COFFEE ( COFFEA ARABICA) - HISTORY AND MEDICIAL RESEARCH: COFFEE IS GOOD FOR YOU: HOW TO MAKE GREEK OR TURKISH COFFEE

COFFEE, COFFEA ARABICA

Coffee grows on bushes or small trees, and the beans ripen in pods called cherries. You probably know the story of how an Ethiopian goat herder noticed his goats were friskier than usual after eating the red berries on a bush. He ate some too and realized the stimulant qualities of what we now call coffee. This is a similar tale to the way Cordyceps sinensis otherwise known as the caterpillar fungus, was found by yak herders in Tibet.

  By AD 1000 coffee had found its way into the Arabian Peninsula and was a well-kept secret among Muslims, who at first used it for its stimulating qualities, allowing them to stay awake all night during special prayer times. Later coffee shops opened and it was drunk for pleasure as it is now.

  No fertile bean grew outside of the Muslim world, and it took Baba Budan to smuggle some out of Mecca, or so the story goes. The Turks had coffee and this was introduced to Europe in 1615. The Europeans adored it and the race was on to establish a coffee trade. The Dutch were the first to have a plantation owned by Europeans, on Java, Indonesia. The beans were given away by the Dutch to European royalty and from the plant given to Louis XIV around 1714, other plantations sprung up, notably in the West Indies. Arguably one of the best (and most expensive) coffees in the world is Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

  A Brazilian Colonel was sent to French Guiana ostensibly to settle a dispute, but in fact to steal fertile coffee beans which he did, although he didn’t exactly steal them, they were a gift for his ‘services’ from the governor’s wife, hidden in a bouquet when he left and so his mission was successful, as Brazil is now one of the biggest coffee exporters in the world.

  The coffee bean has a rather lurid history to be sure, and has been reviled because it was once said by scientists to be cancer forming. This was actually retracted by the researchers a day after publication in the world’s press, but the general public only remember the ‘fact’ that coffee caused cancer and not the retraction.

  One coffee plant can produce one pound of coffee beans, and unfortunately the plant is subject to blight which can decimate crops and cause prices to rocket. Banking on coffee futures is often not a good investment. The coffee plant is a member of the Rubiaceae family along with Kadamb.

   2011 was a good year for coffee, as researchers at the University of Bristol, UK conducted a study which showed that women performed memory tests better after drinking coffee, and reacted more quickly than usual to stressful situations. On the other hand men were slower and not as responsive as the women in the study.

  Harvard research later in the same year found that if a man drank coffee (more than 6 cups a day was optimal) then they lowered the risk of getting prostate cancer, and if they contracted it, it was less likely to be terminal.

  Yet another Harvard study showed that coffee drinking did not increase the risk of having a second stroke nor did it adversely affect people with cardio-vascular problems. If you have a heart problem the researchers say, you don’t have to give up drinking coffee.

  If you start drinking coffee at thirty then you will have health benefits, such as staving off Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. These were the results of two separate studies. Four to five cups a day are deemed to be moderate. The coffee should be caffeinated but decaff will do scientists think.

  As yet they have not identified the substance or compound in coffee that has such beneficial effects on our health, so studies into coffee are ongoing.

 In Italy and Greece people don’t just eat lots of tomatoes, with olive oil, but they also consume a lot of coffee. It has potent antioxidant properties along with chocolate, red wine and green tea. Greeks will take hours over a small cup of coffee and a glass of water in their cafeneions (traditional coffee houses). In both Greece and Turkey fortunes are told by reading the coffee grounds; you upturn the cup when you have finished and the sludgy coffee will plop onto the saucer, after a few minutes. The cup is then turned up the right way and the outlines on the sides of the cup are interpreted for you, in much the same way as people read tea leaves in Britain. In Greece frappé coffee is the norm in summer made form instant coffee. You take a spoonful of it and mix with sugar and a tiny amount of water. Whisk this to a froth then add water and ice and milk if you like.

 Below is the recipe for Greek or Turkish coffee, traditionally made in a briki or long-handled pot. You can use a small saucepan if you don’t have one. Crushed green cardamom seeds may be added to the coffee if you wish or a whole pod for several cups of coffee. You can also add a small piece of cinnamon or cassia to the pot and boil it with the coffee. For a chocolate and coffee mousse see our chocolate post.

GREEK OR TURKISH COFFEE

Ingredients

1½ -2 tsps ground Arabica beans

1½-2 small coffee cups water

sugar to taste

Method

 Put all the above ingredients into the briki and stir well then slowly bring to the boil.

Quickly remove it from the heat and turn the heat down to low. Allow the coffee to boil again, it will be very frothy.

Pour into the cup and drink.

Makes 1 cup

This has Taste and is a Treat.

CORDYCEPS SINENSIS ( CATERPILLAR FUNGUS) - HISTORY, USES AND HEALTH BENEFITS

THE CATERPILLAR FUNGUS, CORDYCEPS SINENSIS

The story of the caterpillar fungus is a lot like the one of how the Ethiopian goat herder discovered coffee, and how salajeet was discovered by the English. In the case of coffee a goat herder noticed that after eating the fruit from a bush, his goats became livelier, while an Englishman traveling in the Himalayas saw monkeys eating a black sticky substance, and thought that this may have been why older monkeys had more hair than the ones in the plains. In the case of the caterpillar fungus Tibetan yak herders watched as their yaks became very lively and scoured the grass they had been grazing on and found this fungus.(I can’t imagine what a yak does when it becomes lively!) The fruiting head of this fungus looks a little grass-like and I guess it would be hard to spot, if you weren’t looking carefully for it.

  The original find was soon a matter for the Chinese Emperors who discovered that the fungus had invigorating qualities, and so it was seen as an anti-ageing invigorating “herb” for centuries. Of course like cacao in Mayan culture and later in Spain, only the wealthy could afford this “magical mushroom” because it was so expensive due no doubt to its rarity. At one time it was worth four times its weight in silver.

  The West discovered it when a French Jesuit priest, Jean Baptiste du Halda was introduced to it by the Chinese Emperor, whose guest he was. It first appeared in Tibetan medical writings in the 15^th century and in later European Materia Medica in the 18^th century.

  As it is a parasite C. sinensis can grow on caterpillars, insects and other fungi among other things. The picture of it looking distinctly like a caterpillar is the fungus that grew on one of these creatures and devoured its flesh. One of the things with this fungus is that although there have been hundreds of studies done on it most are questionable for one reason or another. For example, we don’t know which host the fungus grew on in some studies, and the constituents of the fungus would depend on the nutrients taken from the host. Other studies have not been translated entirely from Chinese, so the quality of the research is in doubt. In still other studies the researchers have had a vested interest in promoting the fungus because they work for the health supplement companies.

  Now cultivated C. sinensis are used in the US but no comparative studies have been done on the properties of these compared to their wild relatives.

  What is certain is that it has been used in Chinese traditional medicine for centuries to rejuvenate the aging and to boost energy levels. It has also been used to promote the health of the lungs, heart and immune system. It is said to improve male sexual functions too.

  It can increase oxygen capacity in the lungs, and boost energy levels, banishing fatigue and aching muscles in athletes. It is said to have helped athletes win many events, and sometimes set new world records. It has been proved to have anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties, and it may have potent antioxidant qualities. It enhances blood circulation and lowers cholesterol levels, it is believed from some studies. C. sinensis also supports the functions of the lungs, kidneys and liver, as well as boosting the immune system. It may have anti-cancer properties.

  Some of the specimens of C. sinensis which have been analyzed contain all the essential amino acids and others, vitamins E, K, an assortment of minerals and the fatty acids, oleic, linoleic, palmitic and stearic.

  Before you are tempted to buy a supplement containing this herb, try to make sure that it is genuine. Alternatively find other herbs that are native to your area to do the work you want this one to do.

WHAT IS SAMOSA? HOW TO MAKE SAMOSA: EASY AND TASTY RECIPE

SAMOSA RECIPE

Samosas are very popular street food in Pakistan and you can buy them almost anywhere, in special samosa shops where you can sit and eat them, covered with a delicious imli (tamarind) sauce, or with a different sauce (called ‘chutney’ here) such as a mint sauce.. They are one of the foods served to break the fast during Ramadan and are frequently served with pakoras.

