PARSNIPS: HEALTH BENEFITS OF PARSNIPS USES AND HISTORY: PARSNIP, CARROT AND POTATO MASH RECIPE

PARSNIPS, JUNGLI GAGER OR SAFED GAGER, (PASTINACEA SATIVA)

Parsnips are native to Europe and western Asia, and in Pakistan are known as wild carrots (jungli gager or safed gager) and not generally eaten as a vegetable, although they are used in medicine. The parsnip looks like a long, thick carrot with an ivory coloured skin. It has been cultivated by the Germans for more than 2000 years, along the banks of the Rhine. Pliny tells us that the Roman Emperor, Tiberius, so loved parsnips that had them transported from along the banks of the Rhine every year when they were harvested. The ancient Germans worked out how to grow parsnips with thicker roots than the wild variety. However Pliny also says that they had to be transplanted or grown from seeds but the pungent taste could not be got rid of. They were a luxury item in Rome, at least the ones cultivated along the Rhine were. The Romans used them in sweet dishes with fruit as they have a naturally sweet, nutty taste.

  They were very popular in the Middle Ages as they are a winter crop and even in 1730, Tournefort wrote in his “The Compleat Herbal” that “they are not so good in any respect till they have been first nipt with Cold.” There is still a belief that parsnips are best after they have had to deal with a frost, and this is because some of the starch turns to sugar, so enhancing their sweet taste. He continued “It is likewise fairly common of late to eat them with salt-fish mixed with hard-boiled eggs and butter…and much the wholesomer if you eat it with mustard.”

   Gerard writing in 1597 believed that they “nourish more than do the Turneps or the Carrots…bread made from the roots of parsnips” was good he thought.

    Culpeper also seemed to think a lot of parsnips and agreed with the Romans and Greeks that they are a good diuretic. He says that the root is good for the stomach and kidneys “and provoketh urine.” He also says that the seeds were used in medicine (they contain essential oil) “much more (than the root), the wild being better than the tame.”

   Parsnip seeds used to be harvested and sold by herbalists, as the oil obtained from them was supposed to be good for intermittent fevers. It was also used to get rid of gravel in the kidneys and gall bladder and in the treatment of jaundice.

   In Ireland parsnips were brewed with hops and then fermented to make beer. In Britain parsnip wine was made and much enjoyed in rural communities.

    The colonists took parsnips to the States in 1609, where they have not been as popular for some reason as the carrot, or as popular as they are in Europe. The parsnip has even come into the language with the old saying, “Fine words butter no parsnips.” This means that you have to act not just talk, or put your money where your mouth is – actions speak louder than words.

   They were even more popular in Europe than they are now, before the arrival of the potato, but they are still a British favourite, and were a staple during the Second World War (1939-1945).

   Nutritionally the parsnip is superior to the potato containing as it does vitamins C, E, K and B6. It also contains Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, along with high quantities of potassium, which is an energy booster and good for the immune system. Parsnips also contain calcium and iron, so they are good for the bones and blood, and niacin which helps the digestive system nerves and skin. Folate helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and the high fibre content means that parsnips are good for constipation. They also contain the minerals phosphorus, manganese, magnesium, zinc (good for male sexual health), traces of selenium and copper. Like turnips and swede they are very good for you.

  It is said that if you dream about parsnips you will be lucky in business matters, but not in affairs of the heart.

  So don’t dream about them, eat them. If you boil them you need only do this for 15 minutes, so add them to soups and stews at the end of the cooking time. They are very good cut in half or quarters and roasted with a joint of meat, chicken or turkey.

PARSNIP, CARROT AND POTATO MASH

Ingredients

500 gr boiled potatoes

300 gr carrots boiled or steamed

300 gr boiled parsnips

butter

¼ tsp grated nutmeg

freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

Method

Mash all the ingredients together and serve hot.

