Day: December 1, 2020

We began reading The Pagoda by Patricia Powell. This book opened with a conflicted, elderly Lowe trying to reach out to his daughter to tell her the truth about his secrets. I was especially interested in the descriptions by Powell when she details Lowe and the scene where there is a fire with her contrasting imagery “…with the odor of nutmeg and cashew that drifted through the breeze” (Powell 12) with Lowe about to vomit over the grisly death of his dogs. I began to reminisce about the pleasantries associated with the smell and flavor of nutmeg and wanted to detail its origins in food.

Nutmeg, also known as Myristica fragrans, is a “tropical evergreen tree and the spice made of its seed” (Petruzzello). Nutmeg is native to Indonesia and was cultivated there and in the Caribbean. It has a warming flavor somewhat comparable to cinnamon, in my opinion, and can be used in a multitude of baked goods including spice cake and my personal favorite, Belizean bread pudding. Interestingly enough, the outside of the nutmeg seed is the source of the spice mace! Nutmeg has also been used to make incense, soaps, and perfumes. Be careful of eating too much of it at once because it can cause hallucinogens. There are different varieties of nutmeg depending on where you are in the world: Jamaican, Brazilian, Peruvian, and even Madagascar. Nutmeg, the spice as we know, is produced by drying the seed in the sun over a two-month period which helps the seed separate from its coat. I like using nutmeg fresh by grating it with a microplane to help get the full flavor by preserving its essential oils up until cooking or baking. You can also find this spice ground, but the flavor is not as strong. I also use a little bit of nutmeg in my french toast dredge! Nutmeg is the flavor of the holidays and is something so sentimental to me.

Works Cited:

“Nutmeg.” Edited by Melissa Petruzzello, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 19 Dec. 2019, www.britannica.com/topic/nutmeg.

Powell, Patricia, 1966-. The Pagoda: a Novel. New York: Knopf, 1998.

“He had to see Kywing and the others. He yearned for the music of their frenzied dialects, the euphony of clicking tiles as they played games, and his mouth watered in anticipation of stews Kywing would prepare, embryonic chickens with tender bones in peppered soup, pressed duck and tiny bottomless cups of tea” (33).

[TW: somewhat graphic description of animal killing for food preparation]

In this section of the novel, Lowe leaves his home for a while on a mule, and goes to see his close friend Kywing and Kywing’s family. Lowe longs for the company of his friend and his family, food, the music of their languages, “anything to remind him that he [is not] alone there on that wretched island” (33). It is to Kywing that Lowe presents the idea of the Pagoda to. The foods that Lowe anticipates Kywing to cook up sound to me like rich, hearty foods that would warm up one’s belly after a long trip.

Pressed duck is something I have never heard of. Pressed duck is a traditional French dish that is somewhat controversial due to the preparation of the animal for the meat and actual preparation of the meat itself. Traditionally, the ducks are strangled as to retain as much blood as possible, since the blood and rest of the duck’s “insides” are used in cooking dish itself. First, the duck is dried to ensure a crisp skin after roasting, and left to mature for a few weeks. Then, the whole duck is roasted and seared. To prepare the dish, the breasts are removed first, as those are the cuts that are directly consumed. The legs are also removed before the rest of the carcass is put and quite literally “pressed” in a metal duck-press. Pressing the body crushes all of the blood and other liquids out of the body and the liquids are extracted to make into a sauce for the duck breasts. The sauce consists of the duck’s blood and liquids, as well as additional ingredients like shallots, orange juice, and cognac. Though the act of pressing a duck does not sound too warm or comforting, the dish itself sounds incredibly rich and deep in flavor, as duck is a high-fat meat (high content and quality). Pressed duck can also be prepared

It is a bit unusual to me why Kywing would prepare a traditional French dish in 19th century Jamaica. However, it seems possible that Kywing could have learned the recipe by mouth, from one of the laborers or visitors who has come to his home, given the “frenzied dialects” and “morse code of their languages” among the groups (33).

 

“Canard à La Presse (Pressed Duck) Recipe by Chef Ulrik Jepsen.” Chef’s Pencil, 10 Mar. 2019, www.chefspencil.com/recipe/pressed-duck-recipe/.

Powell, Patricia. The Pagoda: a Novel. Harcourt, Inc., 1999.

“Wooden shelves leaning against the wall, holding cakes of soap and boxes of detergent and oats and bottles of beer and stout, aerated water, white rum, boxes of clothes peg, hairpin, button, phensic, tins of condensed milk and mackerel in tomato sauce, corned beef, sardines in vegetable oil, two- and three- pound bags of rice and flour and sugar and cornmeal, the closet filled with spiced buns and bread and water crackers, two unopened tins of New Zealand cheddar… ” (Powell 18). 

When listing the foods and supplies in his shop, Lowe includes several preserved foods that have a long shelf life – including tins of mackerel in tomato sauce. I hadn’t actually heard of this canned combination before, nor have I ever eaten mackerel. As it turns out, the fish is consumed across the world and is a good source of omega-3’s but for a long time, was hard to preserve. Before canning, it was often salted or smoked, but pickling was common in France and curing with salt and vinegar was common in Japan. The preservation methods of canning didn’t develop until the 1800’s, a strategy concocted during wartime in France. Napoleon made a competition in 1795, offering a prize for whoever came up with the best method to preserve food cheaply and efficiently – and Nicolas Appert came up with heating and sealing food in glass jars, a method still widely used today. Since glass jars don’t travel well, they were replaced with tins and cans as a more effective receptacle. This development speaks to the effects of imperialism even on food and its storage that we are so accustomed to today. Born from a time of war and uncertain food sources, this invention and further innovation have provided a method of storing and keeping food in an efficient and accessible manner. 

The combination of fish and tomatoes crops up in lots of different cultural dishes and can be found in meals originating in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, South America, etc. A quick google search offers pages of recipes of similar dishes joining fish and tomato sauce. Therefore, it makes sense that it would be a flavor combination to preserve in small and readily accessible tins for people to store. 

 

Powell, Patricia. The Pagoda: a Novel. Harcourt, Inc., 1999. 

Ron Kinnunen, Michigan State University Extension. “Preserving Fish through Canning.” MSU Extension, 3 Oct. 2018, www.canr.msu.edu/news/preserving_fish_through_canning. 

Schaber, Stephen. “Why Napoleon Offered A Prize For Inventing Canned Food.” NPR, NPR, 5 Mar. 2012, www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/03/01/147751097/why-napoleon-offered-a-prize-for-inventing-canned-food.