Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Friday, 15 March 2013
Refining salt
I have returned to the supermarkets take another look at ingredients listed on salt product labels.
You may think this a rather strange thing to do and you may be asking the question “Isn’t it just salt? What else can there be?”
I’m here to tell you there are other ingredients in with some of the salt products. I’m sure you will know about iodine and it is stated quite clearly on the label if the salt is iodised.
However there are anti-caking agents; the infamous numbers who make up part of our diet whether we are aware of it or not. The numbers here are 535/536, and 554. These will be found in the ‘pouring’ salts; the table variety and the cooking variety.
According to the information I found, when searching on the internet, 535 and 536 are sodium and potassium ferrocyanides respectively and are used as an anti-caking agent. Cyanides are found in some seeds and fruit stones and now you can have it in your salt. How good is that? The additive 554 sounds almost likeable – it is produced from a natural mineral making it almost acceptable. As I have lived a relatively salt-free life for some 30 years now none of this bothers me too much.
These additives are introduced to make our lives easier. Who wants lumpy cooking salt or a salt shaker that is clogged up every time you want to use it? We are very busy people these days; we want salt which pours instantly. Long gone are the days of solving the clogged shaker problem by putting a few grains of rice in the salt shaker.
Of course if you use the sea salt or rock salt varieties, without added iodine, there are no additives and the grinder in which most of this salt is packaged is free of any pouring problems.
And for all you people who have read to this point here is a link which will tell you a whole lot more about the history and use of salt in Australia.
I’m taking the easy road here and will be using Australian sea salt without any additives of any kind – my choice is McKenzie’s Australian natural sea salt. This way I don't have to concern myself about the country of origin for the additives - taking the additives out of the equation reduces the work load.
I’m off to the supermarket to get another addition to my Ausfood cupboard.
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
The value of nutmeg
In history class today we learned nutmeg was once the most highly valued spice; more valuable than gold, as it says here. I followed this up by searching around for more history on nutmeg.
In the 15th Century nutmeg was much sought after and once the Portuguese nailed it for sailing around the Cape of Good Hope to the Spice Islands they had the market cornered. This form of transportation saw the end of the traditional overland spice routes.
The Portuguese achievement was short-lived as the Dutch and the British were keen to get in for their take. What followed was a difficult time for the unfortunate people of Banda, home to the nutmeg tree. The Dutch, in their pursuit of controlling the production of nutmeg in the East Indies, put down any local resistance, usually at great cost to the islands inhabitants.
During the 14th Century in England half a kilo of nutmeg cost the same as a cow or three sheep and the British were very keen to obtain nutmeg and share in the wealth. When the English tried to horn in on the spice trade in the East Indies the Dutch beheaded those merchantmen they caught trespassing on what the Dutch saw as their territory.
Nutmeg is never, ever going to be on the Ausfood list; so what has this to do with Ausfood? It’s a very tenuous link indeed but here it is. Time passed and more explorers and adventurers, some better navigators than others, sailed the Europe - East Indies route.
In the very early 17th century William Janszoon, in the Banda Islands at the time, was ordered to explore the coast of New Guinea. According to Wikipedia at this time Janszoon landed on what we now know as the Cape York Peninsula. Everything went well at first; the Keeweer people allowed them to land but were not interested in the food and tobacco the Dutch offered.
The Keeweer people preferred their own bush tucker. At that time the indigenous people were able to get all the food they needed from the land; nothing was imported and everything , as we now think of it, was Australian.
The original Ausfood.
In the 15th Century nutmeg was much sought after and once the Portuguese nailed it for sailing around the Cape of Good Hope to the Spice Islands they had the market cornered. This form of transportation saw the end of the traditional overland spice routes.
The Portuguese achievement was short-lived as the Dutch and the British were keen to get in for their take. What followed was a difficult time for the unfortunate people of Banda, home to the nutmeg tree. The Dutch, in their pursuit of controlling the production of nutmeg in the East Indies, put down any local resistance, usually at great cost to the islands inhabitants.
During the 14th Century in England half a kilo of nutmeg cost the same as a cow or three sheep and the British were very keen to obtain nutmeg and share in the wealth. When the English tried to horn in on the spice trade in the East Indies the Dutch beheaded those merchantmen they caught trespassing on what the Dutch saw as their territory.
Nutmeg is never, ever going to be on the Ausfood list; so what has this to do with Ausfood? It’s a very tenuous link indeed but here it is. Time passed and more explorers and adventurers, some better navigators than others, sailed the Europe - East Indies route.
In the very early 17th century William Janszoon, in the Banda Islands at the time, was ordered to explore the coast of New Guinea. According to Wikipedia at this time Janszoon landed on what we now know as the Cape York Peninsula. Everything went well at first; the Keeweer people allowed them to land but were not interested in the food and tobacco the Dutch offered.
The Keeweer people preferred their own bush tucker. At that time the indigenous people were able to get all the food they needed from the land; nothing was imported and everything , as we now think of it, was Australian.
The original Ausfood.
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