BALM OF GILEAD: WHAT WAS ANCIENT BALSAM OIL? MEDICAL BENEFITS OF BALM OF GILEAD USES AND HISTORY

BALM OF GILEAD AND ANCIENT BALSAM OIL

Balsam oil was named by the ancient Greeks but the original balsam oil came from a now extinct persimmon tree. This oil was highly valued in the ancient world and used to anoint the kings of Israel in Biblical times. A jar of it was found in a cave near the Dead Sea in 1989 and there was enough oil left in the sealed jar for it to be analyzed.

   These days the term balsam oil can be used to signify any seed plant that yields fragrant oleo-resin which is used in the manufacture of perfumes and medicines. This means that Abies balsamea and Canada balsam are balsam yielding trees. Moreover Balm of Gilead can come from trees or bushes that grow all over the world, but academics have put forward a fairly convincing theory that the gold of the gifts of the wise men to Jesus was in fact golden balsam oil. This actually makes a lot of sense as frankincense, myrrh and balsam yielding plants all grew in the same habitat.

  A balm can be anything that soothes or heals, e.g. lemon balm, Melissa officinalis. It is confusing, but quite clear. The oil we now call Balm of Gilead is not the same as that of the ancient world. This oil is Balsam of Mecca- probably. Prosper Alpinus, a 16^th century botanist and physician spent 3 years in Egypt and wrote in his “Dialogue of Balm” that 40 plants had been taken from the En Geddi groves of Balm of Gilead trees to a site close to Cairo. And these were from the Commiphora family of trees. He describes the balm of Gilead produced from these trees as smelling of “turpentine” but much sweeter and more fragrant, bitter and acrid to the taste and the oil, kept for some time, turns to a light greenish colour, then matures to a golden colour. He said that you could tell a true balsam because it would cling easily to the point of a needle.

by Berthold Werner Madaba Map,

   When archaeologists uncovered a mosaic map on the floor of a nave of a synagogue in Jordan, in Madaba in 1884, and since then there has been a puzzle about the “mysterious bush” that was in the mosaic along with date-palms. Dates were of great economic importance at the time and so it was logical to suppose was the bush. Joan Taylor and Nigel Hepper, in 2004 suggested that the bush was in fact the one from which the Balm of Gilead was obtained. This makes sense as the balm was one of the most expensive commodities in the ancient world, and much prized for its wound healing properties.

   It has taken modern researchers until 2010 to support what the ancient physicians knew for a certainty, but what they knew the modern researchers are more careful about saying. David Iluzi et al have found that the oil from Commiphora gileadensis has antibacterial properties, so is useful for healing wounds, but more tests are needed before this can be stated with certainty.

   The book of Jeremiah contains the following lament: -

       Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing

       for the wound of my people?”

  Legend has it that the trees that were grown on Mount Gilead were given to King Solomon by the Queen of Sheba, and also grew in the oases around the Dead Sea basin, in En Geddi and Jericho (also famous for its roses).Archaeologists found this dire warning on the mosaic floor of a synagogue at En Geddi: “Whoever reveals the secret of the village to the gentiles, the One whose eyes roam over the entire earth and see what is concealed will uproot this person and his seeds from under the sun.” The village was as highly fortified to guard the secret of the precious balm. It was really much more valuable than gold. This makes it likely that it was this golden balm that was given by the three Magi to the baby Jesus, as it grew in much the same areas as the frankincense and myrrh that were also gifts.

  Balm of Gilead of whatever kind has been used for centuries, for coughs, colds, sore throats, laryngitis, and applied externally to relieve the inflammation caused by arthritis and rheumatism. It is still used for labour pains and the dried bark of the trees is used for healing wounds. The Balsam of Mecca-bearing plants grow in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen and Somalia.

    The Balm of Gilead trees in the US or Populus candicans or the Cottonwood which is a member of the Salicaceae family has many uses and even the buds can be used to treat ailments. In folk remedies the buds are used for a facial wash and for a tisane for coughs, colds and bronchial problems. The inner bark makes a tisane for eyewash and a blood tonic, while the roots can be boiled and used as a wash for headaches. If you inhale the steam from the boiled buds, this is good to clear nasal and bronchial congestion.

TISANE FROM THE POPULUS CANDICANS BUDS

Ingredients

1 cup boiling water

1 tbsp buds

Method

Boil the water and pour it over the buds. Leave this to steep for 15 minutes and drink a cupful 3 times a day for coughs, colds and flu.

When you pick the buds, pick leaves too and dry them for poultices for inflammation and skin problems.

This has Taste and is a Treat(ment).

MYRRH:THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF MYRRH: USES OF MYRRH: HISTORY OF MYRRH

Myrrh Tree

MYRRH

Myrrh is known throughout the world as one of the gifts the Magi gave to the infant Jesus. The others were gold and frankincense, although the gold may not have been the metal but an even more precious oil. The name myrrh comes from the Hebrew, mur or maror which both mean bitter.

