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Zurich Herald, 1956-05-17, Page 6TABLE TALKS fav Atdews, Spices and their places of origin always suggest far-off colorful lands, pungent odors, strange customs. And to be more practical, we would be hard put, even amid today's plenty in food, to serve even the most familiar dishes without pepper — the world's most popular spice from India, without cloves from Madagascar, cinnamon from In- doehina, ginger and allspice from Jamaica, nutmeg from In- donesia, and paprika from Spain. ' * The American Spice Trade Association reports that there are now 50 spices available to American consumers, This fig- ure includes not only the so- , Balled "true" spices, such as those named above, but also members of the herb family, stromatic seeds, blends of spices, and seasoning salts — all of which are classed under the general term of spices. * * * As to their primal origin, legend suggests that Mr. Cave Man one day used some leaves that grew nearby to wrap the meat he was burying in a pit of glowing embers to cook. Later on, when he reasoned that the leaves must be responsible for the new and pleasing flavor in his meat, the art of seasoning was born. * * From earliest records, in cune- iform and hieroglyph, we know that spices were used in ancient Assyrian and Egyptian civiliza- tions. The Bible relates that Jo- seph of the coat of many colors was rescued by a company of Ishmeelites from Gilead "with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh going to carry it down to Egypt" (Gen. 37:25). * * We look with increased respect at our hardy spice shelf when we consider that in the fifth cen- tury, Alaric. the conquering Goth, exacted 3,000 pounds of pepper as part of the ransom of Rome. By the eleventh century, many towns were keeping their accounts in pepper, and most of us remember learning, albeit dimly, that the discovery of Am- erica was an incidental result of the search for better spice trade routes. RAPS RHEE - President Syng- man Rhee's long leadership of the Korean people is under fire from P. H. Shinicky, above, head of the newly formed Demo - est opponent in the May 15 erratic party. He is Rhee's strong - election. Declaring Rhee is leading Korea "up a one-way street," Shinicky added that Rhee has become "so set in his ways" that he can't solve Ko- rea's current problems. A laboratory in a university has recently emphasized the fact that virtually all spices will re- tard rancidity in foods, This is what the ancients knew without benefit of laboratory. During the centuries when refrigeration was unknown, when sugar, lemon, and chocolate were yet to become a part of man's fare, both the preserving power of spices and their ability to trans- form dull food into something appetizing were highly valued, * * What is the difference between a spice and an herb? Botanical- ly, the Spice Trade Association says, spices are the roots, bark, buds, seeds, or fruit of aromatic plants which usually grow in the tropics; Herbs are the leaves of plants which grow only in the ,temperate zones. * * * It's a good idea not to keep spices on the pantry shelf for much over six months, since they tend to lose their potency. Buy in small quantities, and keep them tightly covered in as dry and cool a place as possible definitely not near the stove. * * * Most cooks have tried-and- true recipes for gingerbread, spice cake, molasses cookies and similar dishes which use the "true" spices. Here are a few dishes which may be new to you, or which will suggest end- less variations to be achieved with the aid of your spice shelf. * * * APPLE SOUFFLE 1,11 cup quick -cooking tapioca le cup sugar 1,4 teaspoon salt 2 cups milk 34 teaspoon cinnamon 1/ teaspoon nutmeg 2 tablespoons butter 11,4 tablespoons lemon juice 1 cup grated raw apple 3 egg yolks, beaten until thick 3 egg whites Combine tapioca, sugar, salt, and milk in top of double boiler. Place over rapidly boiling water, bring to scalding point (allow 3 to 5 minutes), and cook 5 min- utes, stirring frequently. Add butter, spices, lemon juice, and apple. Cool slightly while beat- ing eggs. Add egg yolks and mix well. Fold into the stiffly beaten egg whites. Turn into greased baking dish. Place in pan of hot water and bake in moderate oven (350°F.) 50 to 60 minutes, or until souffle is firm. Serve hot with whipped cream. Serves 8, LOUISIANA NUT BREAD 4 cups sifted flour 6 teaspoons baking powder 1 cup sugar 1/ teaspoon allspice Se teaspoon ground cloves 34 teaspoon salt 1 cup raisins ' 2 eggs 1 oup chopped pecans or wal- nuts 11/2 cups milk 2 tablespoons shortening, melted Sift together flour, baking powder, spices, sugar, and salt. Add nuts, chopped or sliced (not too finely) and raisins. Beat eggs until light and fluffy; add milk and stir into dry ingredients. Add melted shortening. Pour into two greased small loaf pans (about 3"x5"). Allow to rise iii hour; bake in moderate oven (350° F.) 45 to 50 minutes. Store for a day before cutting - to ripen. Note: This is a sweet loaf. If to be used for sandwich bread, cut sugar to 34 or even 1,6 cup. Grated orange rind may be