Currant Fare

I wasn't planning on gardening today, but you know how it goes? Pick up a leaf and throw a twig in a bucket and before you know it, you have a pair of secateurs in hand, you're on a mission and everything gets pruned!

The blackcurrants certainly did need picking, but it doesn't end at that. The plant then has to be cut back right back, leaving the new branches for the next season. In the moment, I thought why not—take the time? Repetitive, mantra-like, as I plucked the tiny, purple, vitamin C bombs from the branches, I found myself thinking about how, I inevitably was destroying the habitat of some bug or other. I could feel the reproach, from an enormous grey spider, swinging from the remnants of her web and of the bright green grasshoppers, pinging all over the place. A plastic-looking earwig looked quite pissed off, or maybe it's just their demeanor. All had to relocate, with one consolation, I left the berries that fell for any passing takers. Immediately, a big fat slug, smelling the berries, advanced, amazingly fast for a slug, out of the poppies, to claim and gorge itself on a berry bigger than its head.

My prize, the berries you see in the photo above, weighing in at a grand 340 g. As I sit on the garden bench relaxing, I wonder what will be next on the harvest agenda, before the leaves start to fall: tomatoes, grapes, blackberries...

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Connections Winter Issue 2013

Theme this issue: Health

First published as the Connections magazine cover #38 Winter 2013
View the digital version here

Illustration: © Alison Day Website: Alison Day Designs 
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Fruity Seasons

What's Hot, What's Not! - Garlic (Allium sativum L.)

Seeing as in the last few issues of the Connections the ‘What’s hot what’s not’ section has only covered ‘what’s not’ hot, we thought it was about time to include a ‘what’s hot’ article. So what about garlic? A hot favourite and integral part of many a cuisine the world over. It is also healthy, delicious and said to ward off evil spirits, what more could you wish for?

Love it or hate it, garlic has been around for over 6,000 years and is native to Central Asia. The word garlic comes from Old English garleac, meaning, "spear leek." Both the Greeks and the Egyptians used it as an ingredient in many a medicinal remedy. The Egyptians even worshipped it, clay models of garlic bulbs having been found in the tombs of the Pharaohs. Garlic has even been used as currency. The Vikings took garlic on their long voyages of pillaging and destruction, whilst the French used it in the 1770’s in Marseilles against the plague. Garlic has been known to stop dysentery and according to Louis Pasteur garlic has antibacterial properties.

From the garlic plant it is not only the bulb, which can be eaten, but also the leaves and the flowers. Health-wise garlic is good for you because of its two sulphur-containing antioxidants, germanium and selenium, which help to boost the immune system. Regular consumption of garlic has been found to fight cholesterol and lower blood pressure by thinning the blood. Included in a normal diet, garlic reduces the body’s production of fat and helps to break it down.

The downside to many is the smell. A raw garlic clove is sharp and spicy and is guaranteed to make your breath smell. Cooking garlic will reduce the smell and the flavour becomes more mellow and sweet. The bad breath or halitosis is caused by the sulphurous compounds in the garlic that feed on the bacteria in your mouth. To get rid of garlic breath chewing on masses of fresh parsley helps (according to some cardamom seeds help too). If you are planning a night on the town, a serious flossing session is a must as parsley between your teeth is also a turn off. For the garlic wimps there are a variety of garlic supplements available on the market, one such supplement being Kyolic garlic.

Garlic may be delicious but there is such a thing as overkill. Many years ago I met a man whose staple diet was sardines on toast, with a layer of thinly sliced, raw garlic on top. The multiple cloves of garlic were painstakingly sliced, very thinly as a topping for the small fish, until very little of the toast remained visible. Unfortunately, parsley was not on the agenda, and the resulting pungent aroma, which followed him everywhere, meant that it was not only very difficult to stay in the same room with him for very long, but one could always tell where he had already been.

And finally, although health and taste-wise the pros far outweigh the cons, when it comes to eating garlic, if you don’t want to smell of garlic (a large pot of parsley not being to hand), the answer is not surprisingly, not to eat it!

For an interesting restaurant where they are totally passionate about garlic: The Stinking Rose. Or, a restaurant nearer to home: Garlic Queen

 Sources: 

Wikipedia,  

Home Cooking,  

Innerself - Garlic

First published in the Connections magazine #20 Summer 2008 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs