The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Potatoes

The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Potatoes

The humble potato is that thing staring at you from the dinner plate - be it bashed, boiled, bubble and squeaked, creamed, diced, fried, mashed, roasted, unpeeled and velouted. The variety of ways you can cook a potato is unrivaled by the worldwide number of potato varieties - with approximately five thousand cultivated species.

Three thousand of them are found in the South America mountain region of the Andes in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It is also thought that there are around 200 wild species and subspecies. These species can and have been introduced to the cultivated species to create resistances to pests and diseases (see below for those diseases).

For a food stuff that was brought to the English shores from the Americas, it is the fourth largest food group, following rice, wheat and maize. It is thought that it may very well change the Asiatic diet as, according to the United Nations FAO's (Food & Agricultural Organisation) figures for 2010; China produced 74.8 million metric tonnes. The annual diet of the average global citizen includes 33 kilogrammes or 73 pounds of potatoes according to this pdf.

But before you complain about the price of a potato before you drown your par-bolied potato in molten duck fat; think of what that potato and the potato producer had to go through. The PCL Information Sheet IS02, published by the Potato Council, found here reports that 2012 was a year of contrasts with an early drought followed by low levels of sunlight and then high rainfall that leads to low yields and a late harvest. It was reported that 71% of the harvest was complete by the end of October. And with water, there always comes problems - the cost of the production of a potato has increased by 13% (over 2011) due to the increase in fungicide use and other chemicals.

To think that the potato, a vague relation of deadly nightshade, is attacked by 7 bacterial diseases including brown rot; 30 fungicidal diseases; 6 Nematode parasites; 3 Phytoplasmal diseases; 39 Viral and Viroid diseases; and 13 Miscellaneous diseases and disorders (source). It is a miracle of agriculture that it actually makes it to your plate.

The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Chestnuts

The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Chestnuts

The Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) is a fast growing tree that reaches a mature height of around thirty feet (nine metres); the plant was introduced from Sardis, Turkey where the nut was used as a carbohydrate substitute when the cereal crop harvests failed. Eastern USA had four billion trees in the early 1900's but by 1940 a blight had wiped a great number of them reducing the potential for cross-pollination.

The fresh chestnut, the fruit (nut) not the wood, is calculated to be about 180 calories per 100 grams - lower than almonds and walnuts; it contains no cholesterol, little fat (and mostly as unsaturated) and no gluten. The carbohydrate level is of a par to wheat and rice and no reason why it acted as a carbohydrate source for many medieval communities. It contains twice the amount of starch than potatoes and eight percent of the nut is made up of five sugars (fructose, glucose, raffinose, stachyose and sucrose). It also contains 40 milligrams of Vitamin C per 100 grams. (Source)

As stated above, the tree originated in Turkey but gained European status through the help of invading armies. Alexander the Great and various Roman armies planted these trees during their campaigns to create food supplies, much, later in the campaigns. In 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Americans spent $20 million importing chestnuts from Europe and Asia.

The chestnuts can be brewed for beer, milled for flour, roasted and sold in the street. I recommend not to eat them raw, as I found out to my cost, when I was on traffic light duty in the mid 90's - I felt a bit like a horse with colic, I am guessing.

The chestnut trees can also be coppiced to form fencing spials and posts as well as using the more mature trees for furniture making. 

So if you have gluten intolerant guests for Christmas, why not give them a cabbage, chestnut and hazlenut salad or a chestnut crepe, some recipes can be found here.

The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Sprouts

The Twelve Ingredients of A Christmas Dinner - Brussels Sprouts (Brassica oleracea)

It is thought that that the current form of the Brussels Sprout, the vegetable that seems to the butt of all Christmas culinary jokes, can be dated back to the 13th Century from Belgium. Although it is has been considered that an earlier cultivar from the Gemmifera group was cooked in Ancient Rome.

The sprout is in season from September to March of the following year (source). Defra reports that sprout production increased by 10% in 2011 (Basic Horticultural Statistics 2012). The Scottish Government (2011) reports that 645 hectares (2009) of 15,246 hectares was used for sprout cultivation, this increased to 776 hectares in 2011 and produced 12.8 thousand tonnes in 2011. This 2011 sprout production raised an average of £13.39 million (Scotland.gov).

