Our new season is all about the GOURD. Our syllabus this time is in the form of a menu with guest recipes. With each course a focusing on a few questions, some we answer and some are for you to think about. Our reading list this season will grow as the seasons grows, and don't forget to look through our BookShop.org page
An apéritif: Fall From the Cosmos
What are gourds? Gourds are hard shelled fruit, mostly grown in warm or even tropical climates; they include melons, pumpkins, courgettes, calabash... They are part of cucurbitaceae family.
Why are gourds important? The bottle gourd was used as a vessel by pre-historic mankind, allowing them to carry water, and other foods and liquids, to travel distances. Long migration became possible. Gourds are believed to be the first cultivated crop, and the first (only?) crop to become global for prehistoric mankind.
QUESTION: when you hear ‘food and drink systems’ what comes to mind?
Starter: Squash and Red Pepper Croquettes
What are the migration roots of gourds? They originate on the African continent and travelled globally from there, mostly via human migration but also by sea. There has been much debate about how the gourd got from Africa to South America, it seemed impossible to believe that it could've travelled on the ocean and a land migration route, of the Asian gourd, seemed the most likely.
But the most recent data from DNA testing and the study of oceanic patterns, seems to prove a sea root devoid of human transportation. Tracing plants, particularly the domestication of plants, and how they moved, is a really important way of understanding cultures and how people moved - DNA testing is often the way this is done. For example, it seems that the bitter gourd found in Asia, was domesticated there first but, a wild, almost identical, version had been found in Tanzania!
How can we understand the significance of gourds in global cultures? It turns out the gourd has had many uses, not just as a source of food or to carry water but also as musical instruments - when dried, the seeds turn a gourd into a rattle. Across cultures and history gourds have been transformed into wind and string instruments - from banjos to sitars. Gourds also feature in myths and folklore, particularly related to orgin stories; Polynesian myths talk of the birth of the world, is related to the gourd; the Khmu people in Laos, credits the gourds to the birth of mankind; the Awrawak people of northern South American and Caribbean, the gourd is the source of the sea!. Because gourds have such a place in culture and storytelling we can understand how important they were to many cultures, globally.
QUESTION: What is your favourite gourd?
Main: Lentil, Coconut and Butternut Squash Dahl
More than instruments, dried gourd shells were also transformed into utensils and bowls for eating and drinking. They gave people the ability to sh