stirring constantly until it dissolves.

Return the pan to the heat and add the butter. Stir and bring back to the boil.

Allow it to boil for about 10 minutes, and by then the stones from the fruit should have risen to the top so that they can easily be scooped out with a slotted spoon.

Continue boiling until setting point has been reached. (When you drip a small amount from the back of a metal spoon onto a cold saucer and it gels, it is set.)

Skim off any scum from the top of the mixture and ladle into hot sterilized jars.

Remove the vanilla pods, rinse and dry them then put in a jar of sugar and bury them in it. This will give you vanilla sugar to be used for desserts in future. You can also reuse the vanilla pods in another dessert after they have been in the sugar.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

CITRON ( CITRUS MEDICA) - AMAZING FRUIT: HEALTH BENEFITS, USES AND HISTORY OF CITRON

CITRON, CITRUS MEDICA

Citron is not a citrus fruit that you may be familiar with as it is seldom seen in its fresh state. It is grown commercially for its peel which is candied and used in cakes, puddings, biscuits and sold as candied peel to home bakers. It looks generally like an overgrown lumpy-skinned lemon, although the strange “fingered” citron is like a hand. This variety has only a little pulp and is grown for its peel alone. There are three basic types of citron, the ones which have purplish flowers and are very acid, the sweet variety which has white flowers and the third kind which is bitter but pulpless. The green immature fruits are picked for candying purposes, not the yellow-skinned ripe fruits which take three months to ripen.

   It has a long history and is believed to have originated in the Indian subcontinent where wild ones still grow, but it was cultivated in Medea, in the Persian Empire in 4,000 BC as seeds have been discovered in Nippur and ancient Babylonian city which dates from that time. It is thought that the citron is the oldest of the cultivated citrus fruits, and is in the orange sub-class of the Rutaceae family, although it does seem to the untrained eye and nose to be more of a lemon.

  The citron has a very long and somewhat complicated history as it is connected to the Jewish ritual of the Feast of the Tabernacle, during which Moses ruled that the cedar cone should be used, in Greek this was kedros. The Greeks called the citron they grew in their colonies in Palestine kedromelon, and so when the cedar cone fell out of favour for use during the Feast, the citron was used in its place. The Romans called the fruit the Malus medica, meaning apple of the Medes and later Malum citreum, citrus apple and we know that it was cultivated in Medea between 700 and 500 BC. This Greek cultivar is and was known as the Etrog citron and this was the variety best known in Europe in the Middle Ages. It was used to quell seasickness, for stomach disorders and other intestinal disorders, as well as the juice with wine being used as a purgative and an antidote to poison.

  Dioscorides knew about it in the 1^st century AD and so did Pliny although it is also mentioned by Theophrastus around 346 BC. This gives rise to the belief that Alexander the Great and his army introduced it to Greece and the Mediterranean. In AD 300 it appears in Chinese writings which describe a gift of 40 Chinese bushels of the fruit being received as a gift from the Roman Empire. It has been described in writings of 301 AD as being a commercial food item in Rome and a staple.

   Most of the citron trees have evergreen, long leathery leaves and the trees grow from 8 feet to 15 feet high. The fruit can be oblong or oval and it is fragrant. However it can vary in size and shape even when grown on the same branch.

Etrog citron

   The Spaniards are thought to have taken the citron to Florida and it was introduced into Puerto Rico in 1640. Commercial citron producing began in California in the 1880s but was abandoned after cold weather damaged crops, so the industry only lasted for around 30 years. The fruit is still commercially produced in Puerto Rico, where it is pulped and sent in brine to Europe and the USA to be candied. It can be seen in Florida, where it is grown as a curiosity. It is not the hardiest of citrus trees and is susceptible to fungus and cold.

   It still grows in the Greek islands, particularly in Crete, Naxos and Corfu. The old citron factory in Halki, Naxos, has been turned into a citron museum and visitors can see how the fruit is processed. It also grows on the Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily and the French island of Corsica, where it has a long history of cultivation. It is also grown in the Caribbean and South America, and in the Indian subcontinent, although it is not extensively cultivated in these regions.

   In India the fruit is pickled, while the peel flavours rice in Indonesia, where the peel is also eaten raw. The fruits are made into jams, marmalades and fruit bars, and in Spain the peel is used to flavour otherwise unpalatable medicines. In China and Japan the whole fruit is used to perfume the air of a room and may be carried around by people. Dried fruits act as moth repellants in clothes and household linen. (They smell better than moth balls.)In some of the Pacific Islands oil is distilled from the twigs and leaves of the citron trees, which is called “Cedrat Petitgrain oil” and is used in the perfume industry. The flowers also yield an oil after distillation which is also used in this industry to a more limited extent. Citron is also used to flavour some vodka. In India the wood from the trees is used for agricultural implements and walking sticks as it is hard and durable.

