Cooking

April 25, 2014April 30, 2014

My happy liver I cover with a garment fit for a queen

Since we’re on the subject of agricultural biodiversity and poetry, let’s also deal with that Sumerian ode to beer that featured in another article I linked to recently. It’s called the “Hymn to Ninkasi,” and it was found on a 19th century BC cuneiform tablet. Ninkasi means “lady who fills the mouth,” and was, aptly enough, the goddess of brewing. I found a longer version of the poem online, along with a recipe for the beer it describes, a “light, unhopped, unfiltered barley beer.” There’s some really detailed scholarship on Sumerian beer out there. What I don’t quite understand is why this stanza

While I circle around the abundance of beer,
While I feel wonderful, I feel wonderful,
Drinking beer, in a blissful mood,
Drinking liquor, feeling exhilarated,
With joy in the heart [and] a happy liver—
While my heart full of joy,
[And] [my] happy liver I cover with a
garment fit for a queen!…

which is rather fun, is found in some sources but not in others. Some disagreement among Sumerian poetry experts? I’d like to think so.

Incidentally, there’s a thing called the Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary Project which has come up with an entirely horrible but endlessly intriguing online resource. It took me like an hour, but I finally figured out what I think is the Old Akkadian cuneiform for Ninkasi.

You’re welcome.

April 21, 2014April 21, 2014

Brainfood: Prunus africana diversity, Collecting Prunus, African extension, Nepal genebank, Greek plant eBay, Pepper diversity, Pest spread, Grassland diversity, Cowpea fermentation, Pea diversity, Banana cryo, Biodiversity trends

Genetic structuring of remnant forest patches in an endangered medicinal tree in North-western Ethiopia. You need to conserve a range of patches of Prunus africana, and probably not just in situ. Would have been perfect for last week’s Brainfood on the complementarity of ex situ and in situ.
Using simulations to optimize genetic diversity in Prunus avium seed harvests. And if you were to collect seeds for ex situ conservation, this is how you could do it, or at least figure out how best to do it.
Exploring the Role of Agricultural Extension in Promoting Biodiversity Conservation in Kwazulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Don’t look to extension for help though.
Ex situ plant conservation initiative in developing country: Nepal as a case study. Wonder if the material in the Himalayan Seed Bank was collected in that way. Or with the help of extensionists for that matter.
The Electronic Trade in Greek Endemic Plants: Biodiversity, Commercial and Legal Aspects. Or indeed the 10% of the endemic Greek flora that’s traded online. Yeah I know this was in the special Easter Brainfood, but I couldn’t resist the narrative.
New sources of resistance to Phytophthora capsici in Capsicum spp. For Korea, that is. But they came from all over. As ever.
Hosting major international events leads to pest redistributions. Watch out Brazil!
Pyrenean meadows in Natura 2000 network: grass production and plant biodiversity conservation. Forbs are unjustly maligned. Probably starts with that silly name.
Chemical Changes during Open and Controlled Fermentation of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) Flour. Fermentation detoxifies and doesn’t affect nutritional content much. No word on whether it helps with all the farting. Evaluate that!
Geographical Gradient of the eIF4E Alleles Conferring Resistance to Potyviruses in Pea (Pisum) Germplasm. Gargantuan study of 2,800 global accessions finds 4 resistance alleles, each with its own geographic structure. Much variation, but no resistance in the wild relatives. Bummer.
Phenotypic and molecular studies for genetic stability assessment of cryopreserved banana meristems derived from field and in vitro explant sources. You can cryopreserve straight from field-grown sucker meristems, rather than having to go through tissue culture. Handy.
Assemblage Time Series Reveal Biodiversity Change but Not Systematic Loss. Ecosystems are changing, but not yet becoming noticeably less diverse.

