PUBLIC EVENT - free admission

Coming soon!

Taste of Memory - our free food event is coming soon.

September 17th at 3pm and 5pm

September 18th at 5pm and 7pm

at the wonderful

Chats Palace, 42-44 Brooksby's Walk, E9 6DF

BlogThis!

The world on our plates

As September starts we are busy collating much of the food material from our research into a public event - coming VERY SOON.

Meanwhile we are looking at ways of publicising it and this image was part of our search.

Look at it closely, and watch this space for the event dates

PAN Garden Party

This year's PAN Garden Party was a huge success! The Fortune group performed a small taster of what's to come in September. Well done Fortune, your performance was fantastic!

Jungle food story.

Hi everyone and welcome to the jungle. what pictures are in your head right now when hear the word jungle holidays, Movies, tropical flowers, a wiled animals;No this is not that jungle this is closer. The jungle is a slum in Calais of France where we arrived from wars from catastrophes

and wait for a chance to get in to Britain there were handres of us no electricity, no toilets, no shower. welcome to this jungle and my special meal. I used to eat alone back home there was only my dad and he was mostly absent. I didn't go to school then the Taliban closed them. I used to enjoy cooking and eating alone and here i'm doing it again. Three or for month we've been traveling we only got dry food like bescuits, bread and plain water so we were hungry when we got to calais I was so tired that I wasn't afraid of anything. In Greece and Turkey were no many tracks but in calais there were lots of them we just went to open a lorry and stole food chicken, bread, wine and ran. we didn't care we had lost all since of what was right. we couldn't cook it that night we had no oil no pan the next night the other went off to try to get a cross the channel I was too tired I stayed I found some wood and some stones I built a fire I cut op the chicken and put it on the fire. all by myself I really enjoyed that meal because i was alone didn't have to share it my first real meal since leaving really tasty i will always remember it. i felt like i had eaten enough for the first time in month. it is not exactly my cultural food but no it is i made it i made it my culture. oh yeh; i drank the wine too got drunk. And yeh the others came back they hadn't found a track to get in to they were mad that the chicken was eaten but it was too late in the jungle thats how it is.

More Bread

Making Bread

At the end of our 2 hour workshop we had more bread than we could have possibly imagined....

Last Wednesday the lovely Saba and Shamsi spent a session making bread with the group. Saba uses bread making as a theraputic tool and runs sessions at Freedom from Torture (previously MF). We had a lovely session and make some pretty fantastic bread...have a look at our photos....it's a messy business making bread - but lots of fun!

A Hug in a Bowl

The Fortune group was visited by journalist Anjul Dutt from London Link Radio. She was creating a programme about Pan's work and she joined in our games and exercises to get a feel of the work. Then we decided to interview her before she interviewed us.

She is a committed vegetarian, born in Wales of Indian parents and has very wide tastes.

But when asked about her real "comfort food" she gave the memorable answer

" I just love rice and dal, it is a hug in a bowl"

Mr. Potato Head

Potatoes have been around for thousands and thousands of years. At the same time it has only been a few hundred years that potatoes have been apart of our diets. The Incas began cultivating, worshiping and enjoying the benefits of the vegetable some 3,000-7,000 years ago in South America. Around the middle of the 1500’s the Spanish came to this part of the globe and discovered this exotic vegetable and brought it back to the royals of Spain.

Like so many other vegetable introduced to the European table, potatoes were also rejected by majority of the people. Many believed potatoes caused leprosy, syphilis, narcosis, scrofula, early death, sterility and rampant sexuality. In the US potatoes were thought of as food for animals, often grown next to the hog pens.

Needless to say it took a while for potatoes to catch on. A French scientist was able to convince his boss, King Louis XIV, to grow potatoes outside of Paris. The king then agreed and troops were ordered to surround the farmland. The locals were very curious to what the royals were growing and thought that anything this heavily guarded must be of value. One night, Parmentier gave the troops the night off. At nightfall, the locals raided the fields and soon began growing and eating potatoes just as Parmentier had hoped. Gradually potatoes became recognized as a nutritious food to fight hunger and feed the masses. Today potatoes are grown every from its origins in South America to space.

Potato Timeline

1536 Potato arrive in Europe

1609 European sailors take potatoes to China

1719 Potatoes arrive in the USA

1801 First French fries served in the U.S.

1845 Irish potato famine

1853 Potato crisp invented in New York

1952 ‘Mr. Potato head’ toy created

1995 The potato is grown in space

2008 United Nations International Year of the Potato

Aubergine

Like all the other foods we have discussed aubergines have a long and rich history. Europeans long referred to aubergines as the “mad apple” believing that this plant, native to modern day Pakistan and Southeast India, brought upon insanity in people. Yet few, in Spain and in Italy, believed the plant was an aphrodisiac and referred to the plant as the ‘apple of love.’ Unfortunately this nickname did not stick, and it took several hundred years before aubergines were accepted in the diets of Europeans.

