500words

There are over 9,000 curry houses across the UK and really, who doesn’t love a curry? A couple of my favourites include Jack Monroe’s chickpea and peach curry , a crunchy and sweetly strange combination that has quickly become one of my new favourite comfort foods, self-proclaimed curry-evangelist Nisha Katona’s Bengali prawn and pea curry , and anything made with a tub of Chinese curry paste. But all these dishes taste so different and look so different, so what actually makes something a ‘curry’? The word curry is a catch-all term which has been adopted to refer to soup and stew dishes from India, South-East Asia and parts of Oceania. The fact that we categorise dishes from these diverse countries together explains why there is such a range of ‘curries’ on offer – really, these dishes are completely unrelated to each other. In fact, the term curry is derived from the Tamil word ‘kari’ which simply means ‘spiced sauce’.  When it comes to the herbs and spices used in these ‘spiced ...

  If you are thinking of a career change, please do not consider being a vanilla farmer in Madagascar.   By all accounts it is a horrible, dangerous and difficult job. Vanilla comes second only to the spice saffron in value, with a kilo of black vanilla pods selling for hundreds of pounds.   Natural vanilla bean extract only accounts for about 1% of the flavour produced (the rest is synthetic) but demand for real vanilla beans is rising because we increasingly demand “natural” ingredients in our products.     Most vanilla beans come from Madagascar, where the fluctuation in the price of vanilla takes a toll on the fates and fortunes of the local community.   Vanilla orchids only bloom and fruit annually so farmers must put all their efforts into a single crop and one payment per year.    No part of the farming or curing of vanilla beans is mechanised and children often miss school to help with the demanding work of hand pollination (neces...

  Pepper: The Spice that Built World Trade From early times pepper was cultivated in the tropics of South East Asia where it was highly regarded as a condiment and, with Cinnamon, was the first spice to be traded throughout the Indian sub-continent.   At the height of the Roman empire’s power, Pliny (AD23-79) tells of his astonishment over the speed at which pepper gained popularity in Rome, noting that it was bought by weight like gold and silver! It sold for today's equivalent of £400 per lb and was one of the five essential luxuries that made life worth living and were the basis of the empire’s foreign trade, the others being Chinese silk, German amber, African ivory and Arabian incense. The King is offered fruits of the Pepper Harvest From "Livre des Merveilles du Monde"  Marco Polo's journeys   As overland trade grew in importance so did pepper and by the early Middle Ages it became a unit of international exchange, tributes and taxes were levied in pepper, ...

  Volatile Oils – Spices   A spice refers to a vegetable substance which is used for adding flavour and sometimes colour to foods. Spices are obtained from various parts of plants, such as the flowers, seeds, leaves, bark and fruits. The flavour and aromatic nature of spices are caused from the volatile oils contained within the various parts of the plants. These oils may contain up to several hundred chemical compounds, and when combined, this mixture gives different spices their characteristic flavours and aromas.  In ginger, for example, these flavours are apparent in the fresh form. However, many spices change, or develop, their flavour only upon drying and grinding. When the whole spice is broken or ground, volatile oils are released. However, over time the flavour and aroma will dissipate and this is why spices have much greater flavour and aromas when newly ground. An example of how different volumes of volatile oils can impact taste is in cinnamon. Cinnamon powd...

It is a commonly held belief that there are three main categories of precious metals, so-called because of how often one finds them, how much one pay’s for them and whether they are metallic and are borne from the earth’s crust.   Their use and application seem limitless; from art and design to medicine and electronics, it is fascinating to realise that their practical applications extend far beyond the vanity of adornment. In the olden days of 3100 B.C, archaeologists say there is evidence of a gold/silver value ratio to be found in the codes of Menes, a clever Pharaoh and the founder of the  first  Egyptian dynasty, who stated that one part of gold is equal to 'two and one half' parts of silver. This is the earliest indication of a value relationship between gold and silver.   Of all of the metals we deem precious, one could say with a degree of confidence, that is it gold that has extended the deepest and most pervasive influence on our modern lives. The...

Gold is a dense, lustrous, yellow precious metal with the chemical symbol Au. But you already knew that, because gold is everywhere, with a total 197,576 tonnes existing above ground as of 2019. And it’s everywhere because it’s a pretty colour, incredibly malleable, a good conductor of electricity and heat, and is one of the least reactive chemical elements, meaning that it doesn’t tarnish or corrode. Because it has all these characteristics, gold has found hundreds of uses over thousands of years, some of which you’ll be more familiar with than others. Gold jewellery Gold jewellery can be traced back to around 4,400 BC, although there is every chance that it was first crafted and worn earlier than this. Gold jewellery was particularly popular amongst the ancient Egyptians, and some of the world’s most famous and historic gold jewellery was discovered in the tomb of King Tutankhamun, who reigned from 1334-1325BC. Items found in his tomb include necklaces, bracelets, and amulets. Gold l...

 The History of Wedding Rings - Precious Metals  The start of the history of wedding rings is different in different traditions, symbolising betrothal, commitment or an exchange of wealth. Originally, bands would have been made of iron or bronze, with silver and gold rings only for the upper classes. In the 15 th century, rings made of gold and diamond were available only to royalty and nobility. Rings crafted before the Georgian era are incredibly rare and are generally found only in museums.   Georgian era (1714-1830) rings were inspired by Greek designs, shaped with intricate designs and included acorns, flowers, doves and other aesthetic and detailed metalwork. They were normally 18 karat gold, with 10, 15, or 22 karat gold also sometimes used, although the lesser karat golds were not technically legal to sell. Before 1750, all rings were created by hand-crafted alloys and sand-casting methods. However, the creation of machines which could cut out the hard work w...