Category: At The Seams
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The Silk Road
It is said that almost five thousand years ago, while sitting in the shade of a mulberry tree in her garden, the Empress Hsi Ling-Shi found a fallen cocoon in her teacup. The cocoon softened in the hot tea and unraveled into a long, lustrous thread, thus beginning the invention of the silk loom and…
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The Papaya
Among my favorite memories of the Big Island of Hawaii is late afternoon at the beach, of a baby girl being fed by her mother spoonfuls of papaya, its flesh glowing a deep orange as the sunset over the ocean’s horizon. The mango may be the tourist’s beloved fruit, but the papaya is undoubtedly the…
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A Banana Forest
The scientific name for the banana is Musa Sapentium, or the “wise fruit,” which was given by the Swedish scientist Carolus Linnaeus in 1750. The word “musa” derives from “mauz”, the Arabic word for fruit, and “sapentium” is Latin derived to mean wise. The green banana, or plantain, was then called Musa Paradisiaca, “the fruit…
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Tropical Paradise
The tropics bring images of luxurious holidays with magnificent sunset views, the romance of lost civilizations, the allure of exotic flora, fruits, and spices. Epic seafaring adventures were made in order to obtain the most precious spices grown only on the most remote islands of Southeast Asia, all the while proving that after all, the…
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Food is Desire
“With apricots and dewberries,With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries;The honey-bags steal from the humble-bees,And for night-tapers crop their waxen thighsAnd light them at the fiery glow-worm’s eyes,To have my love to bed and to arise;And pluck the wings from painted butterfliesTo fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes:Nod to him, elves, and do him…
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Food is Home
“A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.”– Eleanor Roosevelt High up in the Bohea Mountains of China, farmers cut terraces into limestone crags and built dikes and drains in order to grow tea. Endowed with fertile soil and a mild,…
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Food is Science
Legend has it that the panettone came into being from a forbidden romance in the 15th century. During a Christmas Eve feast hosted by the Duke of Milan, Ludovico il Moro, his head pastry chef burnt the dessert while stealing a kiss from a nobleman’s beautiful wife in the medieval passageway. A young scullery boy…
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Food is Art
The Last SupperPainted in 1498, Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper has been described as “one of the greatest manifestations of intellectual power in art,” the most literary of all great pictures. The painting interweaves powerful telling of the gospel story and visual techniques which illustrate the artist’s mastery. It tells the Bible story of…
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Cocktail
Late afternoon in Bali, the cockfights will go on for three, four hours until sunset. Nine to ten matches, arranged impromptu, are held in a ring of 50 feet square. Once a match is made, the cocks are affixed with their spurs, which are razor sharp, pointed steel swords of five inches long, by winding…
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The Dancer
With the days stretching longer begins the mating season for the mourning doves in my backyard. The male stretches his wings to make a downward circular glide. Then he puffs out his chest and slowly bounces his head up and down to call for his mate. They like to perch close to each other on…
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