Before people referred to the plant as the ‘mad apple’ or ‘apple of love’, its name derived from an old Sanskrit nickname, vatinganah. Which literally means, ‘fart go away,’ because the plant does not produce gas. Later the Persians adapted the word to badingan. The Arabs then added the article al-badingan. When the Arabic speaking Moors came to Spain, they introduced the plant to the locals. The Catalans, not realising that al was an article combined the two and came up with alberginia. Later the French changed it to what we know today as, aubergine. When aubergines made their way to England, the English first called the 'mad apple' eggplant because of its egg-like shape. They later switched to the French usage as their cuisine was being strongly influenced by the French.

Fun facts:

Even though aubergines are considered to be a vegetable, they are actually classified as a fruit.

Regardless of its classification, aubergines contain the highest amount of nicotine of all vegetables. But you would have to consume 20 pounds of aubergines to equal one cigarette.

Maize

Maize or corn has it roots from Mexico some 9,000 years ago. The Mayan people believed that the gods created man from maize dough. Through this belief, the Mayan people gave maize a divine status for centuries and were reluctant to sell it; selling maize would have been like trading in their own flesh. Maize had strong implications on the role of men and women. Before a man could be taken seriously, he had to demonstrate that he could farm the sacred plant. Women were expected to know how to properly make maize dough and the foodstuff, which used maize dough, such as tortillas. Only then could men and women take positions of responsibility in the community and marry. As time went on, maize made its way into South America 4,000 years ago and then up to North America. Later, the Portuguese brought the grain and introduced it to the African diet and then to Europe. Today maize is grown all over the world.

The Tree of Life

Coconut Palm trees are known as the ‘tree of life’ and have been around for thousands of years. The story behind the first coconut tree is an old Malaysian myth. It goes… One day a young man in the village went to see the old wise man that lived in a cave by the sea. The young man explained to the old wise man how he wanted to do good things with his life and for others. The old wise man nodded his head, handed the young man a box, and told him not to open the it until he got home. As the young man left the cave, he was very keen to discover what was inside and opened the box. Immediately after opening the box the young man turned into a coconut tree. In the end, the young man was able to accomplish all that we wished. As the tree of life, he was able to do good things for others.

Some positive benefits of coconuts and coconut palm trees:

1. The wood and the palms have been used for housing structures.
2. The fibres from the coconut have been used for brushes, mats, fishnets and ropes.
3. The flesh and the water can be eaten and drunk on its own and in several of meals.
4. There are numerous health benefits to eating and drinking coconut.
5. The dried coconut shells can be used as bowels or cups. Some even use them as clothing, coconut bikini.

FORTUNE at the Rose Bruford Symposium!

On Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th April, some of FORTUNE took a research installation to the Rose Bruford College grounds. After our lovely technician Bertie pitched the marquee for us we were ready to go!

The audience were given instructions, each had 45 seconds to try a food tester and answer a question. At the end of this, we invited the audience to share a memory of food.

Here are some of those memories:

'After 8 mints at Christmas.'

'Making pizza as a child, getting flour everywhere and throwing it at each other.'

'Yorkie bars at Man. City Matches!'

'Watching a friend struggling to eat a teaspoon of cinnamon.'

'Massive food fight with friends aged 11'

'A family meal before leaving for uni.'

'Before I turned vegetarian, eating raw tuna in Norway and loving it.'

'Having mashed up roast dinner when I was little.'

'Eating spaghetti with family and covering my face with sauce.'

'Dropping my Marmite-covered toast on the floor as a child and my cat licking the Marmite off.'

'Sitting with grandpa, him feeding me butter with a spoon.'

'I've tried eating snails and surprisingly it was really good, similar to mushrooms.'

'Scrambled egg on toast because my mum would take me almost every lunchtime to the same cafe.'

'Banana butties in my toy box at 4 years old'

'When I dropped an ice cream scoop on the pavement...it was very sad.'

More answers to that question, and film clips to come...watch this space!

“That’s macaroni!”

Walt Disney set the tone for all romantic dates after the animation film, Lady and the Tramp, in 1955. Since then couples and comedic parodies have been replicating that romantic scene. While Lady was on her date with Tramp, I wonder if they joined in on the age-old debate of who was credited for inventing pasta. Was it the Italians, Arabs or Chinese?

