The oases of Tozeur and Nefta were a revelation. There was so much undergrowth of other fruits beneath the huge date palms: there were bananas, almonds, plums and apricots and all this on the edge of the Salt pans and the desert.

We traversed the Chott El Djerid – an area of salt marshes with solidified sand piles – on the road which French Engineers had built during their brief Empire. We stopped at Douz for lunch and that was where we found out that Gaddafi had been captured. This part of Tunisia is so close to the border with Libya that it is full of refugees.

Just outside Douz there is a centre for camel rides or 4 x 4 treks into the desert. The Berbers who run most of these trips have cannily caught little desert foxes which they keep on a leash for you to hold and have photos taken with. They are the size of a large cat with huge, very pointy fox-like ears, a bushy tail and a definite foxy colour. They are also terrified because, being nocturnal, their large eyes cannot cope with the blinding sunlight.

I realised there was a gap in my knowledge about Tunisia which the guide wasn’t about to fill. Of course, the Desert Fox! This was Rommel’s nickname to the Allied troops fighting in the North African Desert during World War Two. So he must have been around Tozeur. This part of Tunisia is just next door to Libya and all those famous battlefields we have heard of in films – Tobruk and El Alamein for a start!

Rommel’s fame rests on his success as a military leader, his daring and his compassionate attitude to Prisoners of War. To the British Desert Rats,(see film with James Mason) Rommel epitomised a gentleman’s approach to war. Rommel’s Afrika Korps never committed any atrocities and all prisoners were humanely treated. His masterstroke came in June 1942 when his outnumbered Afrika Korps wrecked the British Eighth Army on the Gazala Line immediately to the east of Benghazi. He then pursued his beaten foe all the way back to El Alamein, the Eighth Army’s last defensive position in Egypt before the Nile. Along the way, he also took the fortress port of Tobruk. The Battle for Tobruk lasted 240 days and by the end of that September, Rommel was suffering from exhaustion and a bout of jaundice that finally forced him to return to Germany for treatment.

We leave the desert and drive north to Matmata, a Berber troglodyte town where LukeSkywalker’s hotel was. We never visited Tataouine (supposedly Luke’s planet but nothing was ever filmed there) – important Berber trading town that had been home to regiments of the Foreign Legion (think ‘Beau Geste’) nor even Medenine where Rommel fought his last battle against Montgomery. These southern Berber towns are, by far, much more interesting than the dusty impoverished towns of the North. Called ‘Ksars’(from the Latin ‘castrum’) these fortified villages nearly all housed huge grain stores built into the rocks and they are essentially Berber, not Tunisian Arab.

As we drove north, we by-passed Kasserine where Rommel had inflicted damage on the American forces (there is apparently a military cemetery there) and were forced to by-pass Sfax as there were demonstrations/celebrations when the population (mainly Libyan refugees)learnt of the death of Gaddaffi.  Somehow, the Berbers, the French Foreign Legion and Rommel all got by-passed and Luke Skywalker was the hero of the hour with Gadaffi coming a close second.

For further interest:

Rommel in Tunisia
A French Guide 
Medenine

Photo Credits:

All photos courtesy of Julia McLean

Luke Skywalker and the Desert Fox – Part Two is a post from: LIFE AS A HUMAN

Our recent trip to Tunisia was not an outstanding success for us. True there was a small but pleasant group of people and as a quick all round insight into Tunisian life, the trip was quite satisfactory but the guide, not being an archaeologist, was not knowledgeable about Tunisian history especially the Roman/Phoenician sites.

We left Tunis early in the morning and headed south to Testour a small settlement founded by Muslims fleeing Spain after the reconquest (La Reconquista) of the country by the Catholic Kings. It is famous for its blue doors which give a festive air to an otherwise impoverished and dust filled little town.

We next rollicked along in our tiny bus to the hilltop site of Dougga. Its size, its well-preserved monuments and its rich Numidian-Berber, Punic, ancient Roman and Byzantine heritage make it exceptional. Dougga was an important rallying point for various tribal kings who allied with Rome against the Carthaginians and it became a strategic centre too for the Romans who spared this town after sacking Carthage in 146 BC. It was annexed to Rome by Caesar in 46 and as a Roman town it grew prosperous but from the third century onwards, with the fall of Rome, Dougga started to decline. It was abandoned and deserted with the Vandal invasion, and since then there has only been a small village on the other side of the hills. This probably explains why it is so rich in monuments: it wasn’t near enough to other settlements for its stones and masonry to be re-used.

