Tuesday, May 30, 2017

How to Eat Avocados, 1891

“But how is it to be eaten? ... A few simple rules are so necessary for the proper enjoyment of this delicacy... In the first place, it is a rich article, and should be eaten with meals in preference to any other time, and always with bread and butter or delicate crackers... Eat it with a spoon or fork, using salt and pepper, and sometimes lime-juice is thought to be an agreeable addition. The avocádo is most frequently eaten in the above way, and when served with thin slices of bread and butter makes a delicious supplementary course for either breakfast or dinner. To try another method, pour over the pulp, just before eating, a spoonful of sherry wine; add a little sugar, a slight grating of nutmeg, if desired; serve with the invariable accompaniments of bread and butter or crackers.”

Anna M. Paris, “The Avocado, or Alligator Pear,” The American Magazine 

Rules of Avocado Enjoyment: sherry optional, toast ALWAYS.

Monday, May 8, 2017

How to Improve Your Memory, 1562

Margarita Philosophica Nova (1508), Wellcome Library
"To sleepe hosed and shoed especially with foule sockes, doth hinder the Memorie, because of the reflection of the vapours: feebleth the syght, and causeth the body to waxe whote and burne... Feare doth oppresse the Memorie, or endurynge sadnes: also a pensive care of housholde busynesse is hurtfull. Also immoderate sleepe and violent vomiting." 
Guglielmo Gratarolo, The Castel of Memorie 
Frankly, if your sock vapors are foul enough to cause blindness and burning, a poor memory is the least of your problems.