The Spice Road: From Lebanon to Mongolia

I have lived half of my life around the Mediterranean Sea and Arabian Gulf. Among the dearest memories are those about food and the joie de vivre preparing, cooking and sharing food brings to social interactions. But more than food, my olfactile memories are about spices while preparing the food.

As a kid, then a young man I could not think of any kitchen without the aromatic presence of cumin, cloves, cardamom and anise. Rice was just rice without saffron; lamb lost its identity without cloves and garlic; morning coffee had to have cardamom in it; and evening coffee rose water.  As such, food and its preparation have been part of my appreciation, celebration and enjoyment of many cultures and societies I have had the privilege to be part of, be adopted by, and miss them when life took me from continent to continent.

But, like the ancient travelers of the Silk Road, I have taken the spices or at least the recipes with me. I still cook; experiment and love gatherings when from fish to lamb to hare, my new culinary creations are tried and often enjoyed… (1)

… So it was no surprise that when I saw the book “Cumin, Camels, and Caravans: A Spice Odyssey” (2) by Gary Paul Nabhan I decided to read it on a foggy January morning.

It is a very well researched book on the origins of spice trade. But the main thesis of the book is that the Silk Road and Spice Road had unified many parts of the world through culinary and economic factors. He shows recipes in Mongolia that are identical to recipes in Morocco or Lebanon; and spices that are commonly used both for medicinal and culinary purposes.  In some ways spices were the vectors through which a “culinary colonialism” took place with grand and sometimes not so desirable consequences.  For example saffron weighs less than gold but was worth multiple times more. Hence 600 pounds of saffron on a camel’s back were a true treasure and pushed merchants to cross deserts and continents. Unfortunately the wealth from spices also was a factor in military colonization and wars.

While many of the arguments and ethno-botanical analyses were not totally new to me, the story of Frankincense was a true discovery. This gum that oozes from tree trunks in the Nejd of Southern Oman has influenced my childhood. Indeed this fragrant, aromatic resin is used as an air purifier and religious ceremonial incense in many cultures, and has a central role in the Orthodox Gregorian church, including Armenian. As a kid I recall my grandfather burning Frankincense in a silver, ornate burner he had brought with him from Konya. I still have that burner, but no incense had been burned in it for decades… Here is the Frankincense (called Khoung in Armenian) burner of my grandfather:

As I read the book, I also realized that many of the traditions of the Silk and Spice Road are still continued both in recipes, songs, and attitudes toward life. As a photographer I have taken pictures in the ancient world and now I realize they still represent many aspects of what the book describes the historical traditions associated with cumin, camels and caravans.

So I went to my pictures from Morocco and chose a few to illustrate.

Gary P. Nabhan describes cities in the desert where spices were traded along the Spice Road. The places where the trade took place were called funduk, which made me smile as that is today the word used for “hotel” in Arabic. Now I know the origin of that word—it was the place where traders stayed, their camels got a rest, and they did business. What a wonderful historical testimonial! I have taken a picture of a small town in Morocco with a panoramic lens. Now for me that is the funduk, well preserved.

Camels have to be part of the picture, and I do have a couple from near the Sahel. Time seems to have stopped in those pictures.

The market, or souk, is still there and again, spices and vegetables are sold in the same context and tradition as what is believed to be the case thousands of years ago. Here is a spice merchant and streets sellers of vegetables and roots. Were those pictures taken a couple of thousand years ago?

… The author ends the book by saying:

“We must wake up and smell the incense – the kind that pervades the air where we live, among those for whom we care.”

I now smell the incense through my olfactile memories, among the memories of all those who were part of my life and who are not of this world anymore. A life lived in celebration of togetherness where cumin, frankincense and clove were part of the love we shared.

January 28, 2015

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2015

(1)   For those of you who read French, the last chapters of my new book “A Quand le Vol Paris- Ėrevan?”(2014) have some of my recipes. Here is the link to the description of the book: http://vahezen.blogspot.com/2014/04/this-posting-will-be-different-from-my.html

(2)   Gary Paul Nabhan “Cumin, Camels, and Caravans: A Spice Odyssey”. University of California Press, pp.305, 2014.

Moonstruck

I may not know why rivers run

Without pride and their shadows soft

But last night away from the moon

I cried for what I secretly know

It may have been the lonesome owl

Perched atop the barren oak tree

Or the smoke from a seasoned chimney

Burning woods of past proud trees

And I knew then that a poem

Was like the old woods burning slow

As if memories crackling and warm

I once cherished and are now smoke

Yet I do not want to hear or know

Why rivers run to find their sea

Last night hiding from the moon

I secretly smiled for a long while

January 18, 2015

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2015

Kisses and Hugs

In the past two weeks I received cards and email from friends living in 3 continents. While the notes had personal characters, most shared the same last line: XO.

As I read a similar email today, I sat back and smiled: I did not know the origin of XO! It was time for me to learn.

... At first pass, my search yielded mixed messages: the “X” seems to come from the Middle Ages, but the “O” seems to come from nowhere!  There is consistent support to the documentation that the “X” was used in Europe as a signature by those who could not write and read. And it seems that it does have a religious background as the “X” is the first letter in XPIƩTOƩ, or Christ in Greek. The idea seems to be that, by marking an “X”, one pledges sincerity in signing a document.

But what makes it personal? Isn’t an “X” just and X? How would one know it was this and not that person who signed that document?

This is where things get exciting: After writing/drawing the”X”, the signatory was expected to seal it with a kiss!!!! That was the oath of honesty for the transaction.  

… I sat back on my chair and thought that today we still face similar situations when people who cannot write dip their thumb in ink and make an imprint. While the thumb print is more specific in identifying a person than perhaps the imprint of lips, the idea is the same. I even learned that the Japanese Samurai had a similar method of signing, this time substituting their blood to the ink on their thumb.

.. Of course “Sealing it with a kiss” is a popular statement between lovers when sending a letter. It is ultimately romantic, tender and very personal. It is the telemetry of an actual kiss…

Interestingly, the most recent song entitled “Seal it With a Kiss” belongs to Brittney Spears. Hmm, somehow I would have expected it to be a song by Nat King Cole or Frank Sinatra. And when I checked the lyrics of that song I realized that the original intent, in the Middle Ages to seal a document with a kiss, was very different from what Brittney Spears had in mind…!

But the romantic idea of “sealing with a kiss” seems adopted universally. Indeed there was a 2011 very popular drama series on Chinese television called, well yes, “Sealed With a Kiss”! Further, in the past 50 years Bobby Vinton, Bryan Hyland and Jason Donovan sang a song called “Sealed With a Kiss”. Finally, there is a myriad of stores on the spectrum of camp equipment to bridal gowns with the same name…

Clearly, that medieval tradition of officially sealing a document has found a pan-human resonance in all aspects of our expressions and services.

… But what about the “O”? And how come that we translate “XO” as “Hugs and Kisses” if the “X” is a kiss?  Is the “O” a hug? What is its origin?

Well, there seems to be no consensus as to where the “O” came from. It is said that it is a recent Western construct to make a new abbreviation to a signature meaning “Hugs and Kisses”.

.. Hmm. Next time I get email ending in “XO” I will write back asking the sender what it means.

January 11, 2015

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2015