We stayed the night at the small town of El Kef known for its Kasbah which the French reconstructed and used as a military barracks during their colonial days. It is an important holy site for Sufi Muslims and has a shrine to a well known Sufi Saint – Sidi Bou Makhlouf. The guide forgot to mention that the Algerians used it as a command centre during the Algerian War of Independence in the 1950’s and it was also the provisional capital of Tunisia during World War Two.

Later, we drove on to Makthar to visit the ruins of this extremely ancient pre-Roman fortress which the Numidians used to control the comings and goings of the nomads (mainly Berbers, the original inhabitants of Tunisia). It became even more important after Caesar annexed it in 46BC but suffered the same fate as Dougga under the Vandals and was abandoned in the 11th Century. There were enough remaining ruins for us to get a picture of how idyllic these places were for retired Roman soldiers and well-off colonisers.

After lunch, our destination was Kairouan, the spiritual capital of Tunisia and foremost holy town of North Africa for Sunni Muslims after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. It was the first city to convert to Islam and was called the city of 300 mosques. 120,000 pilgrims come here each year.

We stayed the night in Sufetula (Sbeitla) and explored the Roman remains of this superb site the next day. This region was populated in 67-68 AD after various conquests of local tribes under the emperor Vespasian – he who invented the famous ‘pissoir’ still called in French ‘la Vespasienne’, a malodorous example of which existed in my local Lisieux Farmers’ Market for many years next to the Fish Market where it was relatively undetectable. Most remarkable of the few constructions still standing were the three temples dedicated to Juno, Jupiter and Minerva – a Roman equivalent of the three tenors perhaps, for they each have a temple here instead of sharing one huge one as in most Roman sites.

Obviously, the inhabitants were richer and more thankful for their good life which depended on the trade in olives and olive oil, attested to by the Roman grinding stones so similar to our apple grinding stones (pressoirs en granit). Life here was obviously prosperous, peaceful and harmonious, attested to by the existence of seven Christian churches, a baptismal font and a ‘pleasure dome’ in the form of a well-advertised brothel.

More interesting for British tourists was the plaque over one of the town gates dedicated to Antoninus Pius and his two adopted sons, Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius. It was Antoninus who built the Antonine Wall across the north of Britain above Hadrian’s Wall when the invading horde of Picts came down like a wolf from the fold. The Vandals did the same to Sbeitla but occupied the town until the Byzantines re-took it then it was sacked by the Arabs in 647 and fell into oblivion.

The afternoon was dedicated to Tozeur, one of the most famous oases in the world on the fringe of the desert surrounded by 7000 acres of date palms and other astounding greenery.

Decoratively built of narrow white bricks, hand crafted in local brickworks which sit in a lunar landscape, Tozeur mainly caters to desert trekking groups and this is where we met the desert fox, as we set forth on our camels like Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia.

 Photo Credits

All Photos By Julia McLean – All Rights Reserved

The Desert Fox – Part One is a post from: LIFE AS A HUMAN

Kids the world over should get down on their knees and give thanks to Dr. Frederick Tisdall, former director of the nutritional research laboratories for Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. Thanks to his introduction of vitamin D supplementation in flour and milk in the 1930’s, children no longer have to choke down daily drams of putrid tasting cod liver oil to get their allotment of the “sunshine vitamin.”

Tisdall along with two other pediatricians, Dr. Alan Brown and Dr. Theodore Drake are more famous, however, as the inventors of pablum, a scientifically designed and nutritious cereal created in the 1930’s to provide for the nutritional needs of infants. Prior to this many small children died of diseases such as rickets – directly related to nutrient deficiencies – and of others such as tuberculosis and diphtheria to which they were more susceptible due to poor nutrition.

An earlier attempt at producing a nutritional alternative food for children resulted in Sunwheat biscuits, nutrient loaded cookies concocted from a combination of alfalfa, wheat meal, oatmeal and corn meal, wheat germ, yeast, bone meal and honey for sweetening. These proved to be best sellers, not only improving the nutritional health of thousands of children but also adding much needed royalties to the coffers of the Hospital for Sick Children. Unfortunately the Sunwheat biscuit could not be ingested by small infants and another supplement was required to fill this gap.

