ALLSPICE; RECIPE TRADITIONAL GREEK RABBIT STIFADO

ALLSPICE (Pimenta dioca, formerly officinalis)
Allspice is another, like Lemon Verbena which has undergone a Latin name changes. It was discovered by Christopher Columbus in (about) 1494 when he was in the West Indies, searching for pepper. He believed that the berries he found in Jamaica were in fact pepper, hence the name in Latin, pimenta. In some languages, such as Hungarian and Czech, allspice is known as a ‘pepper’ in the cases mentioned, its name translates as ‘clove pepper’. It gets its English name, allspice, from the fact that it is aromatic and tastes like a combination of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Food manufacturers use it to flavour ketchups, pickles, and sausages. It is also used in the manufacture of terrines, pates and smoked meats. Some say that it can be used as a substitute for cinnamon, but as cinnamon is readily available, I think you should use the real thing, especially in recipes which call for both cinnamon and allspice.
Russian soldiers put it in their boots to keep their feet warm in the Napoleonic War of 1812, and whether or not it helped warm their feet, their smell must have improved. In traditional medicine it is used to aid digestion and stop stomach cramps. If you put one or two drops of oil of allspice on a teaspoon of sugar, it will help with flatulence, and bouts of hysteria according to a Victorian source.
It is good in hot baths to relieve aching muscles, and help arthritis sufferers. You can also make a poultice with it to put on aching muscles: take powdered allspice and mix to a paste with water, spread this paste on a cloth and put on the affected area. It’s good for toothache too. And you can put one or two drops of essential oil on the painful tooth and gum to relieve the pain, (in much the same way as cloves do). In Jamaica they make allspice tea to cure colds, stomach cramps and other stomach disorders. To make this tisane, you need one or two teaspoons of powdered allspice per cup of boiling water. Steep the powder in the water for 15 minutes, and then strain through a coffee filter, or the paper filter.
Allspice is an ingredient used in men’s toiletries, and has also been used as a good luck charm to attract a fortune from business dealings or gambling.
The recipe below is a traditional Greek one which can be used with beef or rabbit.


RABBIT STIFADO
Ingredients
1 rabbit, jointed
500 gr small onions, peeled (either shallots or pickling onions) but left whole
1 large onion chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large tomato, peeled and chopped
2 tbsps tomato puree (concentrate)
½ tsp grated nutmeg
2 sticks cinnamon
6 cloves
6 allspice berries
12 black peppercorns
1 or 2 sprigs of rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
3 bay leaves
1 cup red wine
¼ cup red wine vinegar
salt to taste

Method
In a frying pan, heat oil and seal rabbit pieces in it. When sealed all over, transfer to an oven proof dish with a tight-fitting lid.
Now fry the chopped onion, garlic for about 5 mins until the onion becomes translucent. Now add the chopped tomato and tomato concentrate (puree) and stir. Add wine and wine vinegar and all herbs and spices. Stir well and add salt and the whole small onions.
Pour this mixture over the rabbit and add water to cover the meat and cover with the lid. Cook in a low oven for 3-4 hours.
Serve with mashed potatoes, and green vegetables (broccoli is good).
This has Taste and is a Treat.

