The taste of the valley is in my mouth. The summer has been wet and buggy here in Edmonton, but this afternoon was bright and breezy, so I went down into the ravine for a walk. The saskatoons are still ripening- a few are wizened and past their prime, some fully ripe and others still tinted pink. The saskatoons (Amelanchier alnifolia) are not as sweet as some years, perhaps because of cooler weather and less sun- but they still refresh the mouth. Misaskwatomin….important food plant for the Cree of the Prairies, and ingredient in pemmican. The soapberries (Shepherdia canadensis), also known here on the prairies as “russet buffalo berry” were abundant, very juicy and sweet on a patch of bushes in a less fertile gravelly area [soapberries have the ability to fix nitrogen, so thrive in dry sandy or gravelly soils with little organic matter]. Not so appreciated on the prairies, the saponins in the eponymous soapberries enable making soapberry froth “Indian ice-cream” or, to the Gitksan in northwest British Columbia, yal is. I always eat a spoonful when passing the bushes. They are medicinal as well as food, said to be helpful for arthritis and for stomach problems. The medicinal dose is one spoonful. Soapberries are also high in vitamins A and C, and have relatively high calcium content, as well as sugars. So they are nutritious as well.
I’ve been reading Nina Etkin’s last book….it came out in 2010 after she passed away in 2009. It’s entitled Foods of Association, Biocultural Perspectives on Foods and Beverages that Mediate Sociability (University of Arizona Press). In it she explores the ways that foods are social actors, or facilitate association, and also (being Nina Etkin) looks at the nutritional and medicinal consequences of ingesting– or not ingesting– these foods. One of the chapters I found very rich was the consideration of street foods, not to be confused with (industrial franchised) fast foods. Etkin points out that street foods are not new, and that many of the world’s peoples have relied on street foods for a significant part of their nutrition for a long time. This is a sector of the informal economy, often the realm of women, or at least prepared cottage industry style by women in their homes. Although usually associated with urban areas, recent migrants and dislocations, Etkin demonstrates that the Hausa village she worked in in northern Nigeria also had street foods. She reminds us that, as a Muslim village, the women observe a form of purdah and do not venture out of their compounds to participate freely in public life, a gendered dimension of street foods I hadn’t thought of. Hence men, and children, more often have access to street foods than women (who usually prepare it). Neither can the women ordinarily sell the foods they produce– but their children can, sitting outside their mother’s compound. I was also fascinated to hear her analysis of the significant nutritional input that street foods could have for children….this is a polygynous society, so one man provides for several wives and for their children. His contributions are distributed evenly among the wives and their children. However, the women ordinarily contribute only to their own children….so women who have more cash (perhaps earned by selling street foods) can send their children to buy the (usually quite nutritious) street foods, thereby significantly enhancing the quantity and quality of food available to them. My connection to the book today was through considering my casual supplementation of my diet with a snack of local berries. I also spotted several large Agaricus specimens (perhaps A. augustus, the Prince) growing in the compacted and mowed meadow where people go to run their dogs. Several species of Agaricus, and also shaggy manes (Coprinus comatus) can be found in the meadow after summer rain, and I brought them home to cook up for dinner. Local foods….together with the mixed herb salad I picked earlier from my own back yard (Good King Henry, sorrel, lovage, chives, tarragon, a leaf of apple mint, and a handful of raspberries for the vinaigrette).
The Solstice is past and the light slowly diminishes, but the earth has not yet peaked in its warmth…the ancient Celts recognized this in their Sabbats which are halfway between the Equinoxes and Solstices. The Solstices and Equinoxes mark the shift of light regime, while the Sabbats track the seasonal shifts in the soil and air temperatures, vital for agriculture. There is inertia in the warming and cooling of the land. The feast of Lughnasadh or Lamas is coming up. In the Celtic cycle, as now understood in Neo-Pagan writing, this is the time of first harvest. In our northern latitude, fruits are ready, but the grain lags. In any case I think of it as the fullness of summer, and praise the ripening raspberries.