Pablum, which derives its name from the Latin pabulum or food, first became available in Canada in 1931. Pablum was made from alfalfa, yeast, wheat germ, corn, oats, bone meal and yeast and contained massive amounts of vitamins A, B2, B2, D and E. In order to overcome the problem of perishability the product was sprayed onto heated, rotating drums and the dried residue was scraped off to make easily reconstitutable flakes which would form a mushy foodstuff that could easily be consumed by small babies. Evidently, the kids loved it – though the fact that adults found the product so insipid provided a nice synonym for the words tasteless and bland.

More royalties rolled in, allowing the founding of the Hospital for Sick Children Research Foundation. This meant that pablum supported not only the physical health of its diminutive consumers but the fiscal health of an institution specifically designed to care for the little ones.

As such it is another example of a much under-heralded success story in Canada’s continuing medical saga.

Photo Credit:

“Pablum: Get it while it’s luke warm”  CriticalMass 

“Pablum 1930″ SickKids

Pablum and the History of Children’s Health is a post from: LIFE AS A HUMAN

The forerunners of today’s banking industry first emerged in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Conducting banking functions including the acceptance of deposits, the making of loans, issuing notes, money exchange, and long-distance remittance of money, these early banks were called the piaohao and were primarily owned by natives of Shanxi Province.

The first piaohao originated from the Xiyuecheng Dye Company of Pingyao. To transfer large amounts of money from one branch to another, the company introduced drafts, cashable in the company’s branches around China.

Although the method was originally designed for business transactions within the Xiyuecheng Company, it became so popular that in 1823 the owner gave up the dye business and reorganised the company as a remittance firm, Rischengchang Piaohao.

In the next thirty years, eleven piaohao were established in Shanxi Province, in the counties of Qixian, Taigu, and Pingyao. By the end of the nineteenth century, thirty-two piaohao with 475 branches were in business covering most of the nation, the forerunners of China’s modern banking system.

Today, the People’s Bank of China is the central bank of the People’s Republic of China, with the power to control monetary policy and regulate financial institutions in mainland China. The bank has more financial assets than any other single public finance institution in recorded history.

China’s foreign exchange reserves hit a record $US1.95 trillion at the end of 2008, the largest in the world.

Photo Credits

All Photos © Vincent Ross – All Rights Reserved

Pingyao – Where Banks Were Born is a post from: LIFE AS A HUMAN

Wizened old men and women sun themselves on shop doorsteps while young men sit in huddles on stools along the cobbled way, playing cards and majong.

One of the best ways to see the sights is riding a bicycle, which can be hired for the day for a couple of US dollars, and when you get tired, you can relax in a hidden courtyard of one of the many small inns and drink a cold Chinese beer.

China’s early banking history began here, and although accounting and finances can be tedious for some, the Rishengchang Financial House Museum, one of the many financial houses which once operated from Pingyao, is well worth a visit.

The museum has nearly 100 rooms, with old accountant’s desks, ledgers and abacuses on display, once the live-in home of bank officials, accountants and specially selected young boys who were chosen to become banking apprentices.

The boys were aged from 13 to 15 years and were required to be of good appearance, have good manners, and be at least 1.67m tall.

The Rischengchang Financial House handled 10 billion yuan over 108 years in operation and all of the company’s account ledgers are now held in the local government office.

In the courtyard of the museum, for only five yuan, an old man dressed in appropriate Qing Dynasty costume will write you a Chinese cheque in ink with a quill pen.

But don’t try and cash it.

Photo Credits

All Photos © Vincent Ross – All Rights Reserved

Pingyao – Bank On The Past is a post from: LIFE AS A HUMAN

The old Chinese trader stamped his foot hard on the ancient cobblestone road and glared at me. Then he stamped it again.

Having never had anybody stamp their foot at me, I was at a loss to know what to do next. That’s one of the problems of having no common language as a trading tool – I didn’t speak Mandarin and he didn’t speak English.

For a moment there, on a gritty coal-dusted street in the ancient city of Pingyao, in the Chinese heartland of Shanxi Province, I was tempted to stamp my foot back at him.

But I was stopped by my wife, who grabbed my elbow and dragged me further down the street, saying impatiently: “You don’t need an antique fob watch.”

