STEVIA - SUGAR SUBSTITUTE: HISTORY AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF STEVIA: PUMPKIN PIE WITH STEVIA RECIPE

STEVIA, MADHU-PATTA, STEVIA REBAUDIANA

There are more than 300 genuses of Stevia, but the only one that we know of that has the sweetening potency is this one, Stevia rebaudiana which has been used by the Guarani Indians in Paraguay for centuries to flavout their bitter maté drinks. It grows wild in both Brazil and Paraguay and was only cultivated after 1900. It was “discovered” by Italian botanist, Moises Santiago Bertoni in 1887, while he was director of the College of Agriculture in Asuncion. It wasn’t until 1908 that a ton of dried leaves was first harvested for commercial use. It is much sweeter than sugar obtained from sugar cane and sugar beets, so as a rival the sugar industry had a vested interest in not having this natural sweetener as a rival. Stevia has advantages over sugar because it does not contain any calories and does not cause cavities as sugar does.

  Bertoni recognized the plant as one of the Stevias and called it rebaudiana after the Paraguayan chemist, Rebaudi who is credited with first extracting a substance called stevioside from the plant.

  Stevia is known as “honeyleaf” or “sweet leaf” in many languages and kaa-he-he by the Guarani Indians who were the first to use it in Pre-Columbian times.

  Stevia rebaudiana has been the subject of much controversy with early studies apparently showing that it could harm human health. There were fears that it is genotoxic and carcinogenic, but subsequent trials have disproved both claims. Currently, the European Commission is weighing up the evidence presented to it and will decide at the end of this month whether or not to approve Stevia’s use as a sweetener in Europe. Currently it is used as a dietary or health supplement and is legally approved in France and Germany. In the US where the controversy has mostly raged, Stevia has come into the US FDA’s category as Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) but as a supplement and is used in “health” drinks.

  The European Food Safety Authority’s scientific panel on additives (the ANS panel) has assessed the safety of the glycosides extracted from the leaves and established Acceptable Daily Intake for their safe use which is inline with that of  WHO (World Health Organization). They have affirmed that:-

  “Toxicology testing showed that the substances are not genotoxic, nor carcinogenic or linked to any adverse effects on the reproductive human system or on the developing child.”

Further they advise that a person can have a daily intake of steviol glycosides of 4 milligrams per kilo of body weight.

  The WHO has stated:-

 “…steviosides and rebaudioside A are not genotoxic in vitro or in vivo and that the genotoxicity of steviol and some of its oxidative derivatives in vitro is not expressed in vivo”

In other words, although when studied in test tubes or not on live subjects (in vitro) there was some evidence of genotoxicity, but this was not found in live (in vivo) subjects.

  If it is more widely available it will help those with diabetes and help combat obesity, so it is to be hoped that the European Commission and the US FDA decide to accept it for use as a sugar substitute. In Japan, China, Malaysia and South Korea as well as elsewhere, it is used as such.

PUMPKIN PIE WITH STEVIA

Ingredients

Crust:-

1½ cups digestive biscuits

1/8 tsp powdered white stevia extract

6 tbsps melted butter

1 tsp cinnamon

Filling:-

2 eggs lightly beaten

1¾ cups cooked pumpkin or butternut squash

¼ cup crushed walnuts

3 tbsps raw cane sugar

½ tsp white powdered stevia extract

½ tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp grated nutmeg

1½  cups evaporated milk

extra crushed walnuts for topping (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 300°F or 180°C, Gas mark 2.

Combine the crust ingredients so that they resemble breadcrumbs, reserve ¼ and put the rest in a 9 inch pie plate, pressing along the bottom and sides.

Put in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool

Turn the oven up to 425°F, 220°C or Gas mark 7.

Combine the filling ingredients and stir well to mix.

Pour the mixture into the pie crust and sprinkle the tops with extra walnuts and reserved crumbs.

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F, 180°C or Gas mark 6 and bake for 35 mins or until a knife or skewer stuck into the centre comes out clean.