GRAPES - HISTORY WITH RECIPE STUFFED VINE LEAVES

GRAPES
Grape vines have been around for at least 60 million years, according to fossilized evidence. Wine hasn’t been around for that long, obviously, but we have clearly been enjoying it for some time. Grapes were first cultivated around the Black Sea, in Georgia, as ceramic jars dating from 6,000BC which had contained wine, were found at the site of a Neolithic village. There is evidence that they were cultivated in Asia in 5,000BC. Vineyards were mentioned in “The Epic of Gilgamesh” which was written sometime between 2,750 and 2,500 BC, although it was a written record of a much older tale.
There are many health benefits gained from eating grapes and drinking grape juice, but if you consider the longevity of people in some parts of Italy and France where the grape is grown and wine is consumed, there must be some benefits to the drink.
Grapes contain minerals, potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorous, magnesium and selenium as well as being rich in vitamins A, C and B6.They contain flavonoids and so are powerful antioxidants. It has been claimed that they can help asthma sufferers, they lower cholesterol levels, so help prevent heart disease, are useful as a laxative, cure indigestion, reduce uric acid and so help the kidneys function better, and if you drink fresh grape juice every morning, this is supposed to stop migraine.
Of course the Greeks had a god of wine and orgies, Dionysus, also associated with fertility, and the phallic fennel stalk was his thyrsus or wand, with a pine cone on top. His Roman equivalent was Bacchus. Both Romans and Greeks drank diluted wine, and only the lower classes drank it without water. Pliny, writing in 154 BC says that wine production in Italy was unsurpassed, and of course, it is still very good. Varro wrote about viticulture in 37 BC in his “Res Rusticae” (Of Country Matters), and we know that some Roman wine had to be drunk within a year of its production, while wines such as Falernian would mature. Romans favoured a concoction of wine mixed with honey just before drinking called Mulsum
  In English we have the expression to “have sour grapes”, which comes from the Aesop Tale of the Fox and the Grapes. A fox couldn’t reach a juicy looking bunch of grapes, so told himself they were sour. Now the phrase means to behave meanly after being disappointed in some way. Grapes also feature in John Steinbeck’s novel, “The Grapes of Wrath” published in 1939 and made into a film the following year.
Apart from wine, we also get oil from the grape seeds, and the leaves are edible too (see our dolmades recipe). However the best product from grapes, arguably, is wine. Below is another dolmades recipe which is a fusion of Greek and Asian cuisines.



STUFFED VINE LEAVES
Ingredients
12 vine leaves
200 gr cooked rice
30 gr pine nuts
30 gr raisins
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 tbsps shredded coriander leaves (fresh)
½ tsp paprika (sweet)
1 tsp cumin seeds
oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


Method
If you are using fresh vine leaves, then blanch them for 3-5 mins before using. If you’re using prepackaged ones, wash them to remove the preservatives.
Fry the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. Remove from the heat and put in a bowl.
Lightly fry the pine nuts and raisins, and cumin seeds, just to coat them in the oil. Remove and add to the bowl. Put the cooked rice in the bowl. Add the paprika, salt, pepper and coriander leaves and mix well.
Place some of the mixture on each vine leaf and then roll them into a sausage shape, folding the ends inwards. Put them in a single layer in a frying pan with ½ inch water. Alternatively use our chicken stock if you are not vegetarian. Cover and simmer for about 20 mins.
Serve hot, or cold as appetizers with Tzatziki and/or feta cheese.
These have Taste and are a Treat.

LEMON VERBENA WITH TISANE

LEMON VERBENA
This plant should not be confused with Lemon Balm or Lemon Grass. It has had a few changes of Latin names, but is now officially known as Aloysia triphylla. It has been called Lippia citriodora, Aloysia citriodora, and is commonly known by a variety of names, including, Lemon Beebrush, Cedron, Yerba Louisa and Lemon Louisa. It originated in South America and was brought to Europe by the Spaniards in the 18th century. It arrived in Britain in 1784, and is easily grown.
It can be used in teas, or tisanes, the leaves can be dried and used in pot pourri mixture, and it is good with fish, chicken, salad dressings vinegars and marinades.
It was named after Maria Louisa, Princess of Parma in 1819, and in the Language of Flowers is a symbol of purification and love and enchantment. It was thought that it would attract a suitor in folk superstitions.
It is used in medicine to relieve stomach cramps and colon spasms, and it is believed that it will give you a mental boost and help if you feel depressed. A tisane made from the leaves can also help reduce fevers. If you infuse it in cider vinegar it makes a good tonic for the skin, as it softens and refreshes it. You can put the leaves in finger bowls too. The essential oil from the leaves is said to boost the liver’s functions and assist the respiratory and digestive system.
Below is a refreshing tisane for you to try.



