Fish, Fowl, and Pharaohs. Only two of those can be legally eaten, i like this chapter already. It begins with mummification, a topic that is slightly interesting and which i can take a test on and not fail miserably. Mr. Kurlansky says that the dead body of Egyptians was a "vessel" from the life to the afterlife. I like the way that sounds. Mr. K. will now be referred to as an artist of words. However, i do not like the sounds of the onion/eye deal. I do not want my eyes to be in the same room as free onion juice, let alone directly in my sensitive sockets. I wish for this message to be passed on to my offspring (interweb, take care of that). I would like my eyes to stay put, dead or aliveeee.
Alas, we are at the food part. For a moment, i forgot i was reading about salt. I was sadly reminded. Is funereal a word? It's nifty, but is Mr. K. for serious? He's still an artist, but i'm seeing Picasso in him. He's making stuff up and we're buying it. Even if it looks ridiculous. Funereal? My family in the room is not familiar, and reference books are against my religion (too convenient, i've been taught).
Why did Egyptians have something against pigs? Why would they have pigs at all if the pig farmers were accused of leprosy? I love bacon, they were missing out. Contrary to this book and popular belief, Egyptians did NOT make olives edible. Trust me. Or eat them and try not to vomit. They are like acorns. It's best to mask the flavor. Egyptians made spectacular bread, which is actually impressive. They had enough time to let it rise, which made them luxurious. They were way more g l a m o r ous than the Hebrews.
My family refers to me as the "divine salt," along with natron. Interesting that it's mentioned.
Mediterraneans are great because they credit the recipemakers. There is no food plagiarism between them and the Phoenicians, as well as the Spaniards. However, there is some confusion about who made what. I'm not too caught up in who got to chickpeas first, though it is apparently a great feat. Sfax prospered! We learned in class that Phoenicians had the first good alphabet, i'm glad Salt agrees. Sfax, it's a funny word.
THE CAMEL WAS NATIVE TO NORTH AMERICA UNTIL TWO MILLION YEARS AGO?! I wish i was joking or being sarcastic. I'm not. That is so insane. I don't miss them much, obviously, but WOW. I do NOT regret reading this chapter.
I do not like the sounds of Taghaza. It was probably a miserable work camp, eh? "They lacked everything but salt." That's all you need though. Salt is all you need. ...Unnnless you have gold. We are not completely insane, gold is better than salt. In Timbuktu, they chewed on salty tobacco. As if tobacco alone isn't delicious enough. R. Omosunlola (i'm reading that aloud now) helped Nigerian women deal with their salt. I trust him, where can i get a copy?
Forever and ever, amen.
I looove how spell check works on this. I was unsure about plagiarism. Now i am not.
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3 comments:
Onions are my favorite vegetable, but thinking about them being stuffed inside a 70 day old dead body and it's eyes makes me not want to eat onions ever again. However, i like onions so i will continue. Tim won't be happy with me.
The "vessel" comparison is really odd i think. I also think it's odd that the body had to stay perfectly preserved to remain in the afterlife, deffinetly not what my religion teaches me.
Sounds like you enjoy this author a lot. I also agree that he is very creative. I would never compare ancient civilizations to salt, let alone WANT to research about so much salt to compose a book on it.
Is it wrong that I think the camels were the most interesting part of the book? Honestly, that is awesome.
And since when does your family refer to you as the "divine salt?" It's true. But still...
Olives are nasty. And the Egpytians are silly for thinking that they made them edible. Well, happy bloggging. Yours always make me lol.
"Mummification as slightly interesting???" You are a hard student to please.
Onion eyes part of the book I have a hard time remembering, but the way you put this doesn't sound as if it was pretty. Perhaps there is some sort of chemical in the onion they found desirable?
"Sadly reminded?" You do complain quite a bit in your blog. You act like being asked to read about salt is a chore? I hardly think Mr. K is writing fiction here, despite what you may think.
While your posts do tend to have a decent amount of length they are not always on task or no topic. This might have to reflect in your score.
Many Middle Eastern religions outlaw pork. Jews, Muslims, etc all forbid pork to be eaten. It is viewed as an unclean animal that lives in it's own filth. Hence it is not popular with some cultures.
I'm with you on the olives. (gag)
"Divine Salt" or "Salt of the earth" means they believe you to precious or of value to them. This comes from a biblical inference, whereas something that is worthy or important as the 'spice of life' equates with salt. It's a compliment (from them) to be sure.
Interesting take on the who made what. You raise some interesting points there.
Forgot about the camel thing, but I suppose they crossed the Bearing Strait? Glad you found value in that part anyway.
I think Mr. K is trying to show how Gold and Salt are both inter-changeable in some way. Glad you mentioned Timbuktu, as it was a major trade city which we'll look at more when we study Africa.
Mr. Farrell
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