Brussels Sprout plants can leave a nursery after a period of sixty days where the stalk can be harvested after one hundred and ten days. Each stalk can be harvested up to five times over a seven week period and can lead to a potential 100 sprouts per stalk being harvested. The shelf life of a sprout is about twenty days if stored at one degree centigrade (Wired 2012)

An American cup measurement of sprouts contains 1,122 International Units (IU) of Vitamin A and 699 of beta-carotene (source). A fresh single sprout, be it raw or cooked, contains 10 calories whereas a cup of frozen sprouts that has been cooked contains 65 calories (source).

Why not treat them as a micro cabbage in a deconstructed Christmas dinner? A recent article in Wired (August/September 2012) states that the LYFE (Love Your Food Everyday) Kitchen in Palo Alto sees the Brussels Sprout as an alternative to the French Fry.

The Brussels Sprout is thought to contain anti-cancer chemicals (sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol) that may boost "DNA repair in the body's cells and block the growth of cancer cells"(Wikipedia 2012); although boiling the sprouts will reduce the concentration of the anti-cancer compounds. It is thought best to roast, steam or stir fry and add the cross at the base of the bud's stem to increase the penetration of heat to the vegetable, if the sprout is large.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has published a roasted sprout salad here.

Remember, remember the Ash in November

It seems fitting today that we should remember trees, both the living and the dead. The Fifth of November is a day for remembering...people light bonfires to celebrate that King James the First of England and the Sixth of Scotland survived an assassination attempt on his life where Guy Fawkes and 11 other plotters tried to blow up the House of Lords in 1605.

An Act of Parliament, the Observance of 5th November Act 1605 or the Thanksgiving Act, was passed in 1606 to enforce a public holiday - however this act was finally repealed in 1859. Yet still the thanksgiving is remembered by erecting and then burning a central bonfire as well as setting off fireworks in various displays.

However, this year we should try to remember the wood that makes up these bonfires - in a post of this blog from the 13th of September 2011, I posted a poem about different types of firewood with this verse about the ash logs:

But ash logs, all smooth and grey,
Burn them green or old;
Buy up all that come your way,
They're worth their weight in gold.

But in the last few weeks it has come to light that a fungus, Chalara fraxinea, is attacking ash trees. This fungal pathogen causes leaf loss and affects the crown part of the tree. The fungus was first identified in Poland in 1992. The Forestry Commission web page states "In February 2012 it was found in a consignment of infected trees sent from a nursery in the Netherlands to a nursery in Buckinghamshire, England"and other sites of infection have been found over England and Scotland.

The Forestry Commission states that "C. fraxinea is being treated as a quarantine pest under national emergency measures, and it is important that suspected cases of the disease are reported", a pictorial guide (as a pdf) has been released and the following details have been published to report outbreaks.

Fera: 01904 465625;
 planthealth.info@fera.gsi.gov.uk
Forestry Commission: 0131 314 6414;
 plant.health@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

The BBC reported that over 100,000 trees have been destroyed to an attempt to stop the spread of the fungus and the University of East Anglia have developed an app for smart phones to identify and log potential outbreaks and can be found here.

So as you remember, remember the Fifth of November, also remember, remember the Ash and look at your trees to see if the Chalara fraxinea fungus has reached your area.


(The Eurolink pictures will be added later)

The Great Storm of twenty five years ago (and a few days)

It was twenty five years ago (and a week ago) that the South East of England was hit, by what some newspapers called, a hurricane or a very strong storm. Michael Fish MBE is a weather forecaster who has worked for the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) and is still known for a comment before a forecast he made on the 15th of October 1987:

"Earlier on today, apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way... well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't!"

It was suggested that Michael Fish was referring to Hurricane Floyd in Florida, USA that had developed off the coast of Nicaragua on the 9th of October and had been referred to in the One O'Clock News bulletin. But to his credit, Mr. Fish did warn people of high winds for the UK and to "batten down the hatches", but the storm did turn out to be a lot stronger than predicted.

The BBC On This Day website for the 16th of October records that "at least 13 people are known to have died and many dozens have been injured, mostly by falling trees and buildings...winds hit 94 miles per hour (151 kilometres per hour) in the capital and over 110 miles per hour (177 kilometres per hour) in the Channel Islands" and "In the London Borough of Ealing alone, 600 calls came from people whose homes and cars had been struck by falling trees and debris."
 
