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#79390 09/03/02 10:13 PM
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Re: Maize is highly nutricious, but low in an essential amino acid,

Actually, its not. its just that the nutricion in corn is locked up in undigestable proteins.. one way to make corn more nutricious, is to treat it with Calcium carbonate, or sodium hydrate (lye) or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) solutions.. the result is various forms of hominy. (sodium hydrate yeilds the most famous hominy, the lovely Asp's favorite, grits.)

but the flour used to make tamales (masa ? please help Consuela!) is also a form of hominy..

the indians used to use wood ashes mixed in with flour, and then add something sour, and the result was 1) a chemical reaction that increased the nutricion of the corn, and 2) acted as a leavening agent...(in fact, baking soda was "created" from observing the effect of wood ashes and sour milk on corn breads, which were totally unresponsive to yeasts as leavens.) a secondary effect of the process is to keep corn colors true, so treated this way, blue corn stays blue as you cook it.

(go to the What are you reading thread, and note, i am reading the story of corn.)
and They were smarter than the rednecks who got dermatitis, dementia, and diarrhea from too much maize
it was usually slaves, rather than rednecks, and usually slaves in transit, who had an unvaried diet of corn alone, who got pelegra. rednecks, were eating their grits and doing fine.
and tsuwm, truer words have never been spoken, lima beans are horrid!

(as for okra, really small tender pods, cooked whole, tempura style (ie, batter coated and fried) are actually edible... the gelatinous mess stays in the pod, and small ones are drier. but truth be told, most anything in the world taste better batter fried!)


#79391 09/03/02 11:28 PM
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And of troy is correct. Okra sliced into okra coins and batter-fried is terrific.

Also, how ya' gonna make a gumbo without okra? And gumba is Louisiana ambrosia.

You all just need to come on down to the farm here and try my mother's butter beans and corn and her fried okra. I don't think you'd be disappointed at all. I won't even push for you to try my dad's fried mountain oysters!


#79392 09/03/02 11:54 PM
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Pellagra lives!
"Niacin deficiency (pellagra)

Niacin deficiency is generally due to a lack of dietary niacin and its precursor tryptophan, an essential amino acid contained in protein of good quality [12]. Cases and outbreaks have been observed and reported in 1988-1989 in refugee camps in Ethiopia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and other African countries. Pellagra occurs where maize, which is low in both niacin and tryptophan, has been the primary relief grain and where little complementary food rich in protein has been given. Even though the distributed general ration has included beans as a protein source, the quality has often been so poor that excessive cooking has been necessary (e.g. up to eight hours) to make the beans edible. Often the beans cannot be used because fuel shortages preclude such long cooking times. When a niacin- and/or tryptophan-deficient diet is consumed, the lead time for developing the signs of pellagra is about two to three months. Cases of pellagra were reported among refugees in Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Malawi, and Zaire in 1989."





#79393 09/04/02 12:28 AM
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my dad's fried mountain oysters!

I am sooo not going there....


#79394 09/04/02 01:02 AM
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It wasn't just the amino acid mix that got corn and beans together. The beans and corn, together with squash, all got planted together. The beans grew up the corn stalks and the squash spread out arond the whole thang and kept the weeds choked out. The Mexicans ran it one step further, adding hot chilis to the mix. They contain an ingredient that helps digest the corn and beans. So corn, beans and plenty hot peppers. Yum!

And about that rocky mountain oyster dinner, Dub Dub'. Do you serve that up with avocadoes and with an orchid centerpiece?


#79395 09/04/02 09:17 AM
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Thank you, Faldage, for telling those of us who didn't know about the....I want to say "Vegetable Husbandry," but don't think that's exactly correct....gardening design of native Americans. Really. That's something to consider--climbing limas and weed-stoppin' squash. Wonder why I never see that design around here?

As far as mountain oysters and avocado go: I don't think those two textures are very compatible. And where the heck did that orchid come from? You have an unusual imagination.

One other thing: Are lima beans, corn and squash actually referred to in the canon as "The Three Sisters" or is that a Faldagian original moniker?

Best regards,
WW


#79396 09/04/02 09:28 AM
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As far as mountain oysters and avocado go

A) Do you know what rocky mountain oysters are?

2) It's not necessarily lima beans. Any kind beans works.

Þ) I heard the phrase The Three Sisters from an organic, heirloom truck gardener.


#79397 09/04/02 11:10 AM
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Of course I know what mountain oysters are. Who doesn't in the South? Well, actually, there are two types of mountain oysters here, if we really want to pick nuts, I mean nits:

Sheep's
Pig's


#79398 09/04/02 12:01 PM
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re: Mountain oysters.

try looking up the origins of the words avacado and orchids... things will begin to make sense..

or run a search on those words... and see what they have in common with mountain oysters.


#79399 09/04/02 12:08 PM
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Gotcha, Faldage. Gotcha, Helen, that is!!!! Sorry! Actually, I know the etymology of avocados--used it in a poem, as a matter of fact.

But I don't of orchids, so I'll go a huntin'.


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