For the sake of variety I’m displaying a slightly different assortment over an eight-day cycle. Some of these things are expensive, some not; but all are exceedingly special. If you just Googled your way over here and don’t see what you were expecting, come back in a day or so and I promise you’ll find it.
Wednesday’s featured items:
Garum, Mangosteen Juice, Matcha
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 | | Xenophon (c.431-355 bce) |
Classical Greek and Roman cuisine relied heavily on a pungent liquid condiment called garum, which was made by salting and fermenting the flesh of various fish — mackerel, anchovies, tuna, red mullet, and so forth. The city of Pompeii reputedly turned out the finest. Nowadays a number of cultures still flavor their cuisine with various forms of garum, and I’m particularly crazy about prik nam pla (“chili fish sauce”) on my Thai fried rice.
Now the ancients also had a special garum processed from the nightmarish-looking blue ling (Molva dypterygia) living off the French Armorican peninsula. They used this Garum Armoricum as an elixir to treat fatigue, anxiety, forgetfulness, and the effects of emotional stress. Emperor Claudius’s personal physician Scribonius Largus ascribed to it “a thousand virtues.”
A half dozen would be impressive enough, and modern data invariably corroborates that. In 1994 Dr. Thomas Dorman and his colleagues announced the results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled eight week study investigating the effectiveness of the standardized Garum Armoricum extract Stabilium 200 from Nutricology/Allergy Research Group on students at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo. Among other things, he remarked, “After using Stabilium for three years, I think that it is more useful than benzodiazepines, not only because of the complete lack of side effects, but the patients do not seem to get a sedating effect. A lot of people on drugs report that their overall enthusiasm is in decline. The opposite occurs with Stabilium.” Stabilium 200 was also effective in another double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving cognitive function, memory and fatigue in adults as reported by Le Poncin, Pallier, and Elbaz in April 2000. iHealthTree offers a package of 30 gelcaps of it for one of the best prices I’ve seen. You’ll probably want to steer clear of garum if you have a significant fish allergy, though. |
 | Mangosteen
(Garcinia mangostana) |
You may have noticed some novel fruit juices cropping up at your local supermarket lately. The ones that seem to stand out so far are the Brazilian rainforest staple açaí, guaraná, cacao (the fruit, as opposed to the seeds from which chocolate is made), goji or wolfberry, black currant, pomegranate, gac (Momordica cochinchinensis), and mangosteen. There are literally thousands more species of edible fruits in the world with which most of us in the northern hemisphere are unfamiliar, so it looks like the marketers have only begun to scratch the surface.
These products are beautifully packaged and their labels really jump out at you (100%! Organic! Pure! Natural!) but if you scrutinize the ingredient listings on the back you’ll probably be disappointed. To keep a firm lid on costs, the featured “superfruit” is usually little more than a purée extended with sugar water and/or vastly cheaper juices such as apple, grape, and pear.
 | | More mangosteens |
Let’s discuss the mangosteen, arguably the most legendary of fruits and considered by many to be the best tasting in the world. Of its flavor Gourmet Magazine’s David Karp observed, “Almost unbearably exquisite — a sweet-tart melding of elegance and opulence that had echoes of fruit of every climate. Think of cherimoyas, lychees, and peaches mingled into one soft, moist, fragrant mouthful.” The closest comparisons I can draw are to loquat and raspberry, though that doesn’t even begin do it justice. Until recently most Americans had never heard of mangosteens, probably because they’re virtually impossible to grow outside their native equatorial Asian habitat and the USDA doesn’t allow imports of the fresh fruit. They’re also expensive to produce. Mangosteen trees are very delicate and take between ten and twenty years to bear fruit, plus the seeds don’t remain viable for long after you harvest them.
 ’ve looked high and low for an “honest” mangosteen juice. So far, ALL BUT ONE BRAND consists of a punch-like medly of the sort described above. After a great deal of negotiation and globe hopping to Indonesia and Thailand, a California-based mangosteen evangelist named Adam Heller has secured wholesome and reliable sources for 100% pure mangosteen juice. He’s offering it pasteurized, either with extra xanthones ($24.95 plus S&H for a 32-ounce bottle) or regular ($14.95 for a 16-ounce bottle). No cider, no grape juice, no high-fructose corn syrup, no baloney.
Note: I’m quite aware of the many breathless health claims for mangosteen products choking the Internet. Precious few of these, if any, have any hard data to back them up. If you subscribe to any of them, fine; but I insist that the mangosteen’s heavenly flavor alone is reason enough to enjoy it. |
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Finding better and cheap vacation packages has never been easy. Many comparisons are required while the list of available options keeps growing. It’s also a time-consuming effort selecting among hotels motels and vacation homes for your stay. Settling first on an overall strategy eases the process. You can either look for a cheap travel service or you can plan out a group travel. Whichever option you select, make sure that you get your travel insurance confirmed before you board.
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 | Tea ceremony master
Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591) |
Matcha is a bright green finely powdered tea introduced to Japan from China in 1191 by Buddhist monk Myoan Eisai. The traditional Japanese tea ceremonies use matcha exclusively. Its unique production starts a month before harvest when the tea bushes are covered to block the sunlight. This turns the leaves into a darker green and greatly increases their amino acid content. After drying, the stems and veins are removed from the leaves which are then ground in a very special process that preserves the tea’s vibrant green color and characteristic sweetness.
You prepare matcha by dissolving between a half teaspoon and six teaspoons, depending on the desired thickness, in 2.5 ounces of hot — not boiling — water. You then stir it thoroughly with a whisk. Some like their matcha frothy, others not. Of all teas, black, green, and even white, matcha offers by far the most antioxidants and amino acids because of the shading process mentioned above, because it’s not fermented, and because you’re consuming the whole leaf rather than just an infusion. Here are three of them currently available: Koicha Matcha Supreme, Premium Thin Grade, Maeda En Shiki Matcha. The tinier and the newer the leaves, the more gently the matcha is ground, and the more effectively it’s sealed from oxygen, the higher the quality.
 | | Theanine |
Among those amino acids, theanine, which crosses the blood-brain barrier, is by far the most abundant in matcha. At the strengths mentioned above, a single cup would yield between 20 and 240 milligrams of it. Theanine has a calming, thought-clearing effect to which I can personally attest. An EEG will show a marked increase in alpha wave activity — between 8 and 12 Hz, indicative of a relaxed but alert state — within 30 minutes of consumption. (If you want to cut to the chase, you can buy pure theanine here. Many use it at night in lieu of sleeping pills or to eliminate anxiety before an important exam or presentation.) |
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