If you have some left over you can fry it in oil for breakfast next day.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

AMBER, AMBERGRIS, AMBER OIL: BENEFITS AND USES OF AMBER

amber stone

AMBER, (ARABIC, ANBAR)

There are three main types of amber, the fossilized resin that is made into jewellery, ambergris, a product of the sperm whale and liquid amber which is a sap which comes from trees of various species and which is also known as storax.

  All have been used in traditional medicines for centuries, and it is confusing to decipher which is meant in some of the texts devoted to “amber” and “amber products.”

   The most common amber is fossilized resin from a long extinct tree which might have been a pine or an araucaria (the Monkey Puzzle Tree belongs to this family).Often this fossilized resin has insects or bits or tree or other organic matter trapped inside it and these have excited paleontologists as they give them an sight into what the fauna and flora were like in prehistory. (Remember the film “Jurassic Park”?)

   These stones washed up on ancient beaches along with ambergris, and they looked similar so it is understandable that the ancients were confused regarding their genesis. Ambergris is not used now as the sperm whale is an endangered species. However ambergris came to refer to the stone as well as the product of the sperm whale.

amber resin

   Amber, the stone, was regarded as having good luck properties and used to make amulets which could ward off the evil eye. It has been discovered that the succinic acid derived from amber has a positive effect on the human body and has bacterial agents, which may explain why cigarette holders and mouth-pieces for pipes were made from it. It helps boost feelings of well being and promotes a general feeling of good health. Amber can be burned and may be used as incense, although the storax resin would more commonly be found in “amber” products.

   Ambergris is also reputed as having magical qualities and was used in medicines until the sperm whale was endangered and hunting of it was banned. It could also be burned and gave off a wonderful fragrance.

    Liquid amber comes from the Liquidambar trees, and storax is the product of the tree that commonly grows in Turkey, where it is a native species. This is the Liquidambar orientalis tree. Storax resin is produced by these trees in response to the bark being damaged, in much the same way as oud oil is produced. Storax is also a product of the American Sweetgum tree or Liquidambar styraciflua. This has been used in cough medicines and in a syrup for dysentery and diarrhoea. Storax when it first comes from the tree contains free cinnamic acids which are often extracted for use in the perfume industry. If mixed with olive oil storax can help cure ringworm, scabies and other skin diseases. It has been used as a substitute for copaiba (from South America) for treatment of some STDs, such as gonorrhea.

amber resin

   In China and other parts of Asia an aromatic resin is produced from the Liquidambar formosana trees, and this is used as incense and traditional medicine. These trees grow in the wild rather than in plantations, so it is difficult for tappers to harvest the resin from these trees, perhaps in future they will be grown in plantations if the West increases its demand for liquid amber as the resin is known. The resin and oil is highly sought-after and this is reflected in its price. Like oud oil it is more expensive than gold currently.

   The leaves of this tree have been fed to silkworms in China rather than those of the white mulberry tree, and the Chinese use the liquid balsam or resin for infections of the bladder, kidney diseases and fevers.

   It isn’t much used in the West because of the difficulties of harvesting the resin; most of it stays in Asia and the Middle East.

HOW TO MAKE BAKED GOLA KEBAB (BAKED ROUND KEBAB)

BAKED ROUND KEBAB (BAKED GOLA KEBAB)

Ingredients

½ kg ground/minced meat

½ cup natural yoghurt

½ cup oil

125 gr onions chopped, fried and pounded

2 tbsps garam masala

1 tsp ginger root paste

1 tbsp crushed papaya

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp cumin seeds

salt to taste

Method

Put all the ingredients except the yoghurt and oil and pound it together, then mix well. Now add the yoghurt and mix in well with the meat mixture.

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Spread the oil evenly over a baking tray, and make 12 round flat kebabs (like beef burgers or make into meatballs).

Put the tray in the oven and bake for half an hour.

