Strange Legends From Around The World About The Foods We Eat Every Day

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Ancient peoples often had complex and fascinating food stories - from the legends of lands with exotic spices, to the tales of the gods bequeathing sacred grains to mankind. But even the most modest food in our refrigerators and closets have a rich history in mysticism and mythology.

Sol

In many cultures around the world, salt is considered a symbol of purity, a substance capable of driving away evil spirits. In European folklore, salt is often used to protect us from witches.

Salt also plays an important role in Jewish and Christian traditions, and modern defenders of spiritual warfare see it as a weapon in the fight against Satan. After all, it is mentioned many times in the Bible regarding God's cooking, rituals, and covenants. Buddhism and Shinto have similar views on the effectiveness of salt in repelling evil spirits.

Many modern Okinawans bless new cars with salt and carry small packets of salt around them in their protective vehicles. Following the Sept. 11 attacks, heightened security checks at U. S. bases on the island saw security guards questioning local workers about the mysterious white powder bags in their vehicles. Apparently, the "mysterious" white powder is perceived as a possible threat, despite local customs.

For the Zuni people of the American Southwest, one of the most important deities is the Salt Mother or Mal'l Oyatsiki, who lives in the sacred lake of Zuni. According to their legends, she once lived much closer to the people of Zuni, but moved to the lake after being offended by their behavior. That is why the Zuni and other neighboring tribes have to travel there to get salt, which is an important part of religious ceremonies and traditional baptismal rituals.

Potatoes

The modest potato was very difficult to accept as food in Europe, but was eventually received with enthusiasm for its healing powers. In Scotland and Ireland, potatoes have been used to treat rheumatism, and in other parts of the British Isles it has been used for cramps, boils, asthma and sore throats.

Similar folklore appears in North America, where it is believed potatoes under the bed support conception and prevent night sweats. Some even thought that three potatoes carried in the pockets prevented hemorrhoids. There is little evidence of such folk remedies among the Indians, except in the case of hardening warts.

While potatoes originate from North and South America, the Muslim people of China have very different legend for its origin. It is said that while Muhammad was on his holy march, his army was hungry and locked in a valley, so he prayed to Allah for help. He then ordered his men to build a stone hearth, fill it with burning wood, and place large stones before sealing it with clay. Two hours later, the hearth was opened to reveal that the stones had become potatoes. Islamic soldiers won the next battle and later found potato plants in the valley.

Milk

Irish folklore tells of a great cow named Glas Ghaibhleann who walks around the country giving free milk with 100% cream to anyone who comes near. Many cities are named after this cow, and some believe that the animal represents Ireland itself. Various explanations for the cow include that she was a fairy star belonging to the sea king or the underworld, or perhaps she was a cover for the goddess Bo Find.

In other parts of the British Isles, there have also been rumors of a large dairy cow, and a story from Wales tells how a cow disappears from Earth.after the greedy inhabitants of the valley plan to kill and eat it.

Some argue that these legends are remotely related to the ancient Indian myths of "cloud cows" pouring milk from the sky. According to stories, these cattle were captured by the demon Vritra to bring famine to Earth. Indeed, milk has a special meaning in Indian mythology, where breast milk symbolizes a female mystical force equal to that of male sperm. In addition, the milk from the breast of the goddess Parvati brings immortality. Both Indian and Irish legends also speak of evil people killed by swallowing fatal milk or black milk.

Bread

Historically, bread has played an extremely important role in the history of much of Western Eurasia. Bread is also important in the Jewish tradition, where it is known as healing and is one of the acceptable sacrifices in biblical times.

When the Jewish people walked in the wilderness in biblical times, they were said to have been sustained by manna, or healed by hashamaim - bread from heaven. It is said that it fell from the sky and managed to recreate every possible taste, but it could only be preserved for one day. This bread was intended to teach the Jewish people how to become from a slave population to an independent nation.

There are many specific rituals, including bread, such as tashlik, a custom to transfer the sins of breadwhich is then thrown onto a natural water source.

The tradition of passing on the sins of bread has an interesting parallel in British and American traditions. Only instead of sins do these people often transmit diseases. British folk medicine prescribes bread for swelling, sprains, fever and eye pain. And in the East of England, bread baked on Good Friday is stored all year round to cure disease. This folk medicine also exists in North America, where bread is believed to be a cure for whooping cough and smallpox. Similarly, it is said that the water in which bread was dipped cured diarrhea.

Tuna

While canned tuna is considered modest, tuna has traditionally been a fish of important origin for Maldivian marine crops. Maldivian folklore speaks of the legendary navigator named Bodu Niami Takurufanu, who for the first time introduced the most popular on the islands tuna.

