Moylsie should have gone to CurriesOnline.co.uk - and then he would have been saved from this tragedy

The celebration of Christmas varies in different parts of India. The Christian Communityin India celebrate Christmas beginning on Christmas Eve on 24th of December and continue until New Year’s Day. Christians across the country mark the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day by participating in special masses organized in churches. Celebration of Christmas is marked by carols, cakes, candles and decoration of a Christmas Tree.

In the North East Christmas the tribal Christians of the Bhil tribe go out night after night for a week during Christmas to sing their special carols the whole night through and tell the story of Christmas to everybody.

In South India, Christians light clay lamps on the rooftops and walls of their houses, the same way that Hindus decorate their homes during the Diwali Festival. People also prepare mouthwatering recipes such as cakes, puddings etc.

Christians in the plains decorate mango or banana trees at Christmas time. Sometimes they also decorate their houses with mango leaves. In several states of India a popular custom is to decorate banana or mango trees instead of the traditional pine tree. Another interesting Christmas tradition in India is decorating the Churches with poinsettia flower. Churches are decorated with poinsettas and lit with candles for the Christmas Eve Service.

However, for the urban regions the ingredients of the festivities are the familiar Christmas trees (mostly potted) decorated with stars and tinsels, toys, plastic fruits, and colourful streamers and illuminated well and placed in front of the Christian houses, shops and restaurants.

In several parts of India, especially in metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, the Christmas Festival has assumed secular overtones and is joyfully celebrated by people of all religions and communities. In Mumbai, which has one of the largest Roman Catholic communities in India, there is a tradition to depict nativity scenes and decorate homes with big stars. Christmas Day called ‘Bada Din’ (Big Day) in Hindi, is a national holiday in India and people from all religions join their Christian friends to make the most of the joyous celebrations.

In Christian households, preparations for Christmas begin at least a month in advance. People get their homes whitewashed and indulge in spring cleaning of the house to give it a fresh new look. Ladies start preparations for the traditional Christmas cake which is anxiously awaited not just by the entire family but also by the neighbours. Hectic shopping activity takes place as everyone buys new clothes for the festival Christmas gifts are also bought for friends, relatives and kids in the family. The biggest festival for Christians, Christmas is also the time for family reunions. People staying in different cities for job or higher studies rush back to their homes to celebrate Christmas with their near and dear ones. Indian Christians do not believe in short services.

Most exhilarating celebration of Christmas can be seen in the vivacious state of Goa. A large number of domestic and international tourists flock to the beaches of Goa during the Christmas festival to watch Goa at its cultural best. One can enjoy the best of Goan music and dance during Christmas festivities. Catholics in Goa participate in the traditional midnight mass services locally called Missa de Galo or Cock Crow as they go on well into early hours of the morning. The Carnival, preceding Lent, is the most important event at Goa. This is similar to Mardis Gras in New Orleans.

Laurus nobilis

The ‘noble laurel’, bay, is a native of the Mediterranean and Asia Minor, and has been used extensively for medicinal, culinary and even magical purposes since ancient times. Two main explanations for the origin of its botanical name have been put forward, both of which seem to bear merit: from the Celtic, laur, meaning green; from the Latin laudo, honour or praise. The specific name, nobilis, is the Latin for noble.

It is a key herb in mythology, ancient Greek especially: Apollo, the sun god, tried to force himself upon Daphne, a river nymph. In a desperate attempt to escape, she called upon the Earth Mother, Gaia, for help. Just as Apollo’s arms wound around her, Daphne disappeared and a bay laurel sprang up in her place. This moved Apollo so much that he immediately pronounced the tree sacred and took to wearing a crown made from its leaves. His temple at Delphi, the site of the famous Delphic Oracle, was thatched with a bay-leaf roof in order to protect the Oracle, who could be vulnerable in times of trance - a trance which could even have been aided by chewing the leaves of the laurel, which has slightly narcotic powers. These protective powers carry through into the folklore and myth of a lot of societies. Bay is said to protect against thunder and lightning; it is said that no bay tree has ever been struck by lightning. It was also said to have been protection against witches and evil spirits and small bay trees were traditionally grown by the entrances of homes to keep these malevolents ‘at bay’. Consequently, superstition holds that when a bay tree dies, it is a bad omen indeed.

Bay was also seen as a boost to athletic prowess, possibly because of its links with Apollo, and early victors in the original Olympic games were awarded crowns made from laurel leaves. Even today, ‘laureate’ is used to refer to someone who has reached the very top of their discipline, as in Poet Laureate and, when someone is being warned not to let their standards slip, they are very often reminded ‘not to sit on their laurels’, or, in other words, rely on past glory.

Herbal magic uses it to ward off negativity and one of it uses is as a trigger for meaningful and inspirational dreams - a young maiden will dream of the man she will marry if she pins 5 leaves to the pillow she sleeps upon.

In medicine, it has been used for inducing abortions, countering the effects of snakebite, urinary tract problems, indigestion and flatulence. Externally, bay leaf oil is used to help rheumatism.

Many cuisines use bay extensively - it is one of the basic herbs used in the French bouquet garni. Bay is used to flavour sauces, stocks and cooking waters and is used when cooking pulses to help guard against flatulence. Indian cooks often refer to bay leaf, but this is frequently the leaf of the cassia tree, cinnamomum aromaticum, which is interchangeable in most Asian recipes. Again, even in the kitchen, its protective powers were relied upon as bay leaves were traditionally placed in flour bins to deter weevils.

One teaspoonful of bay weighs 2g and is 8.11 kcalories. The leaf contains fats, carbohydrate, fibre, sodium, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C and iron.

Ocimum sanctum, ocimum basilicum - Tulsi

Basil (ocimum sanctum) is the only member of the mint family which is native to India, where it was called arjaka in the ancient language, Sanskrit. Its Latin botanical names are derived from the Greek okimon, ‘fragrant lipped’ and basilikan, ‘Royal’.

Feelings about Basil have mixed throughout history, the herb having been variously associated with death, religious ritual, medicine, fertility, erotica and even as being responsible for the breeding of scorpions. It is probably for this reason, following a homeopathic logic that it was recommended at one time for the treatment of scorpion stings and snakebites. The ancients, although holding mixed feelings about the herbs, even swore oaths on it in courts of law.
Culpeper, who combined astrology with herbalism, assigned it to the ruling planet Mars, associated with the sign of Scorpio. It has been used in European magic lore to attract love, wealth, protection, in love spells and incenses for purification and exorcism rites. It was also believed in some country communities that carrying basil in the pocket would attract wealth and was rubbed directly onto the skin to serve as a simple perfume.

Ocimum sanctum is sacred to the Hindu god, Vishnu and his avatar, Krishna and is placed on temple and house altars for its peppery, carnation-like scent. Another traditional Hindu custom was to place a sprig of basil on the dead before burial to ensure safe passage to the next world. Ayurvedic practitioners recommend a decoction of European basil, (O. basilicium), for coughs and colds and prescribe a paste made from the leaves mixed with crushed black peppercorns for malarial fever. The juice, expressed from the leaves, is used as a gargle for pharyngitis, as eardrops, and to treat skin complaints and insect bites.

Unani Tibb, the medicine and dietetics system started by Avicenna in the 10th century, lists European basil as being useful in the treatment of flatulence, bad eyesight, melancholy, rheumatism and influenza.

Bush basil, which grows in South America is also revered in a similar way, being sacred too the Haitian love goddess, Erzulie. European herbalists have also long used the crushed leaves externally for eye problems and to ease arthritis and internally for nerves, headaches and faintness. It contains rhymol, eugenol and camphor, making its essential oil an ideal ingredient for soaps, perfumes, mouthwashes and toothpastes, and it was the camphor especially for which it was once used mixed with snuff, in powdered form, to clear the head.

These oils are called monoterpenes; simple lipids which do not contain fatty acids and which have been found to be potent antioxidants, helping to protect against heart disease and cancers.

Nutritionally, 100g of fresh basil leaf contains 29.09 kcalories, 033g fats, 5.08g carbohydrate, 4.44g fibre, 2.9mg sodium, 1.20g protein, 781iu vitamin A, 15.30mg vitamin C and 3.5mg iron.

Daucus carota, v. sativa - Gajja

A native of Afghanistan, early varieties were a purple, dark red or black colour and were cultivated from early times. Remains of early carrots have been found at excavations of early Swiss lake dwellings and it was cultivated in the Mediterranean region many years BC. The plant was listed as being among those in the famous gardens of King Merodach-Baladan of Babylon in the 8th century BC, but in the herb category, suggesting that the root was probably discounted at that stage. The exact lineage is difficult to trace as it was often confused with its close relative, the parsnip, by early horticulturists.

The earliest written evidence of the carrot comes from Ibn al-Awam, an Arab writer living in Andalusia in Spain during their Moorish occupation, who described two varieties; one purple and another, less flavour-some yellowy-green variety, both of which were used as a vegetable and in salads.

The carrot arrived in France and the Low Countries in 14th century and finally reached Britain in the 15th century. A pale yellow strain appeared in the 16th century, having had the dark purple anthocyanin colouring bred out by the Dutch, and which became very popular. The now familiar orange variety, developed by the Dutch breeders, appeared in the 17th century.

Carrots, like beets, contain sugars and were investigated as a source of refined sugar, but proved to be inferior to beets. It is this sweet quality, however, that has seen their use in sweet preparations since the Middle Ages in carrot cake, Christmas puddings and jams. On the Indian subcontinent, too, this quality has been utilised, and the carrot has been a successful and very popular ingredient to make dishes for the sweet-toothed, such as halwa.

They have gained a place in the ‘superfood’ category for their beta-carotene content. Beta-carotene is the vegetable pre-cursor to vitamin A, and just one raw carrot provides twice the recommended daily allowance for an adult. The beta-carotene is converted into vitamin A by the body and is excellent for eyes, skin and mucous membranes and is a powerful anti-oxidant which has been shown to protect against cancers, cataracts, coronary disease and stroke.

Another derivative of vitamin A, retinoic acid, already used in cosmetic face and anti-wrinkle creams, have been found to stop tumour cells multiplying by accelerating them through their reproductive stage, thus preventing growth. Tests carried out on eight children at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, all suffering from neuroblastoma, a rare cancer which attacks the nerve tissues, found that the cells matured more quickly when exposed to retoinic acid, dying off when it was withdrawn. The vegetable is also fibre-rich, especially in calcium pectate, a soluble fibre that has been shown to actually reduce bad cholesterol levels.

Carrots are also a good source of boron, the trace mineral which is believed to be important in helping to reduce the risk of osteoporosis, when taken with a good supply of calcium and magnesium. and in promoting strong bones and efficient brain functioning. Other minerals are sulphur, which fights infections and skin disorders, and potassium and magnesium which also help to keep heart, teeth and bones healthy.

Cooked carrots are rated at 49 in the Glycaemic Index, the scale invented to help in the treatment of diabetes, and which is used to measure the rate at which blood sugar levels rise when a particular carbohydrate bearing food is ingested. Lower level GI foods, (those below 50 are seen as best), are more complex and hence digested more slowly, ensuring a longer feeling of satiety, longer term energy maintenance and keeping blood sugar levels constant.

Bugs Bunny knows his stuff - all in all, a dieter’s dream at just 40 calories for one large, raw carrot.

Brassica oleracae - Gobi

A member of the cabbage family, the French dubbed it chou de Chypre, (Cyprus cabbage), as it was introduced to Western Europe from Cyprus in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. It is known to have been grown by the Arabs during the Middle Ages.

The white inflorescence is a sterile flowering structure, the lack of colour being managed by keeping it covered during growth, avoiding exposure to the sun to prevent the formation of chlorophyll.

Mark Twain, writing in Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar, made the observation that, “Cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education.” Maybe, if he’d known how good it was for him, he may have afforded it a little more respect.

As with all the cruciferous vegetables, people who include a high number of the family in their diet, such as cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts etc, have been found to have a lower incidence of cancer than those who do not.

Recent studies have also found that they contain a compound called sulphurophane, which may stimulate cancer-fighting enzymes in the body.
Cauliflower also contains vitamin C, potassium (essential for the maintenance of normal body fluid balance and the regulation of heart function and blood pressure), fibre and essential minerals, and a 100g serving equals a mere 30 kcalories.

cocos nucifera - Coconut palm

The coconut is a tropical palm which grows to heights of up to 25 metres. Written about and depicted since earliest times, it is probably the most important of the cultivated palms, with every part of the plant being used in some form or another.
In Sri Lanka, a major exporter of coconuts, it is said that the coconut has 99 uses; in Kerala, in southern India, it is known as ‘God’s gift to God’s own Country’; in some other parts of India, it is known as ‘the tree of heaven’; and the Sanskrit name for the coconut palm translates as ‘a tree which furnishes all the necessities of life’.

A palm starts to yield nuts from between 6-10 years from planting and can continue to be fruitful for up to one hundred years. Each tree has around 30 leaves and produces 12 new leaves each year to replace a similar number that die off. Conveniently, a new leaf is born each month and with each leaf, a flower which, after 12 months produces between 5-10 mature oval nuts, about 30cm long.

The flowers also yield a sweet juice which, when boiled down, produces a dark-brown, caramel-flavoured sugar called jaggery. If left to ferment, which takes only a matter of hours, this becomes an alcoholic drink known as toddy which, in turn, can then be distilled further to make a very potent and, in some places, quite popular spirit called arrak. The leaves themselves are used to make thatching, mats, fans, screens and baskets, and the top bud, or ‘palm cabbage’ is considered a culinary delicacy, as is the central part of a young palm’s stem.

The husks are used as organic fertiliser, can be turned into a fuel for the manufacture of bricks and are a traditional source of domestic fuel in the regions where the palms are grown. The husk fibre, coir, is used to make rope, cord and matting. The hard brown shells are turned into charcoal, then into activated carbon for use in water and gas purification filters and in battery manufacture. The inner brown skin and imperfect coconuts are smoked and dried to make copra, which is used to produce coconut oil, is used in cooking and in the production of soaps, candles, cosmetics and hair preparations. Even the root, which possesses mildly narcotic properties, is sometimes chewed.

Inside each coconut is the natural ‘milk’, a sweet-tasting opaque liquid which can be used as a drink or marinade. 200ml of this natural coconut milk contains about 57 kcalories, around 12g carbohydrate, 0.7g protein and less than 0.55g fat. Coconut flesh, however, contains 351 kcalories per 100g and is cholesterol-free. The total fat content of the same amount of coconut is 36g, 86% of which are saturated fats, making it one of only two vegetable oils high in saturated fats, (the other being palm oil), although recent research indicates that it may not be the ‘harmful’ type found in animal and dairy produce and may even help to reduce ‘bad’ cholesterol levels. It is a good source of fibre, containing just over 7% and potassium, which works with sodium to regulate the body’s water balance and ensure normal heart rhythm and is essential for the normal functioning of nerves and muscles. Low potassium intake has been associated with palpitations and high blood pressure. Ayurveda, the ancient study of life and maintenance of its natural harmony, regards coconut milk as cooling, a mild laxative diuretic, and good for heartburn, kidney diseases, an recommends it as an ideal remedy for fever, nausea and cardiac weaknesses.

The flesh itself is one of the major ingredients in south Indian cookery and is used fresh; in shredded and dried (desiccated) form; liquidised and set in to solid blocks, which is marketed as creamed coconut; liquidised and mixed with water and used as coconut milk or cream to thicken and add a nutty sweetness to a dish. Southern Indians use coconut not only as an ingredient in its own right, but also as a spice, either ground with other spices and flavourings to form a base masala ,often for non-vegetarian dishes, or fried lightly as a tempering and added as a final ‘blessing’ to a finished dish. To ring the changes even further, sometimes the coconut is lightly roasted first to add a deeper, nuttier taste. Even plain, steamed rice can benefit from the addition of a little coconut in any one of its various forms.

However, it’s not just Asian cooking that can profit from the addition of a little coconut cream. Used instead of cream in a sauce for chicken, fish or light meats, or added as a swirl in a soup, it can add a certain extra dimension to traditional European dishes. It is even good in bread making, adding a sweet, creamy flavour.

Added just before the end of cooking, it is also a good, natural thickener for stews and casseroles, and when added to a stir-fry, it can provide an instant, rich-tasting sauce - which can even be given a further zing with a squeeze of lime juice. Coconut cream can even be used as an instant dip by just adding a little flavouring, such as a little chilli with a few popped black mustard seeds. Then, of course, there are the obvious dessert uses: coconut crême caramel; coconut brulée; syllabub; mousse; soufflé; trifle; rice pudding; swirled into a pouring custard or sauce; made into an ice cream, parfait or kulfi; pancake batters; added to marscapone cheese for an interesting alternative to custard.

Naturally, such an important food attracts superstition, one of these being in southern India that coconuts should not be cracked after sundown, but that breaking one open at a special occasion will bring luck, being used rather like the ceremonial cutting of a ribbon at some events.

Ferula asafoetida, Ferula gummosa, Ferula narthaex, Felura scorodosoma - Hing.

One of the more important members of the Umbelliferae family, which includes parsley, fennel, carrot, cumin, coriander and caraway, amongst many others. Cultivated by the Babylonians, Greek and Romans, Asafoetida is now grown throughout western Asia, from Iran to Kashmir. Native to Afghanistan and Iran, where it is often eaten whole as a vegetable and meat tenderiser. The plant faintly resembles Cow Parsley; thick-ribbed stems with feathery-fine, lacinate, almost dill-like leaves.

The main attraction for the Indian cook, however, is the sap which is produced in its stems and roots. In the early summer, these parts of the plant are cut to produce a thick, milky, malodorous fluid, which quickly congeals to a brownish-orange resin on contact with the air. It is this resin, sold both in lump and ground form, which is used as a spice in cooking and in the cosmetic industry. This last use is its most surprising, given its very smelly properties. Its specific name is derived from two word, the Persian aze, mastic, and the Latin foetida, stinking.

The ancient Romans were particularly partial to it, despite the smell. They knew it as Laser, lasertum or Laserpitum. Their celebrated gourmet/gourmand and early food writer, Apicius used it extensively - especially in his own version of ‘Lamb Curry’: Roast Lamb flavoured with a spice mix of black pepper, spikenard, ginger, parsley. It was, of course, very expensive and he advised storing it in a jar of pine nuts, using the nuts, which absorb the flavour, and keeping the resin to flavour more nuts. The Romans brought it even further west, where it was adopted, mainly by the apothecaries in the monasteries for use in their lotions, potions and tinctures. The only place where such practices could be safely carried out without the danger of being accused of practising witchcraft. Perhaps it was the fact that it was named by these god-fearing monks, (or perhaps we English are just basically a coarse and unromantic lot - which I refuse to believe!), led to its local name here being Devil’s Dung!
Its legendary digestive properties make it an essential ingredient in traditional Indian vegetarian cooking where a lot of the basic foodstuffs come from that notoriously difficult-to-digest group of food-stuffs, the pulses, lentils and beans. The Brahmin and Jain sects in particular find it a useful flavouring as, when cooked, especially by frying in oil, it loses the ‘fetid’ quality and takes on a garlicky-onion flavour, making it a perfect substitute for those allia, specifically forbidden them under their dietary laws. It is not surprising, then, that Ayurveda, the study of the life forces which originated in the region most strongly linked with those cultures, has a great deal to say about the benefits of Asafoetida. It is said to be a digestive, disinfectant, and antispasmodic, mildly diuretic, a stimulant for glandular secretion, an improver of circulation and particularly useful for strengthening the nerves.

Another industrial product is a resinoid, a tincture using alcoholic extraction. Steam distillation removes the notorious smell, leaving a product ideal for use in perfumery which has excellent fixative properties - so important for a perfume’s staying power.

As with most exotic ingredients, Asafoetida is one of those anonymous stars of modern life, being consumed on a virtual daily basis by people who have never heard its name even uttered. How? Well, in 1835, one Lord Marcus Sandys, a former governor of Bengal returned to England with a recipe for a certain liquor that he felt he could not possible live without in his retirement ‘back in Blighty’. He took it to two local chemists in Worcester - a Mr Lea and Mr Perrins, to be exact. The two chemists made double the quantity, found it to be appalling stuff and hid the surplus away in their cellars. A year or so later, however, further investigation during a spring-clean revealed a very different product indeed. Over a century-and-a-half later, Worcestershire Sauce is used world-wide in dishes, ranging from Cantonese stir-fries to Spaghetti Bolognese, Lancashire Hot-Pots to Hashis Parmentier (Shepherd’s Pie to you and me). And, although the exact ingredients are still kept a closely guarded secret, even in this day and age of extensive food labelling, what is one of the mysterious essential ingredients? Why, good old Devil’s Dung, of course!

Prunus dulcis (Sweet), Prunus amygdalus (Bitter), Badam

The almond originated in the Near East, then spread throughout the Mediterranean, where it is grown alongside the olive, both ideal crops in rocky, poor ground. According to the Bible, Aaron’s rod, chosen to sprout by God, thus indicating his choice of the House of Levi as his priests, was made from almond wood, although it was the Greeks who were thought to have cultivated it first and who gave it the name, amygdalon, from which its Latin botanical specific name is derived. Almond seeds have been found in the Neolithic layer below the Palace of Knossos in Crete and evidence of the early use of wild almonds by Man has been found at several sites in Greece. The ancient Romans, who called it nux Graeca, the Greek nut, may have introduced the tree to Britain, although it is grown here for the blossom rather than the nut, due to its intolerance to high winds and frosts. But the Phoenicians probably were most responsible for its wider distribution, taking it both to Spain and France, where it is thought to have been under cultivation as far back as the 8th century BC.

The almond has long been a symbol of luxury and wealth, being pounded up with sugar, colourings and flavourings to make confectionery, comfits and celebration cake coverings in the form of rnarchpane, or marzipan, as it became known when our main supply came from Germany. Almonds also form the basis for French Nougat and Spanish Turon, and in Italy, sugar-coated and gilded almonds are given as a symbolic gift on special occasions, such as weddings or religious festivals.

The almond was used extensively in Medieval cookery, especially in displaying the wealth or status of the host, making the nut an important commodity for many years. Elizabethan cookery used a lot of almond milk, that is almonds pounded up with water, in dishes such as blancmanges, and herbalists still use this for helping cradle cap in infants and gastric problems in adults.

Almond oil is used in massage, both as a carrier for aromatherapy fragrances and to alleviate eczema, and ground almonds make a very good cleansing and softening facial scrub.

The almond kernel is rich in rnonounsaturated fatty acids, which reduce bad cholesterol levels and also in vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant, which research has shown may prevent the accumulation of plaque in arteries and the formation of cancer cells. They are also a good source of minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, iron and phosphates. Its real mineral strength, however, is as a non-dairy source of calcium, vital for the production of strong bones and teeth and the regulation of heart beat and blood pressure. One ounce provides approximately 10% of the adult RDA at 240mg per 100g of drupe flesh - very good news indeed for vegans.

Could almonds also be a prospective ingredient in that elusive Elixir of Life, perhaps? A major study, involving 26,000 members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in the USA, showed that those who ate almonds, peanuts and walnuts at least 6 time a week had a lifespan, on average, 7 years longer than that of the general population and a much lower rate of heart attack. As with every Dr Jekyll, how ever, there is the inevitable Mr Hyde lurking in the wings. The almond, especially the bitter variety, contains the glucoside amygdalin which, with enzyme reaction, breaks down into glucose, benzoic acid and hydrocyanic acid, becoming poisonous in large quantities.

Almost all the seeds of the genus Prunus, (apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach, plum), contain amygdalin and should be treated with caution. Even the lovely sweet almond has its drawbacks: almonds are also very rich in oil, yielding just over half their weight in fats and just 100g, flesh only, is a dieter’s nightmare at a whopping great 612 calories!

Piper nigrum - Kali mirchi

The Keralans call black pepper ‘the King of Spices’ and it certainly has occupied the ‘top-slot’ in the history of Man’s obsession with spices and condiments for centuries. Greek and Roman courtesans used a mixture of black pepper and myrrh, mixed with equal quantities of two scents named Cyprus and Egyptian as a love potion.

Pliny (1st century AD) refers to the spice, complaining about its high price and that white pepper cost twice that of black. In AD 408, Alaric the Goth demanded 3,000lb (1,360kg) of black pepper as part of his ransom for Rome. The Romans paid over the pepper, which Alaric more than thankfully accepted before sacking the city anyway in AD410!

The statutes of Ethelred (978-1016), provide the earliest reference to a pepper trade in England, stipulating that ‘Esterlings’ who brought their ships up the River Thames to Billingsgate should pay a toll at Christmas and Easter, together with 10lb of pepper.

One of the oldest guilds in the City of London is the Guild of Pepperers, who were fined for not having a Royal Licence in 1180, and were registered as Grosserii, or wholesalers, in 1328. Not surprisingly, it is from this word that the modern ‘grocer’ is derived.

The term ‘peppercorn rent’, nowadays tending to denote a nominal fee, actually started off meaning that such a contract was taken very seriously indeed, based on the cost of a given weight of peppercorns per year, which were very expensive and seen as a more stable form of currency than money.
European nobles found it indispensible during the Middle Ages, using it both as a seasoning and a preservative. It’s value grew to at least equal that of silver or gold and in 1204, the Venetians, who were supposed to transport the Fourth Crusade against Muslim Egypt, persuaded the penniless crusaders to loot the Christian city of Constantinople instead, wresting control of the spice trade for Venice in payment.

It was the quest for a new source of pepper, second only to the desire to find gold, which fuelled the enthusiasm of the great explorers of the Renaissance. In 1498, Portugal’s Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut on the Malabar coast and offered beads and baubles in trade for pepper and other spices. The king was offended at such a mediocre offer, refused, and Da Gama promised to return with gold. He did, indeed return, five years later, with 10 warships, and showered Calicut with lead, not gold.

Again, as with all spices, pepper has been imbued with magical qualities: pepper, caraway and fennel seeds were said to keep away evil forces when worn on a pouch around the neck and peppercorns were mixed with salt and scattered around homes to keep out negative influences.
The peppercorns are the fruit of a climbing plant which are left to varying states of ripeness and treated in different ways to obtain the black, green and white pepper spices. Black pepper is obtained from fruits which are picked just before reaching full ripeness, fermented and then spread out in the sun to dry; white from ripe fruit, picked when scarlet, before being soaked, the endocarp removed for fermentation; green pepper by pickling unripe fruits to prevent them darkening. It is the pungent alkeloid, piperine which gives the bite to peppercorns, and although white pepper has more piperine, it has less of the aromatic principles found in black pepper.

Other members of the Piper family are P. longum, used in India; P. betle, also an Indian native, whose leaves are wrapped around betel seeds and the juice of the gambier as a digestive and breath sweetener; P. Cubeba from Malaysia, which was very popular in this country during Medieval times; P. retroflexum from Indonesia; P. guineense, also known as Guinea or Benin pepper, a milder relative from West Africa.

Red pepper, also known as false pepper or Peruvian pepper, is obtained from a different family of plants entirely, Schinus molle, and evergreen of Central American origin. They are used in Peru for making vinegar and alcoholic drinks. Xanthoxylum piperitum, also called Japanese Prickly Ash, whose orange berries are used to make the Japanese pepper-spice, sansho, hit the headlines recently as a ‘cure’ for grey hair. Dr Ohji Ifuku and his team of researchers at the cosmetics firm, Shiseido, found that extract of sansho can reactivate the pigment cells, or melanocytes, which give hair its colour and which stop reproducing as the body ages.

Ayurveda, the healing doctrine which grew up in the home of pepper, naturally sees the spice as extremely beneficial to health. It is regarded as being dry, therapuetically heating and a digestive. It sharpens the appetite and stimulates the production of gastric juices and helps to expel excess wind. The essential oil is secreted by the lungs, so aiding in the treatment of pharyngitis and tonsilitis, and the recommended application is to take powdered pepper mixed with honey three times a day. A pinch of powdered black pepper, stirred into hot, sweetened milk is also used in Ayurveda to cure sore throats and headcolds. Pastes of black pepper are used for rheumatism and skin diseases and a hot dedoction of black pepper is used as an effective mouthwash to ease toothache. Its ability to promote sweating is also capitalised upon: a mixture of pepper, ginger and honey is prescribed for malarial fever.

Unnani Tibb, the doctrine founded by Avicenna 1,000 years ago also values pepper as a medicine, and prescribing it internally for fever, colic and indigestion, and as a remedy for throat and gum infections and externally for rheumatism.

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper weighs 2.1g and has an energy value of 5 kcalories. It contains carbohydrate, protein, vitamin A, vitamins B1 and B2, niacin, sodium, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, copper, zinc and selenium.

]]> http://www.curriesonline.co.uk/currypedia/black-pepper.html/feed