Our friend Danny over at Rurality has been on a bit of a rare livestock breeds hobbyhorse lately. First he noted that the UK’s new biodiversity indicators include consideration of native livestock breeds but not crop landraces. And that prompted him to sing the praises of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Quite right too.
Meat, glorious meat
We spent the Easter holidays in Colmurano again, and, like last summer, it was a wonderfully bucolic experience. One of the highlights was definitely a visit to the Macelleria Giuseppe dell’Orso in nearby Loro Piceno. Giuseppe, otherwise known as Beppe Cotto, is an artist with meat. And a bit of a showman as well. He welcomes every customer with some vino cotto and a slice of the local salame.
He’s fond — ok, perhaps overly fond — of bursting into song or poetry at the thought of some of his products, all based on local produce and traditions. His salsicce al vino cotto are fantastic. Also his pâté, which includes cacao somewhere in the production process. It is great to see a young man making a living — and a name for himself — at a local agrobiodiversity-based trade, and really enjoying himself to boot.
Nibbles: Taro, NTFP, Maca, Perils of new crops, Nabhan, Cockfighting, Old wine, Maya nut, Cassava Brown Streak Virus
- University of Hawaii’s work on taro summarized.
- Watch out for FAO’s new NWFP-Digest. Non-timber, non-wood; what’s the difference?
- The transition of maca from neglect to market prominence. Free download.
- Maize and malaria in Ethiopia.
- Gary Nabhan interviewed. Again.
- NPR on the limits of the Green Revolution.
- Cocks still fighting in India.
- The early Egyptians “…were very aware of the benefits that natural additives can have—especially if dissolved into an alcoholic medium, like wine or beer.”
- Brosimum alicastrum to the rescue.
- Uganda’s biofuel hopes dashed by virus? Say it aint so.
Asian cattle
Darren Naish at Tetrapod Zoology gives an overview of the cattle of Asia, with pictures. A couple of take home messages, for me. One is that the domestication of various bovids is pretty complex, with hybrids, feral forms, wild relatives and all combinations thereof in existence. The other is this conversation-stopping tidbit: “domestic cattle don’t need to shiver or employ other thermoregulatory tricks even in temperatures approaching -20° C”. Why not? Go read Darren’s post, and then reconsider the “fleshy dewlaps, tall dorsal ridges and other structures” that are typical of tropical types.
Nibbles: French fries, Maple syrup, Cooking heirlooms, Salmon, Ancient booze, Rice domestication
- India finally arrives, gets french fries.
- Sophisticated urbanites tap maples.
- Raise a rare heirloom breed. Then cook it.
- “Some might be hoping he will predict a return to the glory days of the “truly unique” strain of Petitcodiac salmon, which now likely exists only in a gene bank at the Mactaquac Fish Hatchery at this point.”
- Boffins identify world’s first cocktail.
- How people turned from nut collectors into rice farmers in China.
- Hungarians sacrificed dogs.