Food History

For years I’ve kept my teaching collection of herbs and spices in any container that happened to be round. This made it difficult to remember where the holes were, both in the specimen bags I use* and in the range of herbs and spices. When I was in Melbourne recently, I found a lovely antique tin that will fit about 60 sachets. Today I transferred most of my collection to the tin and heralded the new age of photography with this picture.

The new age of photography comes from the cameras of my friends Trudi and Kate and Susan, and you will see their work gracing this page on interesting occasions henceforth. In fact, there should be at least one tomorrow, as Kate took pictures during our farm visit yesterday.

Trudi and Kate and Susan all know what they’re doing with cameras and have better cameras than I have, so my blog will look much prettier soon. I’ll introduce each new picture as I use it, as there are stories attached to all of them.

Today, however, there are details you need to know about my teaching collection of spices. I only have 37 sachets in good order, and another 16 things to add when I get more sachets. The range of ingredients is just enough to show the progression from Roman to Medieval to eighteenth century Western European seasoning, with also some of the North American changes in place and time.

In my dream teaching collection, I would have about 50 more, but finding them in Australia with its quarantine rules, is rather hit and miss. I have lists to work from now so when I spot something I’m mising I know to punce on it. I’ve also started adding Australian natives to the collection.

I realise this is more interesting to me than to anyone else. Except that the tin is pretty, and relates directly to food history, being something food was bought in maybe 70 years ago.

Tomorrow I’ll do you a substantial post on Mountain Creek Farm, in abject apology for my tin-obsession tonight. Then there are some more books to introduce you to, and some recipes from my grandmother. Until then, you need a better picture of my peacock tin.

*The biggest hole was in the bag with deep fried onion. Onion no longer is in my collection at all. I will have to wish and hope and trust and pray that future students are capable of dientifying onions themselves.