  Myrrh, like frankincense is an oleo-gum-resin which today comes from Somalia and Ethiopia where the Commiphora myrrha is a native plant. Frankincense trees and myrrh bushes (they grow to around 9 feet) grow together usually and the Arabian myrrh comes from the Balsamodendron species of myrrh-bearing plants. Myrrh either exudes from the bark of the tree spontaneously or is helped by cutting the bark. When the myrrh gum dries it forms tear drop shapes and this gave rise to several Greek myths about why it formed tear drops.

Myrrh Gum

   One of these myths is related to the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite and the daughter of the king of Syria, Theias. The daughter’s name was Smyrna (now the Greek name for Izmir in Turkey) or Myrrha. She refused to worship Aphrodite who was so furious that she made Smyrna lust after her father. She, with the help of her nurse, had intercourse with her father for twelve nights. He had no idea that the woman was his daughter. When he discovered what had happened he drew his sword and was going to kill the fleeing Smyrna. She prayed to the gods to be made invisible and they took pity on her and turned her into either a myrtle tree or the myrrh tree according the myths. After nine months, Adonis her baby, emerged from the split tree, and was later to take revenge on Aphrodite. The tear drop resin is symbolic of Smyrna or Myrrha’s grief when she realized the enormity of her acts.

   The ancient Greeks used myrrh in a perfume called megaleion, and as an antidote to poison. Myrrh was thought to protect from the plague, but after the Black Death in London in 1665, it was proved that it had no effect so it fell out of favour.

Myrrh Resin

    Myrrh is a reddish-brown colour unlike frankincense which is much paler and often white. It has been used as part of religious ceremonies since ancient times and was used by the Egyptians both in medicine and in religious rites. The Greeks warriors took it into battle with them to heal wounds and prevent the spread of gangrene. It was burned at funerals as an incense until the 15^th century.

   The emperor Nero (who fiddled while Rome burned according to legend) burned a whole year’s supply of the costly myrrh at the funeral of his wife, Poppea Sabina in 65 AD.

   It has been used to alleviate ulcers, sores, chapped skin, athlete’s foot, ringworm and to smooth and rejuvenate the ageing facial skin. It was commonly found in tooth powders in the 19^th century and is used in mouth washes, as it prevents halitosis. The smoke from burning myrrh can be inhaled to ease congestion of the nasal and bronchial passages.

   It has antifungal, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, astringent and stimulating properties, and can be used as an emmenogogue, to induce a woman’s menstrual flow. Because of this property, pregnant women should not use it. It has also been used to aid digestion as it stimulates the appetite and gastric juices. It can also be used as an astringent wash.

   In 1998 two icons depicting Saint Nicholas the miracle worker, once owned by Czar Nicholas II were reported to have produced flowing tears of myrrh.

Myrrh Bush

  Recently researchers have found two compounds in myrrh which are potent painkillers and one compound that helps to lower cholesterol levels. It is also believed that myrrh might prove to be a potent anti-cancer agent and has potential in cases of prostate and breast cancer.

  In Germany the use of powdered myrrh and tincture of myrrh has been approved for the treatment of minor oral inflammation and pharyngeal mucosa.

   Traditionally it has been used in childbirth to ease labour pains and encourage uterine contractions.

   It is an ingredient of Fernet Branca, the Italian drink which is sometimes used as a hangover cure, but which was created in 1845 by Maria Scala as a medicine. Today it is a popular drink mixed with cola in Argentina and San Francisco.

   In Somalia, when a baby is born, myrrh is placed under his/her bed until he/she is a year old, a tradition which has continued for at least 2500 years. It is believed that the myrrh will help shape the child’s future so that it will be a good one.

  

WHAT IS LOQUATS? LOKAT , ERIOBOTRYA JAPONICA: LOQUATS HEALTH BENEFITS, USES AND HISTORY: HOW TO MAKE LOQUAT TISANE

LOQUATS, LOKAT, ERIOBOTRYA JAPONICA

Loquats are originally native to southeastern China, but were introduced to Japan and the Indian subcontinent so long ago that they have become naturalized there. They grow in the Punjab province of Pakistan and in Khyber-Pakhtoonkwa (formerly the North West Frontier province). They grow in Greece and Turkey where they are called Yeni Gun or New Day. In Pakistan they are called lokat. The name comes from the Cantonese, luh kwat which literally means “rush orange”. Chinese immigrants are believed to have taken them to Hawaii.

   They were first described to the western world in 1690 by Kaempfer a botanist, and Thunberg elaborated on his description after a visit to Japan in 1712. The trees were planted in the National Gardens in Paris in 1784 and plants were transported from Canton to London to be planted in the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew in 1787. By the 1870s they were common in California where they were planted as ornamental small-fruited trees.

 By 1818 they were being grown in greenhouses in England and can be grown outside in sunnier places such as Cornwall.

Loquat tree

   The fruit are rich in potassium, iron and calcium and the seeds contain amygdalin which is also in the skin, linoleic, palmitic, and oleic acids. The leaves contain traces of arsenic, tannins, triterpenes, vitamin B and ascorbic acid, and the young leaves contain saponins. (You should use these in tisanes so that they will help lift your mood.)

