In mycological text after mycological text, in mushroom poisoning report after mushroom poisoning report we get the advice to use abstinece as the fool proof means of avoiding mushroom poisonong. Many texts, for example, advise against foraging for any Amanitas becuase one Amanita, Amanita phalloides, represents something like 95% of all mushroom fatalities globally. This…
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Mushroom Stew by E. Smith, circa 1730
Mushrooms species appropriate for this recipe: This recipe was intended for the commercial mushroom, Agaricus bisporus. Because the mushroom is minimally cooked, this recipe is only appropriate for mushrooms that can be eaten raw in some quantity. The only other mushroom I suggest is porcini, Boletus edulis. This recipe for a basic mushroom side-dish is…
Historic Edibility Assessments for “False Morel”, Gyromitra esculenta
[Photo by Barbora Batokova] Gyromitra esculenta Fries, was originally Helvella esculenta Persoon. Up to World War II, the mushroom was considered edible, even excellent, although we note a whisp of caution creeping into the 1900 Mcllvaine assessment and again into Krieger’s assessment. Assessments now, in most countries, are negative. The internet is full of references…
The Egyptian Triangle Bread
One apparently common bread during the pharaonic period was a bread shaped in the form of an equilateral triangle and painted white. The example here is from the the downtown Egyptian Museum. Note the white covering and the areas where the white has chipped off. The equilateral triangle was an important shape in ancient Egypt….
Egyptian Text: The Inundation
Joy over the Inundation They tremble, that behold the Nile in full flood. The fields laugh and the river-banks are overflowed. The god’s offerings descend, the visage of men is bright, and the heart of the gods rejoiceth. Pyramid Tex circa 2500 BCE. The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians, Adolf Erman, Ed. Aylward M. Blackman,…
A Working Recipe for Ancient Egyptian Bread
Pharaonic bakers made bread with emmer flour and/or barley. Only. This was true until at least roughly 350BCE. Most breads were made with emmer, which is a species of wheat. It is makes a flour that has different properties from that for common bread wheat. Egyptians were aware of common bread wheat as that is…
Egyptian Tomb Bread : An example of variety in shape and surface decoration.
This magnificent row of breads is a detail of a painting of offerings in the Theban Necropolis Tomb TT3. This painting is strikingly beautiful. Imagine walking into a bakery seeing a display of breads that looks like this. For me, at least, a dream. Bakeries in Paris tend to display breads with the top crust…
Egyptian Bread from Temple of Edfu
Edfu is a Ptolemaic Temple located in Edfu, Egypt. Edfu lies between Luxor and Aswan. It is most commonly visited by tourists arriving by boat on the Nile. For the bread obsessed, this temple is important for the variety of bread forms depicted in bas relief that are often very different from the styles found…
The “Shape of a Stories” a talk brillant talk by author Kurt Vonnegut
What makes for an interesting story? A first answer is, something “interesting” happens. Something good happens to a character. Something bad happens to a character. Something has to happen for a story to be engaging. That is the bare minimum. Vonnogut helps us see that when a story opens the main character can be thought…
Sense of Place : Using your powers of observation.
This is an excerise in creating a setting in which your story will take place. Good luck! You may post what you make in the comments to share with others. Further research. Sense of place explained in the Wikipedia. This is a complex entry. More approriate for advanced students and teachers.
William Rubel 