Lemon Verbena, Hibiscus and Ginger Tisane
Ingredients
1 handful lemon verbena leaves, torn roughly
1 handful dried hibiscus flowers
2 tsps finely chopped root ginger
7 cups water
sugar or honey to sweeten

Method
Put 7 cups of water in a pan and bring to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and put in the ginger, dried hibiscus flowers and lemon verbena leaves. Leave to steep for 5 mins, then strain and serve.
Serve with honey or sugar if necessary.
This has Taste and is a Treat.

POPPY SEEDS or KASH - KASH and SERDAI DRINK

             POPPY SEEDS or KASH-KASH

The poppy plant, Papaver somniferum (Poppy of sleep) originated in the Mediterranean region, and is believed to have come from southern France and Italy. It was cultivated by the ancient Sumerians who called it the “plant of joy”. It spread throughout Europe and to Asia, although the Egyptians didn’t know about it until it was introduced by the Romans. Of course the poppy plant produces opium and the seeds we use in cookery are the ripe seeds from the same plant. However they do not contain narcotic substances. The unripe seeds contain codeine and morphine, which is so valuable in medicine.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, recognized that they were good to cure insomnia, for inflammation, fever and dysentery. The ancient Greeks believed they were sacred to the god of sleep, Hypnos, rather than his twin brother Morpheus, the god of dreams. They were used as charms and in amulets to bring luck, money and love.

Remains of poppy seeds have been found in Swiss settlements dating to 4000 years ago and Scottish ones, dating back to 2500 years ago. It is one of the oldest condiments there is, along with cumin seeds.

When opium was introduced to the Muslim world, it was quickly adopted, as opium was not haram according to Islam, as alcohol is. It reached South Asia in Mediaeval times, and now India is the only country to legally export it. The Indian poppies are mainly cultivated in Uttar Pradesh and the Indian Punjab.

The flowers range in colour from white to red or lilac. The lilac coloured ones have a dark purple base. The seeds also come in a variety of shade, from black, or dark-blue, to yellow-white. The ones we have in Pakistan are white. The poppy plant grows to heights of between 50 to 150 centimetres tall. At one time they were grown in Mitcham, surrey, until the 1920 Dangerous Drugs Act clamped down on the use of opium based products, so beloved of the fictional character Sherlock Holmes. Laudanum was very popular in the 19th century and was given to children to put them to sleep. There are the obvious English literary figures who used opium, Thomas de Quincey famously admitted to using the narcotic in his book written in 1821,”Confessions of an English Opium-Eater”. Samuel Taylor Coleridge is reputed to have been under the influence of opium when he wrote “Kubla Khan,” of which only a fragment remains. Coleridge refers to it as the ‘milk of paradise’ in these lines
‘For he on honey-dew hath fed
And drunk the milk of paradise’.
Here he is referring to Kubla Khan.
De Quincey writes of ‘the marvelous agency of opium, whether for pleasure or pain,’ and talks of the ‘cloudless serenity’ he felt while in an opium induced state. However it is extremely addictive and its use should not be countenanced.
In cookery poppy seeds can be used to thicken and flavour sauces, blended with tamarind to make a curry paste, and can be boiled in a little water with salt and oil then added to rice to give it a nutty flavour. They are used as a coating for breads and biscuits, of course.
In traditional medicine on the subcontinent they are used to treat coughs and asthma, but because of the narcotic effects of the unripe seeds, these are not used in prolonged treatments. To treat diarrhea, cook poppy seeds with green cardamoms and sugar, strain and drink the liquid. Poppy extracts are used to reduce fever, help in TB treatments and for kidney and liver complaints.
The recipe below is for a milk-based drink which will cool you down when the weather is hot. It is also good for the stomach and an energy booster. If you don’t like milk, you can use water instead.

SERDAI
Ingredients
1 litre milk
30 gr almonds
50 gr poppy seeds
4 green cardamoms, seeds removed and husks discarded
6 black peppercorns
ice
sugar to taste

Method
If the almonds have skins, plunge them in boiling water for a minute or two so that you can easily slip off the skins. Grind the poppy seeds very well. Then grind the cardamom seeds.
Next grind the almonds.
Put the black peppercorns, sugar and milk in a pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, put all the ingredients except ice in it and leave to cool.
Serve with ice.
This has Taste and is a Treat.