We are so excited about today’s Bon Appetit Wednesday. It marks the beginning of a series on the succulent fig. As we all know, there is nothing more exciting than a good fig recipe! Okay, now that may be a bit of an overstatement, but in all seriousness, these little ancient fruits are amazing. There are so many ways to use the fig, which have been filling the bellies of our ancestors for thousands of years. Because the fig has been around for so long and has had such an impact on history, we’re devoting more than one post to its story. So whet that appetite and enjoy the glorious tale of the fig. Continue reading
Tag Archives: AntiquityNOW
Bon Appetit Wednesday! Figs Part 1: Pork and Fruit Ragout
Posted in Blog, Bon Appetit Wednesday, Culinary, Culture, Uncategorized
Tagged ancient figs, ancient food, ancient history, ancient recipes, AntiquityNOW, Bon Appetit Wednesday, fig, figs, pork ragout
Bon Appetit Wednesday! Sarson Da Saag for the Lohri Festival
Tonight is the Punjabi Lohri festival. A celebration with ancient roots, it boasts numerous special foods. Today we’re bringing you a recipe for sarson da saag, a popular vegetable dish featuring mustard leaves and spices that is often eaten during the festivities.
No one is entirely sure when or why the Lohri festival began. As with many holidays celebrated today, it has ancient origins of a mysterious nature. The one unifying feature is that it is meant to recognize the winter solstice. It is thought that the ancient celebration of Lohri originally took place on the day of the winter solstice when the night is the longest of the year. The very next day began a trend of longer days and shorter nights, each slowly shortening by “the grain of one sesame seed.”[1] Continue reading
Top Picks Named for 2015 Children and Young Adult Books on Middle East
Each year the Middle East Outreach Council (MEOC) selects children’s and young adult books that best promote understanding of the Middle East. Shirley K. Gazsi, president of AntiquityNOW, serves on the selection committee. According to Gazsi, research is revealing how storytelling has an enormous effect on children’s world views and attitudes.
“Studies are continuing to show how reading fiction enables us to put ourselves in others’ shoes, and actually shapes the way we see individuals and the diversity of their cultures and times. This is particularly influential during childhood,” she said. “MEOC’s book selections are powerful tools in bringing the rich expanse of cultural heritage in the Middle East to children and young adults, and in seeding a commitment to multiculturalism for generations to come.” Continue reading
Bon Appetit Wednesday! The Mysterious Origin of Black Garlic
Today’s recipe is for a Black Garlic Bruschetta. It is a fairly simple recipe, but its star ingredient is anything but. This week’s Bon Appetit Wednesday is bringing you not only a delicious dish, but an intriguing mystery as well.
Several years ago, around 2008, black garlic, a strange little food with an unusual color and consistency but incredible flavor, experienced a moment in the sun. Suddenly, it was in all of the finest restaurants in the world and chefs were clamoring to make the next best black garlic dish. But where did it come from? The two main origin stories—one ancient, one modern–couldn’t have been more different. We’re going to present you with these two tales and let you decide which seems more credible. Continue reading
Strata, Portraits of Humanity, Episode 14, “Youth Diving on Shipwrecks” and “Saving Cyprus Frescoes”
Next up in the video news-magazine series Strata: Portraits of Humanity, produced by AntiquityNOW’s partner, Archaeological Legacy Institute, is a segment on a group of young people learning the ins and outs of marine archaeology, and a report on the wonders revealed by restorers of a Renaissance fresco in Cyprus.
The first video shows how Biscayne National Park and the NPS Submerged Resources Center partnered with Youth Diving With a Purpose for a project on shipwreck archaeology. Biscayne Bay offers a challenging and intriguing introduction for these young people into the mysteries of the deep and the role of marine archaeology in preserving the past. The second video reveals how restorers are peeling back the layers of time to decipher a painting representing a tragic study in faith. For 500 years, an exquisite Renaissance fresco, the “Forty Martyrs of Sebaste,” has remained hidden, forgotten and neglected in a 14th Century church in Famagusta, Cyprus. The video charts the painstaking work of rescuing the fresco from obscurity and ruin, a pioneering project that puts heritage above politics. After decades of neglect, saving Famagusta’s forgotten frescoes begins. Continue reading
Posted in Art, Blog, Culture, Science and Technology, Strata Curricula
Tagged ancient art, ancient fresco, AntiquityNOW, Archaeological Legacy Institute, archaeology, art restoration, Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, Strata Portraits of Humanity, The Archaeology Channel, underwater archaeology, Youth Diving With a Purpose
Bon Appetit Wednesday! Oliebollen (Dutch Doughnuts)
Only two more days until we ring in a brand new year! At AntiquityNOW we like to bring together traditions from all over the world, so this year we’re featuring a recipe for an ancient Dutch treat. Oliebollen are delicious dutch doughnuts with an unusual meaning and a dark history. Traditionally eaten on New Year’s Eve, oliebollen is translated as “oily balls.” While this may not sound like the most appetizing name for a food, these deep fried sweets will make you forget their strange name at first bite.
2015 Recipes With a Past
The wait is over! We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our 2015 Recipes With a Past e-cookbook, a compendium of dishes derived from our weekly Bon Appetit Wednesday! blog posts. This year’s book contains recipes from all over the world. With 22 gluten free and 13 vegan recipes for everything from appetizers to drinks and desserts, it’s easy to plan a historic international feast.
Recipes With a Past commemorates innovators of the past who have left their own culinary legacies for today’s tables. These recipes reflect the great bounty of this earth and remind us to cherish and preserve our cultural heritage, in all its forms. Continue reading
Bon Appetit Wednesday! White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Martini and Homemade White Chocolate Liqueur
Christmas is known for its culinary delights: pineapple basted ham, gum drop bejeweled gingerbread houses, decadently chocolate Santas, cookies galore and anything peppermint. Indeed, peppermint is a refreshingly cool taste that adds a distinctive flair to so many holiday recipes. With some added sugar, peppermint is particularly popular in the form of the colorfully striped candy canes that are stuffed in stockings and hung on Christmas trees. Today’s recipe is a twist on peppermint’s storied holiday tradition. This is definitely not a recipe for children, although this is the season that brings out the childlike delight in all. So what better celebration of the season for us “big kids” than a palate tickling concoction combining chocolate, peppermint and a hearty splash of liquor? Continue reading
The Slavery Project: Bringing the Past Alive With 3D Printing
Bernard Means
Today’s technologies can bedazzle the mind and senses. One of the most amazing has been the development of 3D printing. For those of us intrigued with past lives, 3D printing allows us a unique intimacy with those who have gone before. Being able to hold the model of an artifact in hand, to realize how hundreds, even thousands of years ago, other hands similarly grasped this object, is profoundly moving. This is a vital component of The Slavery Project–to immerse ourselves in the past and to feel the humanity of those lost to enslavement. Not necessarily an experience easily had, but one of critical insight, especially for young people. And this is our hope for the legacy we hand the generations that follow. That through those painful memories of slavery can arise a global will, a new world of our collective creation, where human bondage is itself a thing of the past. Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Computer Technology, Culture, Education, Human Rights, Public Life, Science and Technology, The Slavery Project
Tagged 3D printing, ancient history, AntiquityNOW, free curriculum, free lesson plans, free teaching resources, slavery, social studies, The Slavery Project, Virtual Curation Laboratory
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