Well, that did the trick. It couldn’t have worked better if I had planned it. Any wizened Chinese trader worth his salt knows that as soon as a woman gets involved in the bargaining process, all bets are off.

The price had dropped from 600 yuan ($150) to 500, 400 and then 300 yuan. When he moved forward almost pleadingly, I shot a bid over my left shoulder as my right elbow was being firmly steered down the road. Two hundred yuan!

And that clinched it.

There was more stamping on the dusty cobblestones, along with an expression as though I had just purchased his first newborn son, before the trader gingerly handed over the antique Omega fob watch made in Switzerland in 1882, which had no doubt lay hidden in a Chinese merchant’s dusty bottom drawer for generations before being found and sold to me for the princely sum of $A50.

Later, I saw in a shopfront another very rustic looking fob watch which had also been made by Omega in Switzerland in 1882.

Pingyao was a treasure trove of antiques!

Much later, I went to the Omega website to gloat over my priceless purchase, only to discover that Omega as a Swiss watch brand didn’t exist until 1892. The watch I had bought was truly ahead of its time. And the Chinese trader was truly ahead of his game.

Fortunately, there’s more to Pingyao than wily traders.

The city is a living museum, with many of its buildings constructed from small bricks made from black clay removed from the coal-rich ground over centuries.

Pingyao’s impressive fortified wall, which was begun during the Zhou Dynasty (827-728BC) and completed during the Ming Dynasty, stretches for 6km around the well-preserved Han Chinese city, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997.

It’s a rabbit-warren of alleyways and narrow cobblestone roads, dirty with time and coal dust, family courtyards and around 3000 shops, many of their frontages a reflection of the city when it was a busy merchant centre during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

China’s earliest banks evolved in Pingyao, which in its heyday was the financial hub of China. The city’s fortunes waned, and it became a poor reflection of its former self, but that proved its saviour in the long run, because today it is one of China’s historical jewels in the crown – a time warp in which tourists can easily get lost.

In an attempt to help preserve the city, few motorised vehicles are allowed within its walls, with tourists ferried to small traditional Chinese hotels in electric buggies.

Donkey and cart is still used to deliver coal for heating and cooking in some of the less developed areas, and in the evening, the smell of coal cooking fires rises on the chill air.

While there’s plenty of “tourist trash” amongst the treasure trove of trinkets and souvenirs on display in the old shops, there’s also a reasonable selection of clothing and a fascinating cross-section of bric-a-brac, faded pictures, old books, bronze statues, old animal skins, People’s Army caps and memorabilia from China’s more recent communist past.

Photo Credits

All Photos © Vincent Ross – All Rights Reserved

Pingyao – Ahead Of Its Time is a post from: LIFE AS A HUMAN

There’s something to be said for the old adage “never judge a book by its cover”. Take China’s reclaimed dominion of Macau.

It used to be that Macau was perceived mostly as a day-trip side tour for many tourists visiting Hong Kong, all casinos and gaudy signs.

Well, the casinos are still there.

Supported by a potential 1.3 billion Chinese domestic tourists and the massive promotion of China as a tourist destination following the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the investors in Macau have certainly played their cards right.

It’s been five years since Macau first eclipsed Las Vegas as the gambling capital of the world, with its casinos back then raking in $8.73 billion in annual revenue to break the record. Today, add a few more billion.

Not bad for little Macau, with a resident population of around 500,000 and covering just 23.6sqkm, on a small peninsula west of the Pearl River Delta and the tiny islands of Taipa and Coloane.

Each year, a few more share kilometres are created through land reclamation, won from the sea with thousands of barge loads of dredged sand and soil. Macau needs every square centimetre it can get — on which to build more casinos, of course.

Even kung fu comedian-actor Jackie Chan has a stake in the Grand Emperor Hotel’s casino, which opened in 2006.

You can’t miss the Grand Emperor on Avenida Commercial De Macau. It has one of the largest LED screens in Asia on its exterior wall, more than $3 million of in-your-face, big-screen TV.

Oh, and inside, the Grand’s “Golden Avenue” features 78 1kg gold bars, set in the floor of the hotel lobby, closely watched by twitchy security guards 24 hours a day.

Attracting more than 18 million tourists annually, about 50 per cent of them day-trippers and the majority from the mainland where gambling is banned, Macau is a small goose laying large golden eggs for socialist China, which assumed control of the 16th century Portuguese trading port in 1999.

