Rotten or smelly food
Who are geophages?
Similar experiments carried out on other animals gave the same results. This indicates that the clay is capable of absorbing disease. It absorbs and removes from the body all the dirt accumulated in it, in particular, pus, which is formed as a result of some inflammatory process.
“In our country, few people know about geophages, although millions of people live on Earth, including in their diet ... clay. The writer Boris Papin told how in 1928 he tasted the land offered to him by the Chukchi: The earth tastes greasy and gives off a sort of musty cellar. It diverges in the mouth, it becomes soft like jelly. I could not swallow a piece and spat it out. But the Chukchi liked it very much. The Chukchi did not use any land for food, but only from well-known places. I was also called to one of these cherished places: Let's go to the Sweet River! There is white water, yellow clay, you will try this clay - it tastes sweet, fat, you can live there, you can eat the earth"
"In the north of the Far East, there are also deposits of white clay, which the locals - Evens and Evenks - call earthen sour cream and eat with appetite as an independent dish with reindeer milk. In its natural state, earthen sour cream is white as snow and looks like jelly."
During the terrible famine that occurred in the Volga region in 1920-1921, in many areas clay was sold in rural markets as a completely edible and, at the same time, healing product that helps with various diseases.
"Until now, in some villages in the Urals, children feast on pieces of special clay, which is called gley here."
However, eating clay is a tradition not only of northern peoples, but also of many residents of hot areas.
So, in West Africa, where geophagy is most common, there is even a mass production of this food product. In Ghana, for example, in the village of Anfoeda, two thousand workers daily mine tons of hard clay, which is then crushed into powder, sieved and mixed with water and dough. Small cakes are briskly traded in the bazaars, where there are always six or seven varieties of earth from different parts of West Africa.
The most mysterious tribe on earth
The Indians of Venezuela, who lived in the past in the Orinoco River basin, and were cut off from the rest of the world for two or three months every year during the flood of the river, ate exclusively clay, which was roasted on a fire before use.
But in New Guinea, scientists have discovered a tribe of savages who do not eat anything at all except clay!
The Guinean Moruaka tribe is the most mysterious on Earth, says anthropologist Orlando Delgari. - Their food is disgusting. But they are all healthy, and their life expectancy is more than twice ours.
An expedition led by Orlando Delgari discovered a tribe of clay eaters in the heart of the New Guinea jungle.
We caught them just at dinner, - says the anthropologist. - All 129 people, with the exception of the smallest children, sat in a large group, scooping mud from stone cups and stuffing it into their mouths with such greed, as if it were some kind of delicacy.
Intrigued by the unusual phenomenon, scientists spent more than two weeks with the natives, observing their way of life, and came to the conclusion that, unlike other wild tribes that inhabit the Earth, the Moruaka do not need to take care of their daily bread. There is so much edible clay around the village of the tribe that it will last another two hundred years.
Interestingly, the usual food of a civilized person disgusted the Guinean aborigines.
The best seasoning for meat
It is known that the human body needs a number of mineral supplements and trace elements necessary for normal life. If there is a deficiency of these nutrients, a person seeks to make up for it at any cost. Silly children chew the earth, pregnant women gnaw chalk with an appetite, and many nationalities eat edible clay.
In Central Asia, for example, the edible clay of Khorezm is widely known. In some areas of Australia and the oceanic islands, on special occasions, local residents serve on the table, in addition to the usual food, certain varieties of white, blue and greenish clays for especially respected guests. Medicinal and invigorating, uplifting properties are attributed to such dishes.
"In New Zealand, edible clay serves as a seasoning for meat. In Iran, edible clay from Magellatus and Giveh is sold in bazaars in Iran along with fruits, vegetables and other food products. Europe does not lag behind the East. Not so long ago, a dish under called alica, consisting of a mixture of wheat and marl (a kind of clay) from the vicinity of Naples. It was believed that it was the marl that gives the dish a white color, a pleasant taste and softness."
"In India, edible clay is called Mughal clay, and in the southern United States, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, franculin mud."