During a business trip, Bodu Niami's crew grabbed a large, thick vial. Bodu Niami ordered them to save the fish, but he discovered that one of his crew had eaten it and thrown its head into the sea to hide the evidence. Enraged, he ordered the helmsman to sail in the direction in which the fish's head was thrown.

After sailing for 83 days, they came across a giant black-coral tree at the end of the world. Suddenly they were faced with strong winds and waves. The storm threatened to throw the ship off the edge of the world as the crew tied it to a branch of a large tree. Seeing the crew's horror, Bodu Niami's anger began to wane, and he agreed to leave and return as the winds and tides became more favorable.

After spending one night, they woke up to find that the sea was not only calm, but full of large unknown fish. Bodu Niami painted an image of a fish on a piece of parchment and whispered magic words to capture its soul by sealing the parchment in a bamboo tube. As the ship sailed home, the waters around it abounded with so many fish that they sometimes jumped straight onto the deck.

Problems soon arose when they saw two large rocks rising into the sea in front of them. Thinking quickly, he opened the bamboo tube, attached a weight to the fish's drawing, and released it into the ocean. All the fish followed her to the depths of the ocean, rescuing the ship. When he got home, however, he threw the empty bamboo tube into the ocean, attracting tuna, which would become a favorite catch of Maldivian fishermen.

Cabbage

According to the ancient Greeks, cabbage originated from the war between man and god. A prince of Thrace, known as Lycurgus, irritated the god Dionysus by destroying the sacred vines of the deity. As a punishment, the prince was attached to the vineyards, and when he wept for his lost freedom, the first cabbages sprouted from his tears. This legend led to the popular classical practice of eating cabbage to prevent intoxication or hangovers, with the belief that cabbage and vines are natural enemies. Other Greeks, such as the Ionians, considered cabbage sacred and invoked it in their oaths.

Cabbage myths appear elsewhere in Europe. Cabbage stalks are said to be used for flying by fairies and witches, and an Irish legend tells of a gardener who came under the influence of a fairy and suffered from great fatigue because he was forced to fly every night on a cabbage.

In the German region, Havel has a legend about a hungry man who decides to steal some of his neighbor's cabbage on Christmas Eve. Just as he finishes filling his basket, he is caught by Christ. For stealing on the holy night, Christ sent him into exile to the moon with his stolen cabbage, and he probably remains there to this day.

Butter

According to Wexford County folklore, Ireland, some people can make a deal with the devil to steal oil from other people. The victim of the curse will not produce oil. Instead, you will get a cream with a terrible stench. One sign that the curse is on a house is a piece of fat or oil left on the doorstep. The cure was to take part of a plow and blush in the fire in the name of the devil. This would cause the oil thief to come into the house and reveal himself.

The magical theft of oil was obviously a major problem in medieval Ireland, as other regions have similar tales. One story tells of a priest who made his morning rounds when he passed a woman who was gathering dew and said: Come to me, come to me, come to me.

His neighbors soon arrived to complain that they could not make any oil, and the priest suddenly remembered that witches could steal the oil by collecting dew. Then they went to the old woman's house, where they found that although she owned only one old goat, she had three tubs of fresh butter.

Peas

Historian Walter Kelly believed that peas were a central part of Indo-European mythology, somehow related to celestial fire. A Norwegian myth says that peas were originally sent to Earth by the god Thor as punishment. He sent dragons to pollute wells and water sources with peas, but some of them fell to the ground and sprouted. To avoid further opposition to the deity, Scandinavians traditionally ate peas on Thursday (Thor's Day).

In German legend, the dwarf race, the Tsvergs, who once repaired Thor's hammer, loved peas so much that they went out at night, in "hats of darkness," which made them invisible as they stole peas from agricultural fields.

In British folklore, a pod with exactly nine peas has a curious association with romance, leading to a tradition called peasecod wooing. If a maid finds a pod of nine peas and puts it on the kitchen window, it means that the next young bachelor to come in will be her husband.

Radishes

Believe it or not, radishes were revered by the ancient Greeks. According to the Roman author Pliny, when the Greeks gave gifts to the god Apollo in Delphi, they modeled radishes in gold, beets in silver and turnips in lead. Radishes were also important to the Hindu god Ganesha, who is often depicted holding vegetables in one of his left hands.

Every year in Japan, the god Daikoku-sama is offered a large radish with two sections and a branched root. According to legend, Daikoku ate too many rice cakes on his own and his mother was told to eat radishes to avoid death. They found a maid who was carrying radishes for her master and asked her for one, but she refused because her master had already counted them. Fortunately, there was a two-section radish that could be broken in two and thus save the life of the deity.

Cucumber

Cucumber appears surprisingly many times in world folklore and is often considered a symbol of fertility. An early Buddhist legend tells of King Sagara, whose wife Sumati gave birth to 60,000 children.

In ancient Rome, women wore cucumbers around their waists to promote pregnