Aloeswood/agarwood sustainable sourse

I have been doing more research on historical cooking and came across this helpful information. Aloeswood seems to be the word of choice in historical documents and their translations. Agarwood appears to be the modern equivalent word.

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Technology from our research is used to produce agarwood in plantations. We have set up an internet company to help the farmers in Vietnam sell their products and you can find agarwood for sale at: ScentedMountain.com

The agarwood chips and agarwood powder sold by Scented Mountain is pure "raw" agarwood right out of the tree so it would be as "food grade" as you can get.

Robert Blanchette

Department of Plant Pathology
University of Minnesota

A&S 50: Food item eight: Grains of Paradise

Spice: Grains of Paradise
Julia May, aka Sayyeda Samia al-Kaslaania
Copyright March 2010

According to legend, wonderful grains are collected by the pound from the river which flows out of Paradise!

While Islamic cooks had known about them for a long while, the spice was introduced to the Italian markets in the thirteenth century. Grains of Paradise, or Paradise seed, enjoyed almost instant stardom across Western Europe, with the pungent flavor being compared to black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger all at once.

While it would be wonderful to trace the origins back to Paradise, these seeds actually originated from West Africa. Being a member of the ginger family, grains of Paradise are also related to cardamom. The plant grows 2-3 feet high and has spiky fern-like leaves. The plant pods are dried before the seeds are extracted. At one time grains of Paradise, or Aframomum meleguetta, were transported by camel overland across the Sahara Desert and were traded throughout Islamic lands. Spanish traders later discovered waterways and risked being washed out to the Ocean in the fabled undercurrent located where the sea and the ocean joined.

Its European fame was relatively short-lived. In the fifteenth century, as the Ottoman conquest was concluding, trade across the Eastern Mediterranean revived and the price of black pepper dropped by almost half, while grains of Paradise remained stable, and therefore unable to compete.

About the size of a peppercorn, grains of Paradise can be substituted in any recipe that calls for either pepper or cardamom, whether savory or sweet (including shortbread). Being hot and moist, according to humoral theory, they refresh the body’s natural tendencies and therefore were frequently listed in recipes for restorative drinks such as hippocras, a complex spiced wine which was prescribed by medieval doctors to balance humors in the sick.

I heartily recommend biting into a grain of Paradise when you have the opportunity. It is a cornucopia of flavor! Find grains of Paradise in your local brewing store (it’s still used in modern micro-brews), or on the Internet. I have had good luck with Auntie Arwen’s Spices at http://www.auntiearwenspices.com/.

If you don’t have one yet, get a new coffee grinder and dedicate it solely to spices. These grains are tough to crush!


Jaunce, French sauce for grilled meats (dated 1420) from The Medieval Kitchen

2 oz. bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1 c. broth
3 T. verjuice (or equal parts cider vinegar and water)
½ t. ground grains of Paradise
¼ t. ground ginger
¼ t. ground black pepper
1 pinch of saffron

Mix the egg and breadcrumbs and allow to stand for a minute. Add the broth and spices, then the verjuice, stirring to combine. Transfer to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add salt to taste and serve hot.


Sources
http://www.grainsofparadise.com/

Dalby, Andrew. Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices. California Studies in Food and Culture ed. Vol. 1. Univ. of California Press, 2000.

Keay, John. The Spice Route: A History. Univ. of California Press, 2006.

Redon, Odile, Françoise Sabban and Silvano Serventi. The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy. Trans. Edward Schneider. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1998.

Turner, Jack. Spice: The History of a Temptation. New York: Vintage Books, 2004.

From the archive: Candying Ginger

Candying Ginger

Sayyeda Samia al-Kaslaania

Julia May Copyright 2007

Ginger has been known since ancient times for its use as a culinary spice and medicinal herb. It has been cultivated for so long that it no longer propagates from seed, and has been found in so many places that its region of origin is unknown. Typically called ginger root, it’s actually the tubers of the ginger plant, zingiber officinale. In the late Roman Empire it was one of the cheapest spices available, a pound of it costing only 3 days wages for the average worker.[i]

Ginger is identified modernly as a pumpkin pie spice to most US American pallets. Those with a more adventurous gastronomy will recognize the much more spicy appearance of ginger in Thai cooking, and as a pickled accompaniment to sushi. It is a hot spice, sometimes compared to the capsaicin of hot peppers, however, gingerols, the natural compound that makes ginger spicy has a similar structure to capsaicin but functions differently in the body.[ii]

For centuries, cultures have considered ginger a natural remedy for gastrointestinal disorders and general pain.[iii] Modern studies have borne this out as the gingerols compound acts as a natural pain reliever (COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitor).[iv] Studies have also found that ginger acts as an anti-nausea, better than commercial travel products.[v]

In grocery stores, candied ginger can go for $3 per ounce! Making candied or crystallized ginger at home is easy, not very messy and provides enough to share with friends. Ginger “root” can be found in the produce section of many grocery stores. Select one or two “hands” of ginger with golden papery skin that is plump, smooth and glossy. Avoid wrinkled or dessicated hands. The candying process takes a few days, but is low maintenance.