But Macau is not only rich in cash; it’s also rich in history and well worth exploring over a few days. The first European settlement in the Far East is sparing no expense in keeping its heritage.

A heady mix of frenetic capitalism and inscrutable Chinese political control, it’s a place where hustle meets history in a montage of elegant, pastel-painted Portuguese architecture and gaudy casinos walled in glass.

But all visitors need do is pass by the bright facades of the ranks of casinos, and walk down the cobbled streets of the historic centre of Macau to appreciate some of the former colony’s other riches. Within a 2sqkm area, there are 30 World Heritage-listed sites, including buildings, squares and cemeteries.

Beyond the bling things such as the Macau Grand Prix, the horse racing and the Macau Jockey Club, the Macau Arts Festival and the International Music Festival, the tiny territory has 17 museums, including the excellent Macau Museum and the even better Maritime Museum, which features the extraordinary sea-faring endeavours of both China and Portugal.

The museum documents the life of Chinese Admiral Zheng He (1371-1433), who led nine voyages of exploration with a fleet of more than 300 ships carrying 28,000 people, including 62 massive, nine-masted, four-decked treasure ships, some up to 137m long and 55m wide, then the largest ships in the world.

Admiral Zheng’s fleet is credited with sailing as far as East Africa, though some historians argue Zheng even reached the New World, landing on islands off the Florida coast more than half a century before Christopher Columbus.

There’s also a wealth of historical monuments and sites in Macau — the A-Ma Temple at Barra Point, a 16th century Chinese seafarer’s temple built in honour of the goddess A-Ma, from which Macau derives its name; the 17th century Chapel Of Our Lady Guia at Guia Fort, with its delicately rendered paintings, including that of Macau’s patron saint, John the Baptist; and the ruins of the colony’s most famous church, Sao Paulo (St Paul’s Church). Only the facade of St Paul’s remains, a majestic frontage of four colonnaded tiers featuring carvings and statues eloquently illustrating the early days of the Catholic Church in Asia.

The facade was carved from stone in the 1620s by Japanese Christian exiles.

The original church was built in 1602 as part of the College of St Paul’s, where Jesuit missionaries studied Mandarin before serving in the Ming Court in Peking as astronomers and mathematicians.

Visitors step across the cobblestones and into the past of a colonial Portuguese street-scape at St Augustine’s Square, ringed by such buildings as StAugustine’s Church, Dom Pedro Theatre, St Joseph’s Seminary and Sir Robert Ho Tung Library.

You could be forgiven for thinking you are somewhere in the Mediterranean in Senado Square, with its pastel-coloured, neo-classical buildings. The square has been the commercial and multicultural heart of Macau for centuries. Here the Sam Kai Vui Kum Temple sits not too far from a temple of capitalist dining housed in an old building, its pale-pink archway and distinctive yellow M symbol welcoming those who follow its patron — “St Ronald of McDonald’s”.

Where cultures collide, so do their eating habits — Macanese cuisine is a sometimes fiery fusion of Portuguese, African, south-east Asian and Chinese cooking.

But traditional Portuguese fare is also simple and hearty: char-grilled baby cuttlefish, garlic prawns, octopus and crusted sea bass, accompanied by a salata (salad) of chopped Spanish onions, lettuce and tomato soaked in olive oil and vinegar.

And if the history, food, culture and casinos get a little too much, it’s an easy walk across the border into China after a 15-minute taxi ride from virtually anywhere in Macau.

See more great photographs of Macau at the Life As A Human Photo Site

Photo Credits

All Photos © Vincent Ross – All Rights Reserved

Macau – Gambling On History is a post from: LIFE AS A HUMAN

One of the Greenest, most eco-friendly distilleries in the world has to be the River Antoine Estate near Tivoli in northern Grenada. In continuous operation since 1785 it produces rum in a manner that has changed little since the eighteenth century, still utilizing water power and manpower where most operations have long ago switched to petroleum and electricity hogging, non-renewable methods.

It’s not surprising that the estate bears the name of “Captain Antoine”, one of the last of the Kalinago (Carib) natives who were the islands original inhabitants. “Captain Antoine”, a Kalinago chief, and his followers chose to leap to their deaths at nearby Morne de Sauteurs (Leapers Hill) in 1651, rather than submit to French invaders. Like its namesake, the distillery continues to hold out against the incursion of wasteful modernity in their tranquil corner of the unspoiled island of Grenada.