"Bread Tengu (named after the mountain spirit, favorable to people) is called the edible clay mass found on the slopes of the mountains in Japan. The locals consider it holy and very good for health. And numerous scientists really confirm that the kaolin present in the clay helps in the treatment of various gastric diseases.
Flatbread on a sore spot
The color of clay is determined by its composition. And depending on it, clay is used in the treatment of various diseases. For example, red clay is recommended for acute conditions, and blue clay for chronic diseases.
"Today, the so-called clay massage is very popular, in which the massage therapist acts on biologically active points. If the body is not too slagged, then a periodic course of clay therapy is reduced to 2-3 sessions. "
At the same time, which is quite interesting, the masseur tries to adjust the rhythm of his movements to the rhythm of the bell ringing. And this is not at all accidental: in the past in Russia, folk healers used bell ringing to treat many diseases. It was believed that its vibrations carry a powerful healing charge.
Diagnosis of some diseases today is also carried out with the help of clay. If, when clay powder is applied to the patient's body, it darkens or becomes moist in certain areas, it means that some internal pathological changes are occurring in this area.
Experts say that if a person is cured of some disease with the help of clay, he can be sure that the clay will completely absorb this disease and it will never return.
Most often, clay is used in the form of so-called applications, that is, cakes that are applied to a sore spot. They are prepared as follows: clay powder is diluted to the consistency of not too steep elastic oil and a cake about one and a half centimeters thick is formed from it. Then it is placed on a pre-moistened thick cotton fabric, attached to the body with a bandage, warmed with something on top and kept for about 2 hours.
The inhabitants of Java believe that the clay facilitates the flow of childbirth and reduces the number of complications. Therefore, in its absence, local healers advise pregnant women to eat pottery shards.
Geophagy has been around for centuries. In ancient burials with what could be useful to a person in the afterlife, archaeologists have repeatedly found vessels with edible clay. And the ancient Greeks even treated stomach colic and heart disease, including in the diet of clay earth, consecrated by the priests. By the way, the Catholic Church encourages clay-eating. So, Guatemalan priests bless clay plates with an imprint of a cross, which are then eaten by pilgrims in the city of Esquipulas.
Pilgrims also go to the town of Chimeyo, in the USA. They come here hoping to be cured of their ailments with the help of miraculous mud, which they draw from a hole in the ground created by nature. Moreover, this hole is never empty, it is replenished naturally, and during the year dozens of tons of healing mud are scooped out from here.
The place is considered holy, a small church was built here. Pilgrims pray in the church, eat healing mud and… many recover
What is disgusting to a Russian is to a Sicilian (or a Swede)….. mm… delicious. Are you going to eat? I don’t advise yet, I suggest looking at a selection of “rotten delicacies” from around the world, after which I think your appetite will disappear for a long time.
So let's go:
Swedish gourmet food - surströmming. This is canned fermented herring, which “roams” (turns sour) in barrels for several months, and simply put, it practically goes out. The fish has a sharp unpleasant odor and a strongly salty taste. Such a dish is served with boiled potatoes or simply on bread, and true connoisseurs consume it straight from the can with fresh milk.
Residents of the far north are especially fond of smelly dishes, for example, our Russian Chukchi consider them a real meal rotten deer meat. The killed individual is specially kept for several weeks in the barn until it acquires a specific smell, and then stew is cooked from it. The smell while cooking such a soup is heard for several tens of meters.
Here's another one for you yummy from the northern peoples - kiwiak. They cut off the head of a dead seal, cut out all the meat inside except for subcutaneous fat and entrails, then stuff it with dead, not plucked auks (such birds). Then the whole thing is sewn up and buried in frozen ground for six months or a year. During this time, all the flesh of auks and seals rot together, being saturated with vitamins, which are essential for those living in the far north. It tastes like a very smelly rotten cheese, say those who dared to try this delicacy.
The real shock can be Italian casu marza- This is a specially rotten sheep's cheese with cheese fly larvae. How much is not the type of cheese itself, but its eating. Unlike other varieties of cheese, Kasu Marzu is eaten directly with live larvae. Disturbed insects (reaching up to 8 mm in length) are able to jump to a height of up to 15 cm, so it is advised to keep your eyes closed while eating Kasu Marz.
Icelanders' main dish for the new year is hakarl.. For the dish, the carcass of a Greenland shark is taken, buried for a month and a half in the ground, and then hangs in a barn for another 4-6 months. During this time, the poison and toxins in the meat go away, and the stench and taste of rotten fish that the Icelanders eat with pleasure comes to replace. This tradition comes from the Vikings. By the way, the production of khakarl is put on a grand scale, in local stores, this national “delicacy” is sold in much the same way as we have a beer snack.
centennial egg. Think allegory? But no. This is a traditional Chinese dish. An unpeeled chicken egg is placed in a mixture with a strong alkaline reaction - lime, salt, clay. Then the egg is taken out, the protein turns into something rubber, and the yolk into a cream. Moreover, the egg darkens greatly, acquiring a unique rotten aroma. The alkalinity of the delicacy reaches the level of soap. True, it is prepared only a few months a year.
Finally. In some African tribes, crocodile meat is considered a special dish, but not fresh, but aged for a couple of weeks. The crocodile is killed from the beginning, then an incision is made from head to tail, the insides are cleaned out and half buried in the sand. A few weeks later, when the meat reaches the desired condition, it is taken out and eaten by arranging a holiday. Remarkably, this delicacy is eaten strictly according to the seniority in the tribe, from the beginning the leaders and shamans, then everyone else. This dish is called - akiaurus, which means "sacred meat"
But as they say, everything in this world is relative, for example, for Americans, our crayfish for beer or roach with a smell, which we eat with pleasure, are also considered strange and not edible. So, here the proverb is more applicable than ever - "the taste and color, there are no comrades."
"A young Chinese woman from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region decided to become a record holder and eat nothing but ... land for two months!"
The Mysterious Moruaka Tribe
"According to the China Daily newspaper, a girl named Utsibalatsitsige and her habit of eating in a strange way became known to the Chinese public last year. Then her fame spread beyond China - to Japan and South Korea."
According to the Chinese woman, she practically does not feel the need for ordinary food and, in general, prefers to eat the earth.
The representative office of the Guinness Book of Records in the city of Shenyang made a deal with the girl. The land-eating experiment began in April of this year. Will the Chinese woman manage to set a record? Without a doubt, yes!
"In Russia, few people know about geophages, although there are millions of people on Earth who include earth containing clay in their diet. The Ethnographic Museum of Hanoi recently hosted a scientific conference The habit of eating earth in Vietnam - facts and scientific points of view."
The participants of the conference, which was organized by the Center for Prehistoric Affairs at the Institute of Southeast Asia, discussed in all seriousness the nature of such an unusual habit of the inhabitants of some areas in northern Vietnam.
"Residents from Vinh Phuc Province came to the conference and brought samples of edible soil with them. According to them, among those who like to eat their native land, the majority are women. They also said that pieces of soil extracted from the foothill soil in their area, become more delicious after they are smoked."
"Specially smoked pieces are sold as a delicacy in many local bazaars."
In West Africa, where geophagy is most common, there is even mass production of this food item. In Ghana, for example, in the village of Anfoeda, two thousand workers daily extract tons of hard clay, which is then crushed into powder, sifted and mixed with water and dough. Small cakes are briskly traded in the bazaars, where there are always six or seven varieties of earth from different parts of West Africa.
The Indians of Venezuela, who lived in the past in the Orinoco River basin, and were cut off from the rest of the world for two or three months every year during the flood of the river, ate exclusively clay, which was roasted on a fire before use.
But in New Guinea, scientists have discovered a tribe of savages who do not eat anything at all except clay!
“The Guinean Moruaka tribe is the most mysterious on Earth,” says anthropologist Orlando Delgari. - Their food is disgusting. But they are all healthy, and their life expectancy is more than twice ours.”
An expedition led by Orlando Delgari discovered a tribe of clay eaters in the heart of the New Guinea jungle.
“We caught them just at dinner,” says the anthropologist. “All 129 people, with the exception of the smallest children, sat in a large group, scooping mud from stone cups and stuffing it into their mouths with such greed as if it were some kind of delicacy.”