Serve with whipped cream.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

CENTAURY - AS USED BY CHIRON THE CENTAUR: MEDICINAL BENEFITS , HISTORY AND USES OF CENTAURY: CENTAURY TISANE RECIPE

CENTAURY, CENTAURIUM  ERYTHRAEA

Centaury, like rue and wormwood is a bitter herb, which was one of the 15 herbs of the ancient Britons said to protect against evil spirits. It gets its name because Greek legend has it that it was the herb favoured by Chiron the Centaur who was renowned for his healing with herbs. Because of its bitterness it was known as “gall of the earth”, Fel Terrae, but despite its taste it has been employed in folk medicine for centuries. The Anglo-Saxons used its juice to counter poisonous bites from adders and spiders, and in Britain it was though that the pink, white and yellow centauries could be beneficial for different diseases. The white and yellow ones are less common than the pinky red ones, as erythros was Greek for red, hence the botanical name erythraea.

  Perhaps because of its bitterness, herbalists usually used it in combination with other herbs to treat ailments, such as with Roman chamomile, Meadowsweet and Marsh Mallow for dyspepsia. It was combined with barberry (rasout) and yellow dock for jaundice, and centaury root was combined with burdock root and chamomile for anorexia and to stimulate the appetite. Equal parts of centaury and St. John’s wort were given to the elderly before bedtime to stop incontinence and to children to prevent bedwetting. The ancient Physicians of Myddfai used it alone in the following remedies:-

 “For extreme thirst. Drink the centaury infused in hot water. This will quench thirst, and clear the breast and stomach.”

 “For pain in the kidneys. Take the centaury, infused in cold water, and give it to the patient to drink.”

  The white centaury was used for mucous and discharges including phlegm, the yellow was for the liver and jaundice while the more common red or pink one was for blood diseases.

  A decoction of the plant can be used as a rinse to get rid of head lice, while the tisane is used for a number of ailments including to remove freckles and age spots (the decoction can also be used for these purposes), for gastroenteritis and stomach cramps, to start delayed menstruation, and in diseases of the liver and kidneys as well as for muscular rheumatism. It is also reputedly good as part of a weight loss diet, constipation, flatulence, heartburn, colic, and anaemia. Centaury was one of the main ingredients in Portland powder which also included the dried roots of the cuckoo pint and was used for gout in the early 20^th century in Britain.

  Centaury is native to Europe and North Africa, and can be distinguished because its flowers rarely open until after midday and don’t at all if the weather is bad. In this it is like the shamrock (wood sorrel). It grows to heights of between 3 and 20 inches with an erect stem and yellow, woody roots. The German Commission E has approved its use for dyspepsia and recommends a daily dose of 1- 2grams of the herb. A decoction can be made by boiling 30 grams of the herb in a litre of water for 20 minutes, while the following infusion can be made and taken half and hour before meals to stimulate the appetites and prevent heartburn.

 

CENTAURY TISANE

Ingredients

1 oz of the dried herb or 2½.oz of the fresh herb

1 pint boiling water

honey to taste or a stevia leaf

Method

Put the herb in a pan and pour the boiling water over it.

Leave this to steep for 15 minutes before straining and drinking a wineglass full half an hour before a meal to aid digestion and stimulate the appetite.

Add honey or stevia to taste.

This has Taste and is a Treat(ment).

BRACKEN FERN - SEEDS TO WALK INVISIBLE: HEALTH BENEFITS, SUPERSTITIONS AND USES OF BRACKEN

BRACKEN (FERN) PTERIS AQUILINA (LINN)

Bracken is probably the most common fern in Britain and ranges through most of the world, although it is not found in countries around either Pole. It was named by Carl Linnaeus, who believed that the markings when the base of the stem is cut obliquely resembled an eagle, so it was called aquilina whereas pteris comes from pteron or feather in Greek a clear reference to the feathery leaves of the fronds. Bracken must be a prehistoric fern, and although it normally grows to a height of around three feet, it can grow up to 10 feet tall. As a child I would hide from my grandfather when playing hide and seek in the bracken on the mountain, Twm Barlym.

  In Scotland it is known as devil’s foot and witches were reputed to loathe this fern as when cut it has the shape of the Greek letter X (chi) in it which is the initial of Christ or Christos in Greek. In Ireland it was known as the fern of God. In the 17^th century it was believed that burning bracken would help bring rain.

  The spores of this fern are invisible to the naked eye, so people wondered how it propagated. It was believed that the seeds of the bracken were visible on St. John’s Eve at the precise moment of his birth only. Shakespeare makes reference to this phenomenon in Henry IV part I , Act II scene 1:

Fiddlehead of Bracken

  Gadshill…”We have the receipt of fern seed-we walk invisible.”

Here “receipt” means recipe.

