Passionate Foodie
Lucinda Frye
Diverse and indigenous cuisine brought by the many ethnic people to St. Maarten from all over the world piques our interest. To this end, we are on a quest to find where it comes from, if it is used for celebrations, if it is exotic to some but normal food to others. Anything to do with keeping the body and soul nourished with what is produced from good old terra firma is what makes the world go around.
Boy, oh boy! Life is offering us a bit of an upheaval right now, to say the least! A list kept popping up while doing research online about worldwide illnesses/pandemics. Pandemics are not unusual; they have taken place throughout history.
The surprising thing about this pandemic, in this modern day and age, is how countries are simply not ready for a germ/virus pandemic. Too many people poo-pooh the fact that this is a serious medical illnesses; it is not “just a flu” – it can affect everyone.
Recordings go as far back as:
“430 BC: Athens – Typhoid fever – The earliest recorded pandemic happened during the Peloponnesian War. After the disease passed through Libya, Ethiopia and Egypt, it crossed the Athenian walls as the Spartans laid siege. As much as two-thirds of the population died. The symptoms included fever, thirst, bloody throat and tongue, red skin and lesions. The disease, suspected to have been typhoid fever, weakened the Athenians significantly and was a significant factor in their defeat by the Spartans.”
165 AD: Antonine Plague – Early appearance of smallpox that began with the Huns.
250 AD: Cyprian Plague – Cyprian plague entailed diarrhoea, vomiting, throat ulcers, fever and gangrenous hands and feet. Recurring outbreaks over the next three centuries.
541 AD: Justinian Plague – First appearing in Egypt, the Justinian plague spread through Palestine and the Byzantine Empire, and then throughout the Mediterranean. It is believed to be the first significant appearance of the bubonic plague, which features enlarged lymphatic gland and is carried by rats and spread by fleas.
11th Century: Leprosy – This grew into a pandemic in Europe in the Middle Ages.
1350: The Black Death – Responsible for the death of one-third of the world’s population.
1492: The Columbian Exchange – Following the arrival of the Spanish in the Caribbean, diseases such as smallpox, measles and bubonic plague were passed along to the native populations.
1665: The Great Plague of London – Reappearance of the bubonic plague.
1817: First Cholera Pandemic – The first of seven cholera pandemics over the next 150 years originated in Russia.
1855: The Third Plague Pandemic – Starting in China and moving to India and Hong Kong. The pandemic was considered active until 1960 when cases dropped below a couple hundred.
1875: Fiji Measles Pandemic – This was a dreadful pandemic for the islands.
1889: Russian Flu – Started in Siberia and Kazakhstan, travelled to Moscow, and made its way into Finland and then Poland, where it moved into the rest of Europe.
1918: Spanish Flu – The avian-borne flu that resulted in 50 million deaths worldwide. In North America, the flu first appeared in Kansas in early 1918 and was visible in Europe by spring. The flu threat disappeared in the summer of 1919 when most of the infected had either developed immunities or died.
1957: Asian flu – Starting in Hong Kong and spreading throughout China and then into the United States, the Asian flu became widespread in England.
1981: HIV/AIDS – AIDS destroys a person’s immune system. AIDS was first observed in American gay communities but is believed to have developed from a chimpanzee virus from West Africa in the 1920s.
Practice quarantine!
The practice of quarantine began during the 14th century. Cautious port authorities required ships arriving in Venice from infected ports to sit at anchor for 40 days before landing – the origin of the word quarantine from the Italian “quaranta giorni” or 40 days.
One of the first instances of relying on geography and statistical analysis was in mid-19th century London, during a cholera outbreak. In 1854, Dr. John Snow came to the conclusion that cholera was spreading via tainted water and decided to display neighbourhood mortality data directly on a map. This method revealed a cluster of cases around a specific pump from which people were drawing their water.
It’s hard to calculate and forecast the true impact of COVID-19, as the outbreak is still ongoing and researchers are still learning about this new form of coronavirus. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by a virus officially named SARS-CoV-2 is scary because it has spread rapidly around the world in just a few months as doctors and researchers scramble to learn more about it.
Important to note: Times have changed a lot over all these years. Modern sanitation, medicine and other technologies make it difficult to compare what’s happening today to the conditions over these past centuries.