Intrigued by the unusual phenomenon, scientists spent more than two weeks with the natives, observing their way of life, and came to the conclusion that, unlike other wild tribes that inhabit the Earth, the Moruaka do not need to take care of their daily bread. There is so much edible clay around the village of the tribe that it will last another two hundred years.
Interestingly, the usual food of a civilized person disgusted the Guinean aborigines.
Clay is stronger than strychnine!
It is known that the human body needs a number of mineral supplements and trace elements necessary for normal life. If there is a deficiency of these nutrients, a person seeks to make up for it at any cost. Silly children chew the earth, pregnant women gnaw chalk with appetite, and many nationalities eat edible clay.
The edible clay of Khorezm is widely known in Central Asia. In some areas of Australia and the oceanic islands, on special occasions, local residents serve on the table, in addition to the usual food, certain varieties of white, blue and greenish clays for especially respected guests. Medicinal and invigorating, uplifting properties are attributed to such dishes.
In New Zealand, edible clay is used as a seasoning for meat. In Iran, in the bazaars, along with fruits, vegetables and other foodstuffs, they sell edible clay from Magellat and Giveh. Europe does not lag behind the East. Not so long ago, a dish called "alika" was widespread in Italy, consisting of a mixture of wheat and marl (a type of clay) from the vicinity of Naples. It was believed that it was marl that gave the dish a white color, a pleasant taste and softness.
In the southern United States, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, edible clay is called "Franulin Mud", and in India "Mughal Clay".
Ram Rati, 80, who lives in Shinhar, India, recently admitted that she eats at least a kilogram of earth a day! According to her, she does this in order to stay alert and healthy. Ram considers the earth an important part of his daily diet and a must eats it well before breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea."
“When I was young, I once tried it for fun. Since then I have become addicted to it. My brothers and relatives pestered me, insisting that I stop, but their efforts were in vain,” says an Indian old woman. “On average, I eat from kilogram to one and a half kilograms of earth per day ... "
"Bread Tengu" (after the name of the mountain spirit, favorable to people), the inhabitants of Japan call the edible clay mass found on the slopes of the mountains. The locals consider it holy and very beneficial for health. And numerous scientists really confirm that the kaolin present in the clay helps in the treatment of various gastric diseases.
Recently, scientists have conducted a rather unusual experiment. The experimental rat was given a minimal amount of strychnine solution, and after a few minutes it died. The same amount of strychnine was given to another rat, but a few grams of clay was added to the solution. And the animal survived!
Similar experiments carried out on other animals gave the same results. This indicates that the clay is capable of absorbing disease. It absorbs and removes from the body all the dirt accumulated in it, in particular, pus, which is formed as a result of some inflammatory process.
The land consecrated by the priests
Experts say that if a person is cured of some disease with the help of clay, he can be sure that the clay will completely absorb this disease and it will never return.
"Sixty-year-old Sheng Shoudong, who lives in Shaxi Township, China's Jiangxi Province, eats three to four spoonfuls of coastal soil every day," Xinhua reports. He said that after taking it as a medicine for 18 years, he was cured of a tumor of fat cells (liposarcoma). and stomach ulcers."
"Sheng Shoudong told reporters that he decided to be treated with earth in 1988, after reading in a newspaper about a man who got rid of cancer in this way. Then he collected some soil on the river bank, washed it with water from a well and ate a few spoons, drinking I generally liked the taste," Sheng Shoudong recalls."
After two years of such therapy, he began to recover, regained his ability to work and got a job as a cleaner in the local market. Doctors from a clinic in Shangrao City, where Sheng Shoudong recently underwent a medical examination, found he had a mild stomach ulcer and kidney failure. However, in general, apart from a few small tumors, his health is quite satisfactory.
The inhabitants of Java believe that the clay facilitates the course of childbirth and reduces the number of complications. Therefore, in its absence, local healers advise pregnant women to eat pottery shards.
"In a number of countries in America, there are clubs of geophages who are studying this problem, the possibility of a wider spread of earth science in those places where droughts and crop failures often occur. Work is underway to compile maps indicating deposits of minerals suitable for use in food."
“In Russia, land-eating in the broad sense has not yet been reached. But, according to scientists, we have a lot of clays that should be used as food additives to improve metabolism and get rid of certain diseases. This problem requires serious study, especially now, when in the so-called civilized food there is a large lack of trace elements important for the body.
Geophagy has been around for centuries. In ancient burials with what could be useful to a person in the afterlife, archaeologists have repeatedly found vessels with edible clay. And the ancient Greeks even treated stomach colic and heart disease, including in the diet of clay earth, consecrated by the priests. By the way, the Catholic Church encourages clay-eating. So, Guatemalan priests bless clay plates with an imprint of a cross, which are then eaten by pilgrims in the city of Esquipulas.
Pilgrims also go to the town of Chimeyo, in the USA. They come here hoping to be cured of their ailments with the help of miraculous mud, which they draw from a hole in the ground created by nature. Moreover, this hole is never empty, it is replenished naturally, and during the year dozens of tons of healing mud are scooped out from here.
The place is considered holy, a small church was built here. Pilgrims pray in the church, eat healing mud and… many recover!
Gennady FEDOTOV
Interview of the magazine "Modern Farmer" with the founder of the "land kitchen" Japanese chef Toshio Tanabe.
A handful of sand on a plate is not the most pleasant feeling for most people, except when you're trying out-of-the-ordinary dishes from Japanese chef Toshio Tanabe. In his Tokyo restaurant "Ne Quittez Pas" Tanabe offers in addition to the usual oysters, truffles and risotto to taste his signature "mud" dishes.
Tanabe is a pioneer in the field of "earthen cuisine". He trained in Paris restaurants of the most famous and influential Michelin rating system. Toshio is convinced that adding earth to food gives it a healthy and natural flavor for all types of dishes, from soups to desserts.
And fans of his cuisine are in complete solidarity with this: tables in his establishment are ordered three months in advance - and all in order to appreciate the charm of his clay dishes. Tanabe's concoction has a gritty, greasy texture in appearance, but nothing fancy in taste.
SF: Do you really eat earth?
Tanabe: Yes, I have been eating for 25 years. At first, I just used raw, dirty vegetables straight with garden dirt. But the turning point came eight years ago when I did a cooking show. Then I wanted to cook something really special - and that's how my first dish with earth appeared. Since then, many people began to visit my restaurant and all of them wanted to try the dishes of my signature "earth cuisine". Therefore, this year I created my full menu with the addition of earth.
SF: How would you describe the taste of the earth?
Tanabe: It's hard to put into words. I won’t say that it has an earthy taste, but in general it feels like the taste of the Earth. Of course, a large number of people immediately begin to assert that they do not feel anything but an earthy relish, but this depends only on their own perception of the image of the earth. One way or another, many people experience the pleasure of savoring the dishes of the "earth cuisine", and someone is sure that the earth does not have any taste at all.
SF: Where do you get your land from? And what type of soil do you prefer to deal with?
Tanabe: Every month, I purchase 20 kilograms of land in Kanuma City, Tochigi Prefecture. For most dishes, I use black soil, and I add gray soil to lighter foods. The soil is taken from a depth of 15 kilometers and is thoroughly tested for the content of various impurities, as well as chemical and household pollution. So even before the earth gets to me, it becomes safe for human consumption. The earth is a natural organic environment that is home to millions of microorganisms. And everything bad that can happen to it, whether it be radiation contamination or industrial pollution, occurs only through the fault of man.
SF: How do you prepare the land?
Tanabe: First, I pour it in an even layer on a tray and heat it in the oven to 200 degrees Celsius for five minutes. I repeat this operation three times. Bacteria die at a temperature of 120 degrees Celsius. Then I mix the earth with a pot of water and boil the resulting mixture for 30 minutes. Next, I drain the water, thus getting rid of sand and particles, and then through gauze. I let the mixture settle and it separates into soil and water. I then use the liquid to make jellies and sauces.
SF: And how do you feel after eating the earth for food?
Tanabe: Yes, I always feel great after eating "earthly" dishes. Today, our consciousness perceives the earth as something dirty and inedible, but this is not at all the case. The soil is a natural and nutritious supplement to our diet.