Gustatory perambulations, with diversions into embalming and botany

So yesterday, chilli (chili?) con carne was produced. Not being Very Good with capsaicin (as nmg will testify), this was a bit of a challenge. After all, how do I know how much chilli = nicely warm and tasty versus EYES BLEED? I wussed out a bit and shredded up a couple of biggish dried Kashmiri red chillis and threw the seeds away, chewed up a bit, found it pleasantly sweet and smokey with a bit of poke. Long story short, turns out that for 500g QUALITY beef and 2 tins tomatoes; three big chillis and about .25 tsp hot chilli powder (plus 1tsp paprika, 1tsp cumin, a cinnamon stick, 1tsp coriander, 2 big squares of Green & Black's 70% and "some" mixed spice) works out good, if a little on the jessy-fied side, heat-wise. Mmm with sour cream and Nachos.

BUT!

All these spice-shennanigans made me wonder. What the bejesus does a cinnamon or a cumin even look like? Obviously cumin is seeds, cinnamon is bark (well a little tiny log thing) but what the hell do the plants look like? Turns out my hunch that cumin is some kind of umbellifer was correct: it's got umbels and that's good enough for me.

Cinnamon turns out to be a kind of laurel tree. Now I know a bit about the chemistry of cinnamon through my colleague Uma, who is researching the ability of cinnamaldehyde to antagonise pain receptors triggered by capsaicin. Uma tells me that the cinnamon in chilli (or curry, she's from Mumbai) assuages the heat from the chilli by blocking your OMG CHILLI HOT receptors. She does a lot of throwing cinnamon and chilli at neurones in vitro to investigate using cinnamon as an analgesic.

Diodorus Siculus also reported that the Egyptians used cinnamon for embalming during mummification. Whether they did or not, I found this great patent for an embalming compound that employs cinnamon, filed in 1890.
There you go. Things you'll never need to know, brought direct to your monitor on a Monday morning.

Still haven't finished my COREC forms. Obviously still procrastinating! Crochet count: 52 squares down, another 30+ to go and running out of wool.

Gustatory perambulations, with diversions into embalming and botany

So yesterday, chilli (chili?) con carne was produced. Not being Very Good with capsaicin (as nmg will testify), this was a bit of a challenge. After all, how do I know how much chilli = nicely warm and tasty versus EYES BLEED? I wussed out a bit and shredded up a couple of biggish dried Kashmiri red chillis and threw the seeds away, chewed up a bit, found it pleasantly sweet and smokey with a bit of poke. Long story short, turns out that for 500g QUALITY beef and 2 tins tomatoes; three big chillis and about .25 tsp hot chilli powder (plus 1tsp paprika, 1tsp cumin, a cinnamon stick, 1tsp coriander, 2 big squares of Green & Black's 70% and "some" mixed spice) works out good, if a little on the jessy-fied side, heat-wise. Mmm with sour cream and Nachos.

BUT!

All these spice-shennanigans made me wonder. What the bejesus does a cinnamon or a cumin even look like? Obviously cumin is seeds, cinnamon is bark (well a little tiny log thing) but what the hell do the plants look like? Turns out my hunch that cumin is some kind of umbellifer was correct: it's got umbels and that's good enough for me.

Cinnamon turns out to be a kind of laurel tree. Now I know a bit about the chemistry of cinnamon through my colleague Uma, who is researching the ability of cinnamaldehyde to antagonise pain receptors triggered by capsaicin. Uma tells me that the cinnamon in chilli (or curry, she's from Mumbai) assuages the heat from the chilli by blocking your OMG CHILLI HOT receptors. She does a lot of throwing cinnamon and chilli at neurones in vitro to investigate using cinnamon as an analgesic.

Diodorus Siculus also reported that the Egyptians used cinnamon for embalming during mummification. Whether they did or not, I found this great patent for an embalming compound that employs cinnamon, filed in 1890.
There you go. Things you'll never need to know, brought direct to your monitor on a Monday morning.

Still haven't finished my COREC forms. Obviously still procrastinating! Crochet count: 52 squares down, another 30+ to go and running out of wool.

PROGRESS

I've finished my COREC forms! Woohoo!
Now I have the paper to re-edit for re-submission by the end of the day.

GRARGH.

PROGRESS

I've finished my COREC forms! Woohoo!
Now I have the paper to re-edit for re-submission by the end of the day.

GRARGH.