April 21, 2014April 20, 2014

Nibbles: Hawaii research farms, Disneyland dates, Sumerian beer, Danish beer, Hipster foods, Wheat rust, Salmon farming, Quinoa pix, Asparagus cost, Llama evacuation, Japanese hemp, Awards

“You can trace the genetic makeup of most corn grown in the U.S., and in many other places around the world, to Hawaii.” There’s a GMO angle, but that’s frankly the least interesting thing about this.
Disneyland protects really old date palm. Sweet.
“A Hymn to Ninkasi.” Sumerian beer 101.
Bronze Age beer: not quite as old as Sumerian, but still…
Hipsters told to stop worrying about beer, among other foody things.
They should worry about wheat rust though.
And salmon.
And quinoa, of course. Pictorial taster for a forthcoming, restricted Harper’s feature.
The true cost of Peruvian asparagus is also kinda worrying. Those poor hipsters.
But Peru has other stuff to worry about, like active volcanoes and llamas.
“In haiku poetry… key words describing the stages of cannabis cultivation denoted the season when the poem is set.” Oh, I’m researching that, and no mistake.
Nominations sought for World Food Prize and Wangari Maathai Award.

April 20, 2014April 20, 2014

Special Brainfood Extra: Economic Botany, Volume 68, Number 1

A whole issue of a journal given the Brainfood treatment. Because I’ve got allergies and can’t go out and it’s a holiday and I’m bored. Think of it as an Easter egg. Unnecessary, but tasty.

Are Ecologically Important Tree Species the Most Useful? A Case Study from Indigenous People in the Bolivian Amazon. Among medicinal and edible species, the most used are not the ones that most strike you as you walk around. Unlike the case for species used in construction and crafts.
The Electronic Trade in Greek Endemic Plants: Biodiversity, Commercial and Legal Aspects. Seemingly profitable, but possibly largely illegal. And I’m willing to bet that the ones that are most traded are the ones that are most difficult to find.
Medicinal Plant Trade in Sierra Leone: Threats and Opportunities for Conservation. No internet involved, but still profitable. For how long? I guess that depends on how easy they are to find, and harvest sustainably.
Structure and Floristic Composition of Forest Management Systems Associated with the Edible Fruit Tree Oecopetalum mexicanum in the Sierra de Misantla, Veracruz, Mexico. You can manage a landscape to favour a particular, strikingly important species, and also promote diversity.
Contemporary Gathering Practice and Antioxidant Benefit of Wild Seaweeds in Hawai’i. No word on whether the most obvious ones are are the ones that are most used, but I gotta believe that they are.
The Food System during the Formative Period in West Mesoamerica. Advent of ceramics may have had an important effect on crops and food.
Fuelling the Ancient Maya Salt Industry. Not to mention on their seasoning.
Identification of Cannabis Fiber from the Astana Cemeteries, Xinjiang, China, with Reference to Its Unique Decorative Utilization. Used to make the tails on horse figurines. No word on further, ahem, ritual uses.
Big Messages in Small Details: Nature in Roman Archaeology. Even the small details of the natural world on the Ara Pacis have meaning. Like the horses’ tails?

April 1, 2014April 15, 2020

Nibbles: Rice intensification, Community genebank, Biodiversity & poverty, Borlaug, Deconstructing recipes, Biofortification conference, IPCC, Kenyan agricultural changes, Collecting wild chickpeas, African peanuts, Insurance for herders, Old fields, Millet fairs & diseases, GDP and malnutrition, Yeast evolution

From SRI to SARI. Rice has never had it so good.
Look there’s even a guy in Orisha who grows 920 varieties.
Biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction: Unproven. Doesn’t sound like they looked at agricultural biodiversity though.
Contrary take on the Borlaug legacy.
From Map Your Recipe to Compare Your Recipe. h/t Rachel Laudan.
Follow that biofortification conference in Kigali. Maybe they’ll talk about recipes.
Guardian Environment blogger breaks down the agricultural bits of the IPCC report for you. Lots of that going around.
No conceivable reason for growing jatropha in Kenya. One of those times when you wonder whether anyone had predicted this would happen at the time.
So does anyone know now whether switching from coffee to banana might be a bad idea in the long run? This is your chance.
Wild chickpea to the rescue.
The ups and downs of groundnut research in Africa.
Islamic insurance for herders. Demand, meet supply.
Celtic fields can still be seen, if you know what to look for.
Seed fair in Senegal exchanges pearl millet. Could usefully do the same in Namibia, it looks like.
Does economic growth help in reducing child malnutrition? It depends on whether you plot % malnutrition against GDP per capita or annual change of the first against annual change in the latter.
The complicated story of yeast, unravelled.