Ben Jonson writing later in his play “The New Inn” or “The Light Heart” has this to say:-

  “I had no medicine, Sir, to walk invisible,

   No fern seed in my pocket.”

Clearly it was a common belief that if you had a fern seed upon your person, you would be invisible in the Renaissance and Jacobean England. Perhaps for this reason it was also thought to convey eternal youth.

  Ancient people made diet drinks from the ferns and stems and used it as a remedy for numerous disorders, but as bracken when eaten raw by animals produces cancerous tumours, it is best avoided unless you know exactly what to do with it. It can, if eaten raw also deprive the body of thiamin one of the important B-complex vitamins.

  Culpeper writes that the roots bruised and boiled in mead and honey water could get rid of intestinal worms and stop swellings of the spleen. Of the leaves he writes that they can “purge the belly and expel choleric and waterish humours that trouble the stomach.” He also mentioned that the bruised roots could be boiled in oil or “hog’s grease” and made into an ointment for wounds while the powdered roots were “used in foul ulcers” to bring about their rapid healing.  He also believed that when bracken was burned it could get rid of “noisome creatures” such as gnats and snakes.

  Gerard writing earlier in the 16^th century said that the root of bracken “cast into a hogshead of wine keepeth it from souring.”

  The root or rhizome of bracken contains starch and can therefore be used as food in times of desperation, and it produces a lather when in water so can be used as a soap substitute. Young fronds have been used as a green vegetable and were once sold in bundles as asparagus is now. If you are desperate enough to want to eat young bracken shoots, you should wash them carefully in cold water and then par boil them for a few minutes, and then steep them in cold water for a few hours. You can then cook them like spinach and serve with melted butter or a butter-based sauce.

  If you burn bracken the resulting potash is rich in the mineral potassium, and can be used as fertilizer. Dried bracken was once used as thatch and dye can be obtained from it-either green or brown.

  In traditional medicine around the world, the young shoots of bracken are used as a diuretic, to cool the body and to expel worms. Native Americans used to lay babies and the frail on bracken leaves to strengthen their backs. They used the rhizomes for food, and either boiled or roasted them. The fronds were also used to make baskets and to clean salmon and eels before cooking them.

  A tisane can be made from the roots to relieve stomach cramps, chest pains, internal bleeding, for colds, to get rid of intestinal worms and to stop diarrhoea. Poultices of the root have been used for mastitis, burns and sores. A tincture of the root in wine was used for rheumatism, while glue can also be made from the roots. Some people rub the powdered roots into their scalps to promote hair growth.

  However modern medical research does not support these folk ‘remedies’ so bracken is best used as a fertilizer.

WHAT IS BAINGAN KA BARTHA? SMOKED AUBERGINES: HOW TO MAKE DELICIOUS, EASY, SPICY SMOKED AUBERGINES WITH ONIONS

BAINGAN KA BARTHA

Baingan ka Bartha is a traditional vegetarian Pakistani recipe and a great way of cooking aubergines. As the skin is removed it is OK for those who suffer from IBS or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. First of all you have to char the aubergines over a gas flame so tat the skin can be removed easily and this gives the aubergines a delightful smoky flavour.

SPICY SMOKED AUBERGINES WITH ONIONS

Ingredients

2 medium aubergines

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 inch ginger root, finely chopped

6 green chillies, finely chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

6 onions, sliced

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 handful coriander leaves, shredded

½ handful mint, shredded

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp ajwain or thyme

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp chilli powder

salt to taste

2 cups oil

Method

Char aubergine skin all over, over a low gas flame or place in an oven on a baking sheet; 5 minutes each side.

Put in cold water to remove all the skin. Remove the stem from the top of the aubergine and chop into small pieces.

Heat the oil in a pan and throw in the garlic, ginger and cumin seeds and cook or 1 minute. Add the chopped aubergines, salt, turmeric, green chillies and black pepper and fry for 3 minutes.

Then add the tomatoes, coriander seeds, chilli powder, ajwain or thyme, garam masala, and stir well until the tomatoes disintegrate.

Now add the onions and stir well to mix. Lower the heat and cover for 3 minutes. Then turn the heat up to medium and stir so that the mixture doesn’t stick for 5 minutes or until the oil rises to the top and can be clearly seen.

Add the coriander and mint leaves and remove from the heat. Leave for 5-10 minutes to settle and serve with roti, chapattis or naan or other bread of your choice.

This has Taste and is a Treat.