ad- ded also as a flavoring if de- sired. LOOT';, MA, NO HANDS -• "Standing in the doorway" means just that to 1 2 -year-old Joyce Puryear, Witnesses say the girl can stay up there almost indefinitely, or until someone slams the door. For variety Joyce suspends herself midway hi the doorway with her hands, letting her feet dangle, A COOL CAT AND HERCRAZY BROOD — Meet a cat that doesn't "have kittens" every time she Fees little chicks. Tinker adopted three chicks brought home by Michael Karns, 10. Whenever Karns separated the cat from the chicks, Tinker would play retriever, left, and bring them back kitten -style to her box. The Karns family finally gave up the separation idea, and they Tinker family, a cat and three chicks, snuggled happily together. SMOKED BEEF TONGUE with Sweet and Sour Sauce 1 smoked =beef tongue 1 teaspoon allspice Soak tongue several hours or overnight in cold water. Cover with cold water, add allspice, and simmer, covered, approxi- mately three hours, or until very tender. Trim off roots and slip off all skin. Save 2 cups stock. Keep hot. * SAUCE 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon flour 1 medium onion chopped fine 2 cups beef tongue stock 1 lemon, finely sliced and quartered IA cup sliced, blanched almonds 1/4 cup raisins 2 whole cloves 1/S teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon vinegar 1 tablespoon maple syrup 4 tablespoons sugar (caramel- ized)* caramel-ized)* Put fat in saucepan, stir in flour, add onion and cook, stir- ring, five minutes. Add stock gradually and ..boil five -more minutes. Add lemon, almonds, raisins, cinnamon; • 'cloves, and vinegar. Sweeten . with maple sirup and ' caramelized sugar. Cook 45 minutes, until sauce is well reduced. Place tongue in sauce, boil together, basting tongue, for 20 minutes. Remove tongue, slice, and serve covered with the sauce. *To caramelize, cook over low heat until sugar is liquefied and brown. * * * Spice Tips Imagination and a sense of adventure will guide you to many appealing ways of using true spices. Here are a few tips to start you off: Allspice — try adding a dash to tomato sauce. Nutmeg — it's delicious on firm slices of buttered summer squash. Cinnamon — simmer grape juice, sugar, a touch of lemon juice, and cinnamon (stick or ground) for a delicious drink. Ginger—some folk like a. bit in pot roast. Paprika — sprinkle it on broiled fish for color. CANNED GROUND HOG—This ground hog, got his fronf end stuck in a tin can while eating out of it. After being relieved from his embarrassing position, Tinnose loped off, none the worse for wear. Tossed a Coin For Which To Marry • He was bored on his visit to London, so the romantic young Frenchman decided to spend an hour Or two at a popular dance hall, Perhaps he would meet a pretty girl who, like himself, was feeling in flirtatious mood? He stood for a few minutes surveying the whirling couples, then spotted two attractive, fair-haired girls waltzing to- gether. Ten minutes later he was sitting at their table, charming them with his wit -and trying vainly to decide which girl he preferred. Both had enchanting figures, and he soon discovered they were twins. Joan had dreamy blue eyes, Jean's were a lus- trous brown. And it was pretty clear that they both liked him. As he danced alternately with these two lovelies, the French- man began to think seriously for the first time of marriage, He felt quite sure that either girl would make a wonderful wife and would make him happy. He saw them next day; and the day after. They, too, were on holiday in London. Both were single and quite heart -free. The Frenchman was determined to marry one of them. But which one? Time was short; and he had to make his decision. He found the sisters equally fascinating. Both could speak French, both had visited his beloved Paris. On the evening before he was due to return to France, he was still undecided. Then he had an idea. He would toss a coin and abide by the result. "Heads" for Joan; "tails" for Jean. The shilling came down. "tails." That evening he man- aged to get Wean alone long enough for him to propose and for her to accept.`Joan.congrat- ulated them both when they broke the news to her, little guessing that the turn of a coin had settled the matter. Even matters of life and death have sometimes been de- cided by the toss of a coin. A New York jury, trying the case of a tramway driver who had • run over a girl, tossed up for a verdict. The judge chanced to hear of this extraordinary w a y of reaching a decision. Each mem- ber of the jury was severely fined and the case was heard again with another jury. But judges themselves have sometimes tossed up to solve a problem. Five judges of the Florida Supreme Court many years ago could not make up their minds who should be ap- pointed Chief justice, Then one of them pointed out that under an old and forgotten law the Chief Justice should be chosen by lot. As no method was stipulated, the appointment was determined by spinning a coin. Four U.S. universities were split fifty-fifty in 1926 on the. use of the word "is" in •the fol- lowing • sentence in -a