Gardening can lead to some fairly fascinating discussions. For example, with just a little research we learned that the plant amaranth was key to strife between pagans and Christians, is a super-high energy food source and can replace shark liver in our diets.
Read on:
Friday Sow There! talked about elephant head amaranth, the bizarre looking plant in Shelleys yard with blooms that look like someone making an obscene gesture with their middle finger.
My friend Maureen lives in Mexico and she sent a note stating amaranth is a plant used for grain and was called food of the gods by Mayans and Aztecs. She said she doubts elephant head amaranth is used for cereal and tortillas, but the regular amaranth is and can be eaten by people who are wheat intolerant, M said.
Shelley said she had heard that when the Spanish conquered Mexico and took over the indigenous people,? they forbid them to grow.
I found a cool Web site: www.mexconnect.com, which had a glowing review of this food of the Gods.?
Author Karen Hursh Graber states that the food contains between 75-87 percent of the total human
nutritional requirements. That kind of makes you want to rush out and gets some doesnt it?
Who needs genetically modified golden rice? Lets just start growing masses of amaranth.
Aztec Playdough
Back when Mexico was conquered, apparently the Europeans hated amaranth and linked it to pagan practices, Karen wrote.
Apparently amaranth was something of the ancient Playdough and spiritual leaders used a paste of amaranth mixed with honey to form the image of different gods.
Maybe this was the origins of those Christmas tree ornaments made with dough.
After the Aztec sculptures were admired for a while, they were divvied up for dinner.
They found all other types of uses for it, such as celebrating the birth of a son by making amaranth weapons and shields.
Karens Web site includes some cool looking recipes to be made with amaranth.
I called Scott Richman at Chico Natural Foods who said the store carries the grain for $1.69 a pound. It doesnt sell that well in bulk, which seems like such a shame given its healthful properties. Youd think the government, trying to fight obesity and malnutrition would require all Taco Bell chips to be made from amaranth.
Scott said people with aversions to wheat usually go for quinoa instead (pronounced kin-wah).
I always thought that was pronounced kwin-oh-a.
Who knew?
Scott said when cooked with water, amaranth becomes creamy, similar to polenta. It has a unique flavor that is stronger than youd normally expect from a grain.
Some companies use it to make cookies and breakfast cereals, Scott said.
According to a report on the Purdue University Web site: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/v1-127.html, it contains all sorts of good types of acids I had never heard of, and is about 3/4 unsaturated oil.
It is reported to have 7 percent squalene, a high priced material, usually extracted from shark livers.?
You know, I feel so happy to know this. Ive searched for years and years to find a replacement for eating all that shark liver.
Isnt it interesting,? Shelley said, how a plant that looks like its holding up its middle finger can actually lead to teaching you something??
Indeed.