Seasonal flu is an “all human virus” – coronavirus is a bigger deal than seasonal flu. Novel viruses come from animals; the World Health Organization (WHO) tracks novel viruses in animals. Usually these viruses only transfer from animal to animal. Once one of these animal viruses mutates and starts to transfer from animals to humans, then it becomes a problem because humans have no natural or acquired immunity.
Life does go on and it is now a case of what we can do to keep ourselves and our loved-ones well nourished.
RECIPES
Persian Noodle Soup – one cannot go wrong with sup to nourish the soul and feed the family healthily.
Ingredients
2 TBL Canola oil
1 large onion, diced
½ cup brown lentils
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp salt
4 cups water – add ½ cup water at a time up to 5 cups
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1 cup chopped parsley
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
15oz can chickpeas
15oz can pinto beans
8oz Persian flat noodles or linguine
Topping
4 TBL olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBL dried mint
½ tsp turmeric
1 cup Liquid Kashk (yogurt whey). This may be hard to find. The flavour is very distinctive (substitute sour cream mixed with grated parmesan and 1½ smashed canned anchovies).
Method
Heat oil in a large pot.
Sauté onion until golden.
Add lentils, turmeric, salt and water.
Bring to boil then simmer 15 mins, covered.
Add herbs, cover, simmer 30 mins.
Add beans and chickpeas, stir well and simmer 15 mins.
Add Persian flat noodles, stir, cook another 15 mins.
Serve topped with kashk (or substitute) and the toppings.
Topping
Heat 2 TBL olive oil, fry sliced onion and garlic until caramelized.
Heat remaining olive oil, sauté turmeric and mint quickly.
Top each bowl of soup a little choice of the toppings.
Cinnamon Rolls – A wee bit of deliciousness is never wrong!
Dough
1 cup whole milk
1 cup water
2 packets active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
5 TBL butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
7-8 cups flour
Filling
1½ sticks butter, very soft
1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
½ cup sugar
6 TBL cinnamon
2 TBL corn starch
Cream Cheese Topping
4 oz. butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch salt
1 cup icing sugar
Method
Heat milk and water until warm.
Pour into stand mixer – use a dough hook.
Pour yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in and allow to sit 10 minutes.
Add eggs, oil, melted butter, sugar, and salt to yeast mixture.
Mix on low to combine.
Add 7 cups flour.
Mix on medium speed for a few minutes (if dough is too sticky, add up to 1 more cup flour).
Form dough into ball – place in a large oiled bowl.
Cover and allow to rise in a warm spot 1½ hours.
Stir filling ingredients together – do not add the butter yet.
Grease large cookie sheet or two 9x13 pans.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle – ¼-inch thick.
Spread softened butter evenly all over.
Sprinkle filling evenly on top of butter.
Roll dough up tightly, lengthwise.
Use floss or a sharp knife to slice dough into about 24x2-inch slices.
Place onto prepared sheet/pan – spaced so the barely touch.
Cover, allow to rise till doubled in size - 1+ hours.
Preheat oven 350 °F.
Bake 20-22 minutes until golden.
Cool 5 minutes – spread topping over rolls with back of spoon.
Topping
Beat butter, cream cheese together till smooth.
Add icing sugar, vanilla and salt.
Beat till smooth.
Sweet potato + braised kale Curry – A delicious meal in itself
Ingredients
3 TBL olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2LB sweet potato, peel, dice ½-inch cubes
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp curry powder
2LB kale, stemmed, chopped
1 cup vegetable broth
14oz can coconut milk
1 TBL lime juice
⅓ cup green pumpkin seeds
Salt
Freshly black pepper
Red pepper flakes to taste
Serve with cooked rice
Method
Heat 2 TBL olive oil.
Add onion, cook until softened.
Add sweet potato, cover and cook about 5 minutes.
Transfer to a bowl, set aside.
Add 1TBL olive oil to pot over medium-high heat.
Add garlic, ginger, curry powder - cook, stirring, about 30 seconds.
Add half kale, stir about 1 minute.
Stir in remaining greens, broth, all but ½ cup coconut milk and salt to taste.
Cover pot, simmer 12-15 minutes.
Add sweet potato, cover, 10-20 minutes.
Toast pumpkin seeds 3-5 minutes.
Uncover pot, increase heat, cook, stirring until most of the liquid has evaporated, 2-5 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in remaining coconut milk, lime juice and season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to taste.
Serve with rice and toasted pumpkin seeds.