railroad circular: "Along the right of way exists a tremendous area in which is produced two-thirds of the oats and more than half the corn in the United States." Railway chiefs, differing ns to whether the word "are" should be used instead of "is", referred the matter to the' universities. _Two universities plumped for "is"; two for "are". Sighed the railway chiefs: "We'd better toss a coin and get a decision that way." They did. As a result, the word 'is" stay -es ed in the circular and has never" been altered, When Will Moon Break to Pieces? Scientists are planning to give closer study to the moon this year in a new attempt to an- swer the question that has puz- zled them for centuries: When will the moon break up? Many astronomers predict that in the next fifty million years mankind will witness the slow disintegration of the moon — the earth's closest neighbour and only satellite, w h i ch is about 238,857 miles away from us. One famous astronomer has said: "We believe that the moon will break into pieces — first into two pieces, then four, then eight and eventually into count- less particles. When this hap- pens, we shall have continuous moonlight, reflected from the particles." When our first spacemen land on the moon, they'll find it com- pletely covered with a dust as fine as face powder and vary- ing from 20 ft. thick to enor- mous troughs 6,000 ft. deep. This startling prediction is made by a British astronomer. Reviewing the results of the latest research concerning the moon's surface, he says it is calculated that there are, 25,000. grains of dust hia line measur- ing less than an inch. At the bottom of the moon's valleys and in the flat regions, the moon explorers will find a loose layer of this dust, rather like fine, deep snow, not less than 20 feet deep. It may be impossible to walk on it. There is no water on the moon, so the dust would not pack tightly ex- cept under its own weight. Only on the .high ridges of mountainous ground will the spacemen find little dust, says the astronomer. The moon's dust was caused by the impact of huge meteor- ites which in the last 7,000 mil- lion years blasted great pits in the moon's surface, it is now believed. Some of these pits are 500 miles across. The first men in the moon will therefore have to find some way of preventing themselves from sinking into the dust with their gear. STRONG SPIDER It takes a 14 -ounce pull to open a trap-door spider's door when he's holding it down. If a man were proportionately as strong, he could exert a pull of ten tons. Let Them Eat PHIS The .medical profession 'has 'x .low opinion .Of tis :who never -carved up a cadaver or : flguret • a hematocrit. It has ,sacoeeded in narrowing our feeerlo n' tc3 pick our own pills at the cOrnair drug store. And now it is sup- porting in grand fashion the pro • - gram to make 'us take the pillet it thinks we ought to.. This refers to that 1issely con- troversy, the fluoridation of municipal water supplies. The overwhelming medical opo:s>xx is that this is a good thing to do„ It is a good thing to do, it seems, because this is one way to rnaku us take our medicine. This coines out in lively, fash- ion in the fight now going or. in • • New York City over fluoridation, The water commissioner there: is against doctoring the watery supply. He urges instead that New Yorkers be allowed to de- . cide the question ind vidually by the simple expedient of buying • fluoride tablets. Then those whe- wanted it could have it, and those who didn't needn't, The tablets, said the commis- sioner, would cost only 25 cents a child for three years. Well, we put the question to a man who represents the pu-•- lic health views of the medical profession: What's the matter with letting' people take 'their own pills instead of forcing them to by fixing the water sup- ply? First he said the car~st estimate was 'off, The New York Heath department figures fluoridating the water supply costs nine sante per person per year,. hotted fluoridated water $13.25, fluor' -de in milk $2,14 and tablets $335. But what really ccunts agai:_st the tablets, he said, is that pet,- ple can't be educated to 'Wee one every day, instead of a clozsn today and none fcr a mo .:il. Though these 'are nct his wows, the implication is that the hes the dumb herd is e.' ted sells pills, the betty. Maybe. But couldn't jest a email, 1it:_e voice be lifted in fave of lett__,g •people do more of their 07n self -doctoring, if '-it's their willful desire? Educatior, absut pills is harder and nibro uncsr•- tain than withholding then, er stuffing• them down as the g.od• humassetarians decide. And eat we simple people ce bare czar pride.—Boston. Hera'.1. • Drive With Owe ACCIDENTAL FUN -- Child psy- chology invades the bandage business with ms.rketing of these new, cartocn-clecoratad first-aid bands. Tears disappear in a hurry, the manufacturer claims, when small fry spot it. lustratecl bandages. DOWN AND OUT Heavyweight Coley Wallace is shown be- ing helped to a sitting position by his handlers afet being knocked out in the 10th round by Bob Woodall. Weme Was taken to a hospital for treattrient.