Serve with garlic bread or French fries.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

OUD: OUD OIL: OUD INCENSE: HOW OUD IS PRODUCED

oud resin

OUD OIL FROM AQUILARIA SP. TREES

The tree from which oud comes is known by many names including: - Eagleswood, Aloeswood, Agarwood and Kiara. Its name is oud in Arabic and Urdu, but should not be confused with the stringed instrument rather like an old fashioned lute which has the same name. In Hindi it is known as agar, not to be confused with the seaweed used for a gel instead of gelatine, which we in the West call agar agar. Oud oil is the most expensive oil in the world, and has been for millennia. It is the aloeswood of the Bible, and is little known in the West. The markets for it continue to be in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Japan where it is used in religious and cultural ceremonies as well as in traditional medicine.

   The agarwood trees originate in Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia including Papua New Guinea.

tree infected by fungus

   It is mentioned in the Sanskrit Veda texts and in the chronicle written in the 3^rd century AD by Wa Zhen, “Nan zhou yi wu shi” (“Strange Things from the South”). It is found in the Far East and Asia and is the most luxurious perfume base that money can buy. It takes around 300 years to form, and trade routes for this and other perfumes and incense such as frankincense and myrrh were well-established by 1500 BC.

   In the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent there is a legend which says that oud came from Paradise with Adam. He covered himself with the leaves from the agarwood to shield his nakedness and when he fell from paradise, the leaves were scattered by the wind and fell over Asia and Indian subcontinent where have grown ever since.

 Ibn Sina or Avicenna as he is known in the West improved the distillation process for making Attar of roses and this helped the production of oud oil too. Today oud oil costs more than $27,000 a pound weight, and the agarwood for making incense or incense burners costs $13,000 a kilo for top quality wood. An ounce of standard quality oud oil goes for somewhere around $1000-$1400 US. A miniscule amount of the oil will release its fragrance for 8 hours.

   The oil is reminiscent of amber oil and in her book, “The Complete Incense Book”, Susanne Fischer-Rice describes the perfume in this way: “Agarwood has balsamic ambergris, woody, deep fragrance. To experience the many nuances of this unique substance is like a journey on the road to spiritual perfection”. So it will come as no surprise to you that it is used by Buddhists to prepare for meditation. The oil and incense produced from the wood has also been used as an aphrodisiac for centuries.

   Unfortunately, naturally enough the agarwood tree is endangered because of the value of the oil. Poachers deplete the stocks of agarwood trees and they are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CITES). The Aquilaria malaccensis was put on the list in 1995 and all the other species of Aquilaria were added in 2004.

germinating saplings

   Oud oil is produced in trees which have been infected by a fungus, and is the trees’ response to the fungal attack. In cultivated trees they can be infected through injections by the fungus which speeds up the process of producing the oud oil which has taken 300 years. Because of the endangerment of these trees scientists from around the world have come up with ways of replenishing the world’s stocks. In Thailand people are being encouraged to plant the trees in their gardens and nurseries have produced millions of saplings of agarwood trees to prevent their extinction. They are now grown in plantations which use sustainable methods to extract the oil. In Vietnam there are also programmes to assist the growth of these trees.

   In India, Pakistan and Thailand the agarwood trees still exist in the wild, but they are in inaccessible forests which are dangerous for poachers and traders alike. Growing the trees in plantations and using sustainable methods to extract the oil will help the wild trees’ survival, and hopefully they will not go the way of the long extinct Pinus succinifera from which we get amber.

   Oud oil is used in traditional medicine for a number of purposes, including to help in childbirth. Breathing the smoke from the burning wood will help with respiratory problems, colds, coughs and asthma. The oil has been used to help sufferers of rheumatism, as a stimulant and a tonic combined with other ingredients. It helps lift the spirit and boosts energy levels. However it is so expensive that the price prohibits the treatments. It is used in mosques, sometimes they have the wood as a burner for other incense, and sometimes they burn the wood chips as incense, along with amber and frankincense.