Skip to main content

(Indian) S.N. Bal. Catalogue of Food, Spice and Fodder Plant Exhibits in the Industrial Section of the Indian Museum.

$500

73 pp. Cloth-backed dec. boards. First Edition. Delhi: Manager of Publications, 1939.

A very important and rare document delineating the characteristics (geographical, usages, physically, etc.). Each food, spice and fodder plant lists scientific name, vernacular name, family, habit, parts used, distribution in India (from Ceylon to the Himalayas to Burma), and "Remarks". One typical remark reads, "Goats feed on its leaves and the fruit is eaten by the local people." Another says of the Banyan tree, "The leaves and young shoots are greedily eaten by elephants." Of greater Cardamom (Eastern Himalaya), "They are much used for flavouring the preparations of sweetmeats on account of their cheapness. The seeds are also used as spice in making pan for chewing purposes. Kanda (Hindi) or Ol (Bengali): "The corms or solid bulbs are considered nutritious and wholesome when cooked, and are accordingly in common use as an article of food. They are boiled like potatoes and eaten with mustard; they are cooked in curries; they are cut into slices, boiled with tamarind leaves and made into pickles." Fantastic.