i Lead Recipes

Jambu is a perennial flowering herb that is native to the tropical regions of Brazil. It is also known widely as the toothache plant as the leaves and flowers contain a powerful analgesic agent spilanthol used to numb toothache. Small amounts of the shredded leaves give a piquant peppery flavour to salads. Both its fresh and cooked leaves may be used in dishes, often alongside chilies and garlic to add flavour and vitamins to other foods. It is said to offset the intense heat of chilies and peppers. Cooked leaves lose their strong flavour and are widely used as cooked greens.

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Spam is a precooked canned meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation and first introduced in 1937. The original meaning of the name is quoted as being “Shoulder of Pork and Ham”. Spam was one of the few meat products excluded from the British food rationing during World War II, and hence became a very common basis for many menu items at that time. The Monty Python comedy troupe used this as the context for their “Spam” sketch, in which the menu at a greasy spoon cafe consists entirely of dishes containing one or more portions of Spam. This gave rise on the Internet to the term spam as the common term for unsolicited bulk electronic messages. Spam is sold today in 41 countries and in several flavours and varieties.

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Jambu is a flowering herb in the plant family Asteraceae. It is also known as toothache plant or paracress as the leaves and flower heads contain an analgesic agent spilanthol used to numb toothache. For culinary purposes, small amounts of shredded fresh leaves add a unique flavour to salads. Cooked leaves lose their strong flavour and may be used as leafy greens. Both fresh and cooked leaves are used in dishes in parts of Brazil, often combined with chillies and garlic to add flavour and vitamins to other foods. A related species is used in several Southeast Asian dishes. Consumption of portions or whole flowers have been reportedly used to offset the intense heat of chilies and peppers. An infusion of the leaves and flowers is recommended for stammering, toothache, stomatitis and throat complaints.

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Once regular trade began out of the Americas, new foods became a popular commodity. While some foods caught on right away, others took several decades, even centuries to gain popularity. Most foods took at least some time to be adopted by Europeans. One exception was the turkey. Cortez discovered the American turkey in Mexico sometime in the 1520s. Turkey, also known as “Indian Chicken” caught on swiftly with Europeans. Besides being delicious, turkey made a fantastic centerpiece for banquets, when dressed in all its feathers and plumes. In fact, at a banquet hosted by Catherine de Medici in 1549, the menu listed “seventy Indian Chickens” as part of one course.

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Early Renaissance foods were largely left over from the Middle Ages until the discovery of the Americas in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. Soon new foods began trickling into Renaissance kitchens, beginning with the nobility and eventually finding its way into the homes of merchants, farmers and peasants. Certain crops, like the potato and corn, revolutionized European farming. Other foods, such as the tomato (a member of the nightshade family), were viewed with suspicion, even fear, and were not eaten on a regular basis for another two centuries! Feasts were always popular during special occasions, such as weddings, or around the holidays or saints days. Large game birds such as peacocks, swans and cranes were often displayed with their feathers, as one of several meat dishes.

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