  What are samosas? They are stuffed savoury pastries and may be stuffed with potatoes, which is most common and the recipe given here, or they can be stuffed with minced (ground) beef and peas, or with chicken, or a mixture of vegetables.

Ingredients

Pastry

2 cups fine flour (maida), sifted

2 tsps oil

1 tsp ajwain or thyme

warm water to mix

salt to taste

1 egg, beaten to seal pastry

Filling

3-4 potatoes depending on size

3 green chillies, finely chopped

1 onion chopped into small pieces

½ tsp ginger root, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, shredded finely

1 tbsp mint leaves, finely shredded

1 tbsp anar dana (dried pomegranate seeds), soaked for 15 mins before using

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp turmeric

chilli powder and salt to taste

oil for deep frying

Method

Mix flour with salt ajwain or thyme and the oil then add water slowly as needed to make a dough. Shape into 4 balls of equal size, cover in cling film and leave to chill for ½ an hour as this makes it easier to roll out the pastry.

Now roll them into rounds of 6 inches and cut in the middle.

Filling: -

Boil the potatoes peeled and whole then leave them to cool and mash them with all the other ingredients.

Beat the egg and use to seal two sides of each cone of pastry. Fill the cone with the filling and seal the end with the egg again.

Heat the oil for deep-frying and when hot enough to fry chips or French fries, lower the samosas into it a batch at a time so that they cook evenly.

Fry until the pastry is golden brown, remove from the oil and drain on absorbent paper.

Serve with chutney (sauce).

This has Taste and is a Treat.

ASHOKA TREE ( SARACA INDICA) - ASSUAGES GRIEF: HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF ASHOKA TREE

ASHOKA TREE, SARACA INDICA

The Ashoka tree is revered by Hindus and Buddhists alike, and is native to the Indian subcontinent. It has now spread farther afield and can be found in South-East Asia, including Thailand. It is a slow-growing evergreen tree with deep green leaves, although it is commonly mistaken for the Mast tree, which it doesn’t resemble, actually. It is also sometimes referred to as Jonesia asoka and Saraca asoka Roxb.but its proper botanical name is Saraca indica It is a member of the Fabaceae family or pea family, so is distantly related to the carob tree ( Ceratonia siliqua ), but it is in the sub family Caesalpaeniaceae as is senna. It has fragrant flowers with half white and half crimson stamens which give the flower clusters a hairy appearance, rather like the flowers on Grevillea robusta, although the Ashoka’s flowers are crimson and orange.

   Like the peepal tree it is sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus, as Hindus believe it is sacred to Kama Devi, the god of love, who used the flower on the tip of one of his five arrows to incite passion and desire. (One of its names means the tree of love.) Buddhists believe that the Buddha was born under the Ashoka tree. This is why you can see the tree in many temple and monastery gardens. The tree is mentioned in the Ramayana the Sanskrit text of Hindu mythology.

  Ashoka means without grief or sorrow in Sanskrit, (so a visit to a restaurant called this should be a pleasant experience) and its essential oil is used to help those who have suffered bereavement, or who feel isolated and alone. It is thought that drinking the water in which the flowers from the tree have been washed will protect against grief caused by trauma and suffering. The pulped flowers are also used as a remedy for dysentery.

  The tree is mainly used in medicine for female problems, but it may have anti-depressant properties in its leaves according to one research study. It is said to keep women healthy and youthful and is mainly used for gynaecological problems, with the bark employed as well as the flowers and roots in medical preparations. It contains bioflavonoids and tannins as well as amino acids and a variety of other substance and compounds which have not all be isolated.

  Research that has been done on the tree’s properties suggests that the stem bark has antifungal and anti-bacterial properties, as well as pain-killing ones. It may also have an impact on the central nervous system, but there has only been one study of this, so it is early days yet.

 It is hoped that Ashoka can help with Type II diabetes, but again, it is too early to tell. Not as much research has been done on this tree as has been done on the Kadamb tree.