A friend introduced me to bunya nuts. They were a traditional food of Aborigines living in South East Queensland, especially in the Bunya Mountains National Park. The nuts mature in summer and hostilities between tribes were suspended, as aborigines travelled long distances to feast on the nuts. When the white man came, many of the […]
Month: January 2023
Lettuce, Lettuce Everywhere
When I was a kid, salad consisted of lettuce, tomatoes, capsicum and cucumber. There was only one type of lettuce, iceberg lettuce. Salad dressing was made from salt, olive oil and vinegar. I added paprika once because it looked good on the cucumber but had to take it off again when my sister complained. For […]
More than Just Hommos
I always thought the name chickpeas would have some strange village story behind it, perhaps they were fed to chickens in the Middle Ages to fatten them or were brown rather than green and therefore only fit for chickens. Turns out the name comes from the French ‘chiche’, which comes from the Latin ‘cicer’ which […]
The Secret Life of Mushrooms
The mushroom is the fruiting body of a subterranean network of long root-like cells (hyphae) which thread themselves through the soil like neurons in a human brain. Called the mycelium, this network of cells can grow for long periods without fruiting and cover large areas. A single mycelium found in Michigan is said to cover […]
The Sprout from Brussels
Like many, I grew up groaning whenever brussels sprouts were served. They were invariably boiled to destruction and tasted like dirty water. Whenever I hear someone say they enjoy brussels sprouts, I wonder (very politely) where this person was when they were handing out taste buds. Still, there’s a fair whack of the population who […]
White Matter
Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable. Cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, kale, cabbage, collards, bok choy, mustard greens, turnip greens, rocket, horseradish, brussel sprouts, wasabi and watercress, belong to the mustard family. Unlike its cousins, a cauliflower has a white head, though there are light green and purple varieties. The white head is called a curd and […]
Who Needs Refrigeration
The invention of refrigeration was hailed as a major breakthrough in food preservation, especially for the fact that it became possible to keep food fresh long enough to transport it great distances. In an age before aeroplanes, it meant that sailors no longer got scurvy on long voyages. These days it just means that we […]
Little Red Riding Hood: Vegetative Thoughts
There’s a wolf prowling around. He’s big. He’s sniffing the jonquils, nibbling a few leaves. Hey, I thought they weren’t into vegetation. The berries around me are shivering with ecstasy hoping to get eaten whole, slide down a gullet to happiness as part of something bigger. Me, not quite ready for that yet, though it’s […]
The Birthmark
It was called a garden flat because the bedroom opened onto a small courtyard with enough room for a table and chairs and a few pot plants. The courtyard floor was terracotta pavers and the fence around it was wood. The wood was old, with cracks running lengthwise down the palings and across the beams, […]
Radio for Women
They use very positive ideas in order to give you a very negative message. What do you think? What do you mean by identity? Do you think is your shoe? yes, yes, they are deceiving us. Our identity is our knowledge, our awareness. Think about it Fatherhood will not be known Those women had to […]