 The BBC Science and Environment website for the 15th of October 2012 records that "an estimated 15 million trees were uprooted...with winds recorded at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour (160 kilometres per hour or 86 knots)" and "at Toys Hill, the highest point in Kent, about 98% of the woodland...was lost".

It was suggested that this widespread devastation of woodlands was going to be disastrous, but with time it has been shown that the storm helped increase the woodland biota. Dr. Keith Kirby (of Natural England), a co-author on the Great Storm's ecological impact on woodlands (an interesting pdf on climate and woodland ecology can be found here) reported that the lack of woodland exploitation after the Second World War and decreased coppicing had led to the woodland canopy closing over and reducing the low-level biodiversity. The storm opened up the canopy and led to an increase in bluebell and primrose density as well as a temporary increase in the fritillary (a woodland butterfly)  population

Dr. Peter Buckley, the other co-author with Dr. Keith Kirby, found that the effects post storm changed the past monoculture of the woodlands. The tightly packed tall trees had shallow roots that led to them being easily ripped out, whereas as coppiced trees tend to be kept shorter and lead to less trees being damaged by the stronger winds. A lot of the woods regenerated naturally with pioneer species and since there were struggling with nature, there was less need for artificial management.

What are your memories of the Great Storm in 1987? Please add your comments.

Bad Harvests and Kent Farmer's Markets

With the mixed harvest, the NFU reports (on the 10th of October 2012) that "Wheat yields are down 14.1% on five year average, from 7.8 to 6.7 tonnes per hectare; Winter Barley yields are up 1.6% on five year average, from 6.3 to 6.4 tonnes per hectare; Spring Barley yields are down 7.4% on the five year average, from 5.4 to 5.0 tonnes per hectare and Oilseed Rape yields are up 5.9% on five year average, from 3.4 to 3.6 tonnes per hectare." So be prepared for a change in the supermarkets and especially the farmer's markets. 

Kent’s Farmers’ Markets are feeling the pinch.  Compared to last year, the number of customers is down 10-15%; the average spend per shopper is down from £22 to £17, and four markets have had to close.  While no one pretends that farmers’ markets are critically important to the local agricultural sector, they provide a valuable income to some family farms, and play a wider role in helping to reconnect the public with where their food comes from. This can have knock on effects in the choices they make at the supermarket in terms of buying British.  In addition, in some villages, markets have grown up as replacements for the village shop, and provide a venue for the community to get together.

Do you have ideas for helping markets survive the economic pressures?  What stops you visiting a market?  If you used to go, but don’t any longer, what changed your habits?  Benjamin Dent, chairman of Kent Farmers’ Market Association, would like to hear any comments or suggestions: benjamin.dent@dsl.pipex.com

Learn more about Kent’s markets at : www.kfma.org.uk

 

Milk may get a new lease of life

Milk in its usual form contains both A1 and A2 β-casein proteins that are genetic variants of the beta-casein milk protein with different chemical structures. Wikipedia states that:

the "A1 β-casein type is the most common type found in cow's milk in Europe (excluding France), the USA, Australia and New Zealand." (Source: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/231r.htm)

However A2 milk comes from selected dairy cows "whose milk is rich in A2 beta-caseins – but contains no A1 – it is a completely natural, and highly effective, solution to cases of A1 milk protein intolerance." (Source: A2 Milk)

It is thought that the A1 β-casein protein in milk can lead to specific forms of milk intolerance. Symptoms can include abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea and nausea (Source: A2 Milk) 

So, therefore, the A2 branded milk is a form of milk protein that contains β-casein protein formed by Robert Wiseman Dairies and the New Zealand's A2 Corporation. It is thought that this A2 milk will be sold at Budgens, Tesco and Waitrose in the UK. In Australia, FWi states, "A2 milk has taken a 6% value share of the milk market."

The FWi has produced an interesting case study of an A2 milk producer, Andrew Evans in Shropshire, England. 

On the 2nd of October, the BBC News reported that "a genetically-modified cow produced milk without beta-lactoglobulin - a whey protein to which some people are allergic...The instructions for making the beta-lactoglobulin protein are contained in genes in the cow's DNA. The scientists added extra genetic material to disrupt the manufacturing process using a technique called RNA interference. The resulting calf was born without a tail, however, the researchers say that is "unlikely" to be because of the genetic modification. It has not yet become pregnant and produced milk normally so the scientists used hormones to jump-start milk production."

It certainly looks like there will be changes within the dairy industry, especially after the summer of discontent (see this post).