Welcome back to my blog! This is a very different experience for all of GCE since we are all writing our first action project of the term from home. In fact, everything about our action project was done at home including the classwork, tests, assignments, and mini projects. Currently we are all facing a global pandemic which means self quarantining and away from our friends. Through this we have continued to learn and go on with our average school day. This spring term is all about food and this class is called Food For Thought in the Humanities course. The point of this first action project was to create a story of our life if we were a food ingredient that we chose which was from a dish that means a lot to us. The ingredient that I chose for this AP was ginger. One of our assignments before the AP was to interview someone in our family that knew a lot about our family's culture and history with food. I decided to talk with my aunt and we discussed one of our family traditions which is a Chinese New Year's dinner. My aunt and uncle went to China many years ago where they adopted my cousin. They also found a dumpling recipe that was native to the area. This recipe is used annually for the dinner and ginger is included in the dipping sauce for the dumplings. We also spoke of how it is important to remember and share our family history. In this post there is the script of my story as ginger and the presentation link that goes with it. Enjoy!
Presentation: https://prezi.com/view/ebYpGF5FbndoxE2wsuVs/
I am ginger. I am part of the ginger family and my root is used as a spice and a folk medicine. My relatives are turmeric and cardamom which are also native to South Asia. My taste is quite unique to my relatives and other plants. I am a very flavorful root. I was first found in Southeast Asia or south of China. When I was found I was traded along the Silk Road into China and India. Eventually I began to be traded throughout the Mediterranean. At the eastern end of the Silk Road in China, there are many cities where I was traded and exchanged often. I was first domesticated in the 1st century CE in China where I was mainly grown for medicinal purposes which were of high value. I have been used for tonics, digestive aids, and a lot more. Today I am very easy to find in markets and grocery stores.
Through trading I made it into India where I was used for something different than medicine. I began to be used as a spice in many foods. Because I was being included in a large amount of dishes, my popularity grew and so did the demand to have me. I was soon to become an important ingredient in many parts of the world. More trading went on and I found myself in Arabia being used for spices. Later I traveled to Egypt where I was found in cooking and used medically. At this point I had a lot of popularity. There was a large demand for me in Asia and the Mediterranean. I had become a very valuable spice and medicine for large parts of the known world. My popularity had started to spread into Europe and I was traded frequently. I was exported from India to Rome where I became a popular spice to have and sell. I was used in many foods and medicines inside Rome. I was sold in places around Rome increasing the demand for the need of spice. After the Roman Empire fell in the 15th century CE I had dropped in popularity but still had a use.
Over time I traveled the world through trading and started to be grown in many different places. I became very popular in the United States and I was being shipped across oceans to meet the needs of hungry Americans. Around 16 years ago in China I was found in a dumpling recipe as a dipping sauce by a couple Americans in the city of Xi’an. These people had found me in a food that they really liked and decided to take the recipe back. While they were in China they decided to adopt a very young boy. This child was the start of tradition for the family reminding them of their adventure in China and their wonderful experience of bringing home a child. After they arrived back in the United States I soon met them again where I was used in the recipe they had found for many years and I am still used today. Every February I am used in the dumpling recipe by the family and sometimes there is another family with them. One thing that I always hear at this time is, “This recipe has a lot of value to us since we aren’t in China and it can be hard to make connections to home when you are not there. There is also great value in honoring our history and recreating experiences while we are not in the place of this recipe’s origin.”
The final picture in the presentation is a photo of this year's Chinese New Year dinner. Just above is my family tree. This was from an assignment earlier in the class. I had the dinner with the left two columns of my family or not including my grandparents. I enjoyed working on this AP although it was slightly difficult to research my ingredient. This action project was different, and the next step up. Doing everything from home was a challenge and not being able to have full access to resources we would have in our main building but we all made it work. Hopefully there is not too many posts that we have to create within the time of this pandemic but we have to work with what we got. Thank you for reading this and stay safe.
Sources:
Alexis, Christine. “China and the US: the World's Largest Trade Route Continues to Thrive.” DB Schenker, 14 Feb. 2019.
Bode, Ann M. “The Amazing and Mighty Ginger.” Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd Edition., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 1970.
“Ginger.” Ginger | Silk Routes.
“Ginger History.” InDepthInfo.
“Ginger History - Origin and Regional Uses of Ginger.” Ginger History - Origin and Traditional Uses of Ginger.
“Ginger Root.” Produce Blue Book.
Ogden Publications, Inc. “Know Your Spice: A Brief History of Ginger.” Mother Earth Living.
Reddy, Jagdish. “Ginger Cultivation Project Report, Farming Economics.” Agri Farming, 13 Nov. 2018.
Presentation: https://prezi.com/view/ebYpGF5FbndoxE2wsuVs/
I am ginger. I am part of the ginger family and my root is used as a spice and a folk medicine. My relatives are turmeric and cardamom which are also native to South Asia. My taste is quite unique to my relatives and other plants. I am a very flavorful root. I was first found in Southeast Asia or south of China. When I was found I was traded along the Silk Road into China and India. Eventually I began to be traded throughout the Mediterranean. At the eastern end of the Silk Road in China, there are many cities where I was traded and exchanged often. I was first domesticated in the 1st century CE in China where I was mainly grown for medicinal purposes which were of high value. I have been used for tonics, digestive aids, and a lot more. Today I am very easy to find in markets and grocery stores.
Through trading I made it into India where I was used for something different than medicine. I began to be used as a spice in many foods. Because I was being included in a large amount of dishes, my popularity grew and so did the demand to have me. I was soon to become an important ingredient in many parts of the world. More trading went on and I found myself in Arabia being used for spices. Later I traveled to Egypt where I was found in cooking and used medically. At this point I had a lot of popularity. There was a large demand for me in Asia and the Mediterranean. I had become a very valuable spice and medicine for large parts of the known world. My popularity had started to spread into Europe and I was traded frequently. I was exported from India to Rome where I became a popular spice to have and sell. I was used in many foods and medicines inside Rome. I was sold in places around Rome increasing the demand for the need of spice. After the Roman Empire fell in the 15th century CE I had dropped in popularity but still had a use.
Over time I traveled the world through trading and started to be grown in many different places. I became very popular in the United States and I was being shipped across oceans to meet the needs of hungry Americans. Around 16 years ago in China I was found in a dumpling recipe as a dipping sauce by a couple Americans in the city of Xi’an. These people had found me in a food that they really liked and decided to take the recipe back. While they were in China they decided to adopt a very young boy. This child was the start of tradition for the family reminding them of their adventure in China and their wonderful experience of bringing home a child. After they arrived back in the United States I soon met them again where I was used in the recipe they had found for many years and I am still used today. Every February I am used in the dumpling recipe by the family and sometimes there is another family with them. One thing that I always hear at this time is, “This recipe has a lot of value to us since we aren’t in China and it can be hard to make connections to home when you are not there. There is also great value in honoring our history and recreating experiences while we are not in the place of this recipe’s origin.”
 |
| My family tree, GS |
The final picture in the presentation is a photo of this year's Chinese New Year dinner. Just above is my family tree. This was from an assignment earlier in the class. I had the dinner with the left two columns of my family or not including my grandparents. I enjoyed working on this AP although it was slightly difficult to research my ingredient. This action project was different, and the next step up. Doing everything from home was a challenge and not being able to have full access to resources we would have in our main building but we all made it work. Hopefully there is not too many posts that we have to create within the time of this pandemic but we have to work with what we got. Thank you for reading this and stay safe.
Sources:
Alexis, Christine. “China and the US: the World's Largest Trade Route Continues to Thrive.” DB Schenker, 14 Feb. 2019.
Bode, Ann M. “The Amazing and Mighty Ginger.” Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd Edition., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 1970.
“Ginger.” Ginger | Silk Routes.
“Ginger History.” InDepthInfo.
“Ginger History - Origin and Regional Uses of Ginger.” Ginger History - Origin and Traditional Uses of Ginger.
“Ginger Root.” Produce Blue Book.
Ogden Publications, Inc. “Know Your Spice: A Brief History of Ginger.” Mother Earth Living.
Reddy, Jagdish. “Ginger Cultivation Project Report, Farming Economics.” Agri Farming, 13 Nov. 2018.
Comments
Post a Comment