Comments on The Old Foodie: The Natural Diet of Man.

Thanks, Old Foodie - Now, here I've just received ...

2008-08-07T23:55:00.000+10:00

Thanks, Old Foodie - Now, here I've just received notice of a paper to be given in London [for those who live thereabouts] on just the topic we're discussing:

7th October 2008, Linda Newson (King's College London): Slave diets from Africa to Peru in the early seventeenth century

This talk is being sponsonred by the the London Group of Historical Geographers. " All are welcome."

Unfortunately, I'll be here in Burundi [as usual]... But it is certainlhy an intersting topic, and if anyone reading here can attend, would be great to get a feed-back!

Wow Dianabuja - that is an impressive "comment" - ...

2008-08-05T19:19:44.410+10:00

Wow Dianabuja - that is an impressive "comment" - it is a blog post all on its own. Thanks for adding to the mix!

Then (as still today] the daily diet in central Af...

2008-08-04T22:31:00.000+10:00

Then (as still today] the daily diet in central Africa was-is primarily vegetarian - whether [in the past] slave or otherwise. Meat - primarily goats and poultry - being reserved for special occasions and operating as 'savings banks on the hoof'; fish are more commonly eaten - generally dried so as to be transported for sale and/or stored. While more meat are eaten by the wealthy [then as now], it is generally reserved for celebratons. Some quotes from 19th.C. sources:

From: What Led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile (1864), by John Hanning Speke:

Eastern Congo: "The population is considerable, and they live in mushroom huts, situated on the high flats and easier slopes, where they cultivate the manioc, sweet potato, maize, millet, various kinds of pulse, and all the common vegetables in general use about the country. Poultry abounds in the villages."

From: Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 1(1876), by Sir Richard Francis Burton:

Central Congo: "... Meat rarely appears; river fish, fresh or sun-dried, is the usual "kitchen," eaten with manioc, toasted maize, and peeled, roasted, and scraped plantain: vegetables and palm-oil obtained by squeezing the nut in the hands, are the staple dish, and beans are looked upon rather as slaves' food. They have no rice and no form of 'daily bread'.

... The travelling foods are mostly boiled batatas (sweet potatoes), Kwanga, a hard and innutritious pudding-like preparation of cassava which the "Expedition" (p.197) calls "Coongo, a bitter root, that requires four days' boiling to deprive it of its pernicious quality;" this is probably the black or poisonous manioc. The national dish, "chindungwa," would test the mouth of any curry-eater in the world: it is composed of boiled ground-nuts and red peppers in equal proportions, pounded separately in wooden mortars, mixed and squeezed to drain off the oil; the hard mass, flavoured with salt or honey, will keep for weeks."

Hello Judith. that particular authors opinion was ...

2008-07-25T08:04:14.457+10:00

Hello Judith. that particular authors opinion was that they were vegetarian - wonder on what evidence he based that? perhaps congo slaves in the colonies? I am glad too that I am not in Lapland. Any modern Laplanders out there care to respond?

I'm simply stunned that Congo slaves are vegetaria...

2008-07-25T01:33:00.000+10:00

I'm simply stunned that Congo slaves are vegetarians! What about Congo masters, what do they eat??

What a bizarre list, although it does make me glad that I don't live in Lapland.