For many years, people believed the myth that Marco Polo brought the Italians the invention of pasta from China during one of his explorations of the Far East. Marco Polo did do a lot, but discovering pasta was not on the list. By this time, not only Italians, but Indian cultures as well were enjoying the stringy noodles.

Around 500 B.C. the Etruscans, who lived in Western Italy, developed the flat noodle called ‘lagane’, later came to be called lasagna. The Romans then improved on the noodle by using wheat flour. According to some, lagane can’t be considered pasta because it was baked not boiled.

During the 8^th century invasion of Sicily, Arabs introduced the Italians to dried and then boiled pasta. Before long, Palmero invented techniques to mass produce pasta and feed thousands. By the1400s pasta was then ready to make its voyages across the globe. As time went by several different types of pasta were invented and their names incorporated into languages other than Italian. In 1770, ‘that’s macaroni’ was used in English to mean something particularly good.

Long before the Arabs and the Etruscans, pasta can be traced some 4,000 years ago. Archaeologist discovered a pot with 50cm yellow strand of noodles preserved by clay near the Yellow River in China. These noodles were made out of a grass millet grain. Rice noodles weren’t used until around 1700 B.C.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4335160.stm

“Violet! You’re turning violet, Violet!”

Remember the scene where the bratty child from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ate too many blueberries? This week’s food is all about blueberries and how the world has gone violet for them. Botanists believe that our modern blueberries are descendants of a shrub that dates back 13,000 years ago. Cousins of blueberries are seen in Europe and Asia, but the true blueberry we know today is one of three indigenous fruits found in North America.

Blueberries were pretty much considered a sacred plant by Native Americans. They called the blueberries the “Star berry” because of the blossom end, the calyx, forms a perfect five-point star. They saw the berry as a gift from the Great Spirit who gave it to them to feed their children in times of hunger.

Before the days of blueberry smoothies and pie, Native Americans used the berry in several different ways. Blueberries were used in soups and stews, seasoning for meat, and as a preservative to keep meat fresh longer. A popular dish they liked was a pudding called Sautauthig (pronounced sawi-taw-teeg) made with blueberries, cracked corn and water. English settler later added milk, butter and sugar to sweeten the pudding.

Native Americans also found by making tea from the root and leaves of the plant, it would ease the pain of childbirth and purify the blood. Today scientists have discovered that blueberries are a great antioxidant that helps fight heart disease, diabetes, cancer and aging of the brain. With all the nutritional benefits of blueberries, don’t hesitate to go violet for blueberries.

Museum Visits

We will be visiting the Museum of Childhood to have a look at their food exhibition soon. The Garden Museum also have events and exhibitions around food and sustainability - have a look at their blog to see the venue and read up on what they do http://grapevineblog.wordpress.com/.

“Can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man”

Ginger is not just an unattractive root we pass by in the local markets. It is one of the oldest known spices that date back some 3,000 to 5,000 years ago. It’s not clear if the root originated in India or somewhere in Southeast Asia. But it is a root that has flavoured our food and made us healthier people for thousands of years.

As the old nursery rhyme suggests, ginger was never meant to stay in one place. During the Roman Empire, Arab merchants controlled the spice trade bringing ginger from east to west. To keep the Romans from taking over their business and the east, they portrayed the east as a dark and dangerous place. For some reason, after the fall of the Roman Empire, ginger almost disappeared through out ancient Europe. Marco Polo is credited for reintroducing the root back into the hungry mouths of Europeans. As time went on, people thought, why keep this spicy root to ourselves. Soon ginger found its way down the eastern coastline of Africa and made its epic voyage to the new world.

Since the discovery of ginger, people have used the root in various ways. 19^th century England, pub owners placed ground ginger on the tables for pub crawlers to add a little spice to their beers. Thus began the great love for ginger ale.

Further back, Queen Elizabeth I is credited for giving the world the Christmas treat of gingerbread men. During her rein, she had the bakers make gingerbread men in the likeness of her important guest. She then presented the little men as gifts. Since then, gingerbread men have been jumping out of ovens all over the world.

The Queen Ate Curry

a small, but interesting, food story came my way today.

In the later part of her reign (late 1900s) , Queen Victoria had a teacher from India called Abdul Karim. They became very close, he lived in the palace and taught her to read and write in Urdu and Hindi.

He also introduced her to curry, although my sources don't tell me exactly what sort of curry that was.

She loved it, and

Curry was on the menu at the Palace every day.

I wonder how much this influenced the British love of curry which continues today

Exciting Food Website

A very good friend of ours sent through a food website for us to look at. They have fantastic food events, check it out at

http://foodpaths.org.uk/

Happy eating!