As you wend your way through the estate and past fields of sugar cane approaching the estate, the first thing you notice is the large water wheel propelled by the brisk currents of River Antoine. I wait near an ancient bougainvillea covered building for our guide, whose grandmother had worked here and her grandmother before her. She explained that the establishment had been bought out from foreign interests by three local gentlemen who prided themselves on making rum in the old fashioned way. Indeed, “River”, as the rum is known by the “Greens” (Grenadians) is the closest thing you’ll find to the grog that members of the Royal Navy used to down two hundred years ago. Unfortunately you’ll not likely see “River” outside of Grenada unless a friend brings you a bottle as the locals and expatriates ensure none makes it off the island.

On first observation it’s obvious this is not a Disnified simulation of the past but the real McCoy in all its gritty realism. First of all the sugar cane is harvested and bound in bundles with the leaves of the cane plant for ease of carriage (no plastic ropes here!) The cane is piled high and fed by sweating laborers onto a conveyor belt and into a crusher, all powered by the huge water wheel which looms overhead. It is passed through the crusher twice to extract all the juice and then the residue, called bagasse, is hoisted into a rail mounted hopper and pushed by hand to be tipped into a waste pile. The cane is then dried in the sun and afterward burnt to provide the heat necessary to render down the cane juice. Nothing is wasted.

Cane juice is filtered through wicker mats, then allowed to flow down a sluice to the copper pots of the boiling house where it is transferred from one container to another to allow thickening. I had a try at the huge ladle used in the process and found the action remarkably like rowing!

Once the appropriate concentration of sugar is obtained the juice is allowed to cool and fermentation begins from naturally occurring yeasts. We now mounted a flight of stairs to the second floor, passing an old fashioned chalk board where production, sugar concentration, alcohol concentration etc. is tallied.

The juice is pumped here and allowed 8 days of fermentation in tanks before moving on to the still. A wood fire is required for this process as bagasse won’t burn at a high enough temperature to allow proper distillation.

New rum is pumped by hand out of the distillation tank and its specific gravity checked with a hydrometer to determine the alcohol content. (Note: the hydrometer is not a concession to modernity having been invented by the Greek mathematician Hypatia in the 3rd century AD). Once at an appropriate alcohol content the rum is hand bottled. Production runs about 36 gallons daily.

My guide led me on to the tasting area where I relished a cinnamon and fruit flavored rum of about 16% alcohol content. Using the astounding variety of exotic fruits and spice found on Grenada, with no preservatives, the product puts other flavored rums to shame.

River Antoine white rum comes in two strengths 138 proof (69% alcohol) and 150 proof (75% alcohol). I’m sure you could fuel a car with either. I poured a small shot of the 150 proof and noticed my guide and several other workers watching closely for my reaction. Being a Newfoundlander I’m no stranger to Screech, my province’s traditional of over proof rum, and downed it in one gulp, smacking my lips. My audience looked slightly disappointed. I think they were expecting a different reaction!

Photo Credits

All Images By George Burden – All Rights Reserved

For more information on visiting Grenada, visit Rhythms of Spice

The River Antoine Distillery is a post from: LIFE AS A HUMAN

The people of Kangiqsujuaq in Canada go to great lengths to add variety to their diet of seal meat, venturing under the sea ice during the extreme low tides of the spring equinox to gather mussels.

It’s a race against time. They have less than half an hour to search these temporary caverns before the tide rushes back in. A look-out keeps watch for the returning tide, but warning shouts can’t be too loud in case the echoes bring down the ice. ~ From BBC ONE

This, is truly amazing …

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thank you to Jan Wall from bringing this to my attention.

Photo Credits

Thumbnail and Feature Image – Screen Caps From Video By BBC ONE

Race Against The Tide is a post from: LIFE AS A HUMAN

From bread to delicate omelettes and immunosuppressive drugs.  Julia McLean takes us on a journey through the UK, France and Italy as she explores the many uses of mold and fungi.

There were several things I learnt about mushrooms this year which I thought were fascinating – the most striking is that they are a different animal than I had previously thought and biologically are classified as a kingdom separate from plants, animals and bacteria. They are a species unto themselves but resemble animals more than plants.