1. Remove and discard any dried exposed ends of the hand.

2. Wash, then peel the ginger with a vegetable peeler, breaking off the fingers as necessary to facility peeling. (Avoid touching the eyes and other sensitive body parts before a thorough hand washing.)

3. Slice across the grain to create pieces a little less than a ¼” thick. Cut up all the useable bits of fingers in the same manner.

4. Select a pot with a lid about twice the volume of your ginger and place all of the sliced ginger inside. Add enough water to cover and about half as much sugar or honey (different sugars and single source honeys produce different flavors). Stir to dissolve the sweetener.

5. Heat, uncovered, until it boils, stirring frequently.

6. Allow to boil for 3-5 minutes, cover and remove from the heat. 

7. Once it cools, or overnight, repeat steps 5 and 6 three to four more times, adding water as necessary to keep it from burning. Do this until the pieces become translucent, letting the water level get a little lower as the ginger pieces get closer to translucent. Let cool enough to handle.

8. Place wire racks over wax paper. Put sugar (any variety, but the grains should be the size of table sugar) in a bowl. Pick out the individual pieces of ginger from the syrup, wiping off the excess on the side of the pot. Dredge them in the sugar and let dry on the wire racks over night or longer. Package in glass jars or plastic containers. It last for a few weeks.

9. Reserve the remaining syrup for another use. Suggestions include: Slathering on hot biscuits, making ginger ale, adding to pear cordial, or drizzling on ice cream.

Remember to warn the uninitiated-- who often think of ginger as that pumpkin pie spice-- of the intense heat of ginger. You might also try candying galangal, a cousin to ginger and fellow popular period spice in the Mediterranean. Enjoy!

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[i] Dalby, Andrew. Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices. U of California Press: Berkley. 2000.

[ii] Kingsley, Danny. Ginger has painkilling properties: research. Internet website accessed 2/27/07. http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/health/HealthRepublish_433324.htm

[iii] Keville, Kathy. Herbs: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Freedman/Fairfax: New York. 1994.

[iv] Kingsley.

[v] Keville.

From the archive: Rethinking Cinnamon

Rethinking Cinnamon

Sayyeda Samia al-Kaslaania

Julia May Copyright 2007, revised 2010

The word cinnamon recalls memories of Grandma's baking, holiday treats and Cinnabon at the malls. It is a powerful word for evoking memories today, it is also a powerful word in trade during the period of SCA study. Yet, somewhere along the way society has replaced the flavor of cinnamon with the flavor of cassia- while continuing to call it by the evocative name of “cinnamon”.

A distinction between them has been noted since ancient times, when cooks and physicians would admonish the use of “true” cinnamon (also called Ceylon cinnamon) in order to get the proper balance in a dish or remedy. Not surprisingly, cinnamon is dry and hot in humeral theory, best suited to use in January and February according to one Byzantine text.[i] By the eleventh century, cassia was included in perfume recipes.[ii] Both kinds of cinnamon were pricey. Stories would abound of the dangers in collecting cinnamon-- thereby explaining the costliness of the spice. Phoenix nests were reportedly made of it, and had to be watched daily in case shuffling in the nest would cause some of the precious spice to fall to the ground below. Other sources of cinnamon were said to be culled from trees in terrible swamps where giant bats would protect it.[iii] Nero is said to have burned a year’s worth of cinnamon at the death of his wife, so noted because of the exorbitant cost. 

True cinnamon, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, is grown in Sri Lanka (once called "Ceylon") today, though is probably native to India. Cassia, C. Cassia, is also from the bark of an Indian tree. Both have used since ancient times. Centuries later Columbus found the source of what is today know as Mexican cinnamon. A fellow Spaniard, Dr. Chanca, wrote of the white cinnamon, Canella winterana, also stripped from the bark of a tree.[iv] The difference in flavor is striking. While each is clearly “cinnamon” to a modern pallet the Ceylon is richer and less pungent, whereas the cassia is bolder and spicier in flavor. Mexican cinnamon is the flavor in Red Hot button candies.

The modern cook, while shopping at a traditional grocer, will be hard pressed to find anything other than cassia. Labels simply say “cinnamon”, as do ingredient lists. However, in specialty stores (such as Penzys) and on the Internet (Auntie Arwen's) one can find selections of four or more different cinnamon choices including Saigon cinnamon, or Cinnamomum loureirii, used in modern perfume making; Ceylon cinnamon and two to three kinds of cassia.

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[i] Dalby, Andrew. Flavors of Byzantium. Prospect Books: Devon, England. 2003.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Faas, Patrick. Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome. Palgrave: New York. 2003.

[iv] Dalby, Andrew. Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices. U of California Press: Berkley. 2000.