   It has been used in traditional medicine systems for centuries and the essential oil from the peel is thought to have antibiotic properties. In India and Pakistan the seeds from the fruit are used to expel internal parasites, and a decoction of the shoots of the wild trees are used for stomach problems and in Malaysia, the decoction is sprinkled around homes to get rid of evil spirits. The fresh peel is eaten to stop bad breathe and used in cases of dysentery, while in China, the candied peel is used to improve digestion, as an expectorant and tonic.

 An infusion made from the leaves is believed to be anti-spasmodic, and good for cramps.

  Citron contain ascorbic acid which converts to vitamin C in the body and three of the B-complex vitamins, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin, and the minerals calcium, phosphorus, iron, and also carotene.

  In Iran a tisane is made from the leaves and the fruit is used to flavour fruit salads, and it can also be found in marinades for meat. The Musk citron may be a cross between a lemon and a citron, as it has very thin peel and very acid juice. This one is also known as the Bajana, but there are many varieties of this fruit which is not as widely known as other citrus fruits such as the grapefruit, pomelo, lemon and orange.

CHICKEN BALL SOUP FOR MELISSA: EASY AND TASTY RECIPE

CHICKEN BALL SOUP FOR MELISSA

This is loosely based on a traditional Albanian mountain region recipe. This one was especially created for people who have had upset stomachs and don’t want to eat much in case the problem flares up again. It’s especially good because there is no oil or fat involved. It contains vitamins and minerals which have been depleted and gives you energy and a general sense of wellness.

Ingredients

½ kilo chicken on the bone

4 cloves garlic with skin left on

1 inch piece of ginger root

1 potato, peeled and finely diced

1 small carrot, finely diced

1 tomato, peeled and finely diced

1 onion, finely diced

2 green chillies, finely chopped

6 stalks of fresh coriander cut to where the leaves start

½ handful fresh mint leaves

2 tsps freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp cumin seeds

salt to taste

2 eggs

Method

Put the garlic as it is and the whole piece of ginger root, peeled with the chicken in a pan and add 5 glasses of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the ginger, garlic and chicken, and then remove the skin from the garlic cloves and the chicken from the bones.

Pound the chicken meat, garlic and ginger with 1 tsp salt, the cumin seeds and a tsp of black pepper. When the chicken meat is finely shredded add the eggs and combine well.

Make 16-18 small balls with this mixture.

With the stock from the chicken, add the tomato and heat this. When it is hot, gradually add the chicken balls. Cook over a low heat until the balls rise to the surface. Then add the diced potato, onion, chillies and diced carrot. Cover the pot and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the fresh coriander and mint and cook for a further 10 mins over a low heat.

It is now ready to serve.

For those who would like a more robust recipe cook rice (plain boiled) and pour this over it. You can also add a leafy green vegetable to it such as spinach or purslane or sorrel.

This can be saved in the fridge for later use as it will keep for a few days.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

HIMALAYAN VIBURNUMS - MEDICINAL BENEFITS AND USES

VIBURNUM GRANDIFLORUM/NERVOSUM HIMALAYAN VIBURNUM AND VIBURNUM FOETENS

Viburnum grandiflorum or Viburnum nervosum is also known as the Himalayan Viburnum, as it grows in the foothills of the Himalayas from altitudes of 1800 feet to 3,000 feet. The Viburnum species consists of between 150 and 175 types and these are related to the honeysuckles. They grow wild in Azad (Free) Kashmir and the Swat Valley in Pakistan and from there spread through to Bhutan and southern Tibet.

  The fruit from grandiflorum is a small black drupe, which is sweet tasting and has a single stone in it. It is edible and eaten raw or cooked by locals who also use it for its laxative properties, although it is only a mild laxative, unlike jamalgota and senna pods. It is also used in traditional medicine as a blood purifier and to regulate a woman’s menstrual flow.

  The branches from Viburnum grandiflorum are used for fencing and fuel, and as yet there have been few clinical trials conducted on it. It is known by many different local names depending on where it grows, but a few are guch, kullam and amoch and ghiz mava.  Its flowers are white through to pale pink

  It is believed to be the most ancient of the Dipsacales family of plants, although comparatively little research has been done on its properties until recently. All viburnums are in the Adoxaceae family having recently been reassigned from the Caprifoliaceae along with the Sambucus genus which contains the elder tree and the dwarf elder, making these a relative of these Himalayan viburnums, as is Viburnum opulis, the guelder rose. A 2010 study on Viburnum foetens has shown that it could have anti-cancer benefits as well as having anti-bacterial properties. The leaves of all Viburnums have a foetid smell when bruised, hence the name of this particular variety. The researchers concluded that this species “is a good candidate for isolation of anticancer compounds.”

  Typically Viburnums contain saponins, flavonoids, bioflavonoids, anthroquinones and coumarins, and locally this one (V. foetens) is used for its diuretic, antispasmodic and sedative properties. In traditional medicine it is thought to be a protector of the liver, and thought to have anti-inflammatory properties, as well as helpful to the gastric system, and the twigs are used as toothbrushes by the locals as the twigs of the walnut tree are used in other parts of Pakistan.