We usually are vaguely aware of the fact that moulds are a type of fungus but some people are not aware that yeast is. Yeast is a most important micro-organism causing several types of fermentation which allow humans to convert basic nutrients into further forms of food. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a single celled fungus is used to make bread and other wheat based products such as pizza and dumplings. If you haven’t got any yeast to make your bread you can beat up some flour and water into a runny paste and leave it in a warm place, stirring from time to time. Yeast exists in most environments so the mixture will acquire yeast from the air and can be used as a starter for your bread in a few days. Feed it with a bit of sugar to help it develop. The name of this yeast also tells us that it is used in beer making and, of course, for other alcohols. We couldn’t make our cider without it. There are different yeasts for the brewing of soy sauce, sake (the white firey liquid beloved of the Japanese!) and the preparation of miso – basic Japanese soup stock.

Torula yeast is produced from wood sugars, as a by product of paper production. It is pasteurized and spray-dried to produce a fine, light greyish-brown powder with a slightly yeasty odour and gentle, slightly meaty taste and is widely used as a flavouring in processed foods and pet foods. Quorn, high in protein and therefore a staple of vegetarian diets is made from the fusarium venenatum fungus, discovered in the UK in the 60’s.

Fungus, in the form of mushrooms and truffles have long been used as a direct source of food. Autumn is the traditional truffles hunting season in both Italy and France. In Perigord – South-Western France, pigs are generally used for truffle hunting but I believe the hunters are changing over to specially trained dogs like the Italians. There are both white and black truffles.

The ‘white truffle’ or “Alba madonna” comes from the Langhe area of the Piedmont region in northern Italy and, most famously, in the countryside around the city of Alba. There are other regions of Italy where truffles can be found but none is as prized as the Alba. You should go to the Fiera del Tartufo ( truffle fair) held in October/November in Alba. Truffles can alsobe found in Croatia but the Piedmont truffle is the most sought after and can fetch up to $4500 per kilo.

The ‘black truffle’ comes from Perigord and grows mainly under oaks or hazelnuts. The markets are held in January in Richerenches (in the Vaucluse) and Lalbenque (in Quercy). David Lebovitz on his site says ‘Interestingly, the appeal of truffles isn’t so much their taste. It’s their aroma that makes you wilt with pleasure. As you might know, a good portion of taste relates to the scent of foods’. In 2009 black truffles sold for $1000 a kilo on the market but $3000retail. If you are interested in cooking with truffles, let me recommend the ‘truffle-and truffe’ website. I have occasionally eaten them in delicate omelettes and as thin slices under the skin of a roast chicken. They are often shaved and served in a creamy sauce with tagliatelle.

Fungi are amazing in other ways too and can either cause diseases (Candida Albicans, more commonly known as thrush) or combat them. Metabolites, produced by many fungi, are major sources of pharmacologically active drugs. Particularly important are the antibiotics, including penicillins. Although penicillin G and other naturally occurring antibiotics have narrow spectrums of biological activity, a wide range of others can be produced by the chemical modification of naturally occurring penicillins. Other antibiotics produced by fungi include: ciclosporin, commonly used as an immunosuppressant during transplant surgery; and fusidic acid, used to help control infection from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria.

Widespread use of these antibiotics for the treatment of bacterial diseases, such as tuberculosis, syphilis, leprosy, and many others began in the early 20th century and continues to play a major part in anti-bacterial chemotherapy. When normal, protective bacteria are eradicated by antibiotics or by immunosuppressive drugs, for example, yeasts can multiply and invade tissues. This happens with Candida infections. When too strong doses of antibiotics destroy intestinal flora, they can cause chronic diarrhoea. Doctors often recommend acidophilus tablets to re seed the intestines.

Fungi can be found all over the world and grow in very different habitats, including extreme environments such as deserts or areas with high salt concentrations as well as in deep sea sediments. Very little is really known of the true biodiversity of Kingdom Fungi. Only about 5% of a possible 1.5 million species have been formally classified. 

Further Reading and Recipes:

Scrambled Eggs with Truffles

Sourdough Starter

The Truffle Market in Lalbenque

eFoodies:  London Fine Foods

Shiitake Mushroom Recipes

Wild Mushroom Recipes

Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms

 Photo Credit:

All photos courtesy of Julia McLean

Kingdom of the Fungi: Part Two is a post from: LIFE AS A HUMAN