   The fruit acts as a sedative and can stop vomiting and prevent thirst, while infusions of the dried, powdered leaves, relieve diarrhoea, depression, and counteract intoxication from alcohol. You can make hot leaf poultices for swellings such as tennis elbow and sprains. The tisane can be used for skin diseases, or a paste can be made from the leaves and applied to the skin to get rid of rashes, pimples and irritation. However the main uses of the tisane are to relieve coughs, warm the body and help ease sore throats.

  You can make strawberry and loquat sauce, by just hulling the strawberries and peeling and stoning the loquats then liquidizing them adding a liqueur of your choice to taste if the sauce is too thick for your purposes. You can make a crumble with them too, simmering the peeled stoned fruit with a little water and sugar for 10 mins then transferring it to an oven-proof dish and topping with 4-6 oz flour mixed with 2-3 oz butter and rubbed together until they become breadcrumb like; then add a little sugar. Mix and pour over the fruit. Cook in a moderate oven until golden brown on top (about 20-30 mins) and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

 

LOQUAT LEAF TISANE

Ingredients

15 gr dried loquat leaves or 60 gr. fresh young leaves,

gur or jaggery to taste

3 cups water

Method

Wrap the leaves in muslin or a piece of thin cotton, put in a pan with the water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 30 mins.

Add the gur or jaggery and simmer until this has melted.

Drink a cup a day to get rid of a cough, cold or ease a sore throat. It’s also good for the stomach and lungs (apparently), if taken regularly.

This has Taste and is a Treat(ment).

CAPERS - KABER - CAPPARIS SPINOSA BENEFITS, USES AND HISTORY: PIQUANT CHICKEN WITH CAPERS RECIPE

CAPERS, KABER, (CAPPARIS SPINOSA)

The name caper comes from the Latin, capra meaning goat, so either this is because they smell strongly or goats like them. Maybe it’s a combination of both as capers are pungent and astringent. Spinosa means spiny as the bush they grow on has thorns. They are believed to have originated in dry areas of West or central Asia, but they grow in abundance in the Mediterranean region. It could be that the name capparis comes for Kypros the Greek name for the island of Cyprus where they grow prolifically.

   They are the edible bud of the caper bush picked immediately before they flower and preserved in oil, vinegar or brine. Like the buds of the kachnar tree, they taste very good. The fruits or berries can be eaten too, and tender young shoots including the immature small leaves can be eaten as a cooked vegetable. The mature fruits can also be cooked and eaten as a vegetable, but the capers we generally eat are the flower buds, bought in a jar from the supermarket.

  I have picked wild capers in the Sibylline hills in Italy and eaten the fresh leaves and shoots, and this was close to where the Sibyl was supposed to have lived; in the Marche region close to Tuscany.

   Pliny mentioned capers, (23-79 AD), writing that the best ones in the Roman Empire came from near the Sea of Galilee. Dioscorides also mentions them remarking that they were a cash crop for the Greeks. Some of the best capers I have tasted came from the Cycladic Island of Santorini or Thera.

   The fruit are edible and eaten raw in the Eastern parts of India as an appetizer. We can use them as appetizers too, as they are great deep fried for 30 seconds and served with black Kalamata olives with drinks.

   The dried rind from the fruits has antiseptic properties and is used in the subcontinent to polish silver and gold items and in Ayurvedic medicine parts of the caper fruit and bark are used to cure flatulence, improve liver functions and as an anti-rheumatic. Infusions and decoctions of the root bark are used to treat anaemia, arthritis and gout. Traditionally the caper bush parts have also been used to improve kidney functioning and in the treatment of osteoporosis.

   The oil from the seeds contains mainly oleic acid linoleic acid and smaller amounts of palmitic and steoric acid. Capers have antioxidant properties and are believed to be hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and phyto-protective, so they are very good for us, even though they can only be eaten in small quantities.

   There is some evidence that capers have been used in cookery since before the times of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt. They are good in rocket salads and some people have used marsh marigold buds as a substitute for them, but the best substitute is nasturtium buds, although they are not really as good as capers. You can use them as an edible garnish for dishes and they go well in piquant fish and meat sauces, and are a good addition to a potato salad.  There are many recipes using them with fresh and smoked salmon too. You can also add them to relishes and pickles. Rinse them before using them when you get them out of the jar though.

PIQUANT CHICKEN WITH CAPERS

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 halves of chicken breasts, pounded until very thin

1 large onion, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 glass white wine

2 tbsps lemon juice

2 tbsps capers

2 oz butter

olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

salt to taste

Method

Put flour, black pepper, oregano and a little salt in a plastic bag and shake to mix, then add chicken a piece at a time and coat evenly with the flour mixture.

Melt butter with the oil and fry the chicken pieces for 3 mins each side or until they are golden brown.

Remove chicken pieces and add onion and garlic to the pan and fry until cooked. Then add the liquids and stir so that all the brown bits are incorporated into the liquid. Cook for 2 mins then serve over the chicken and pasta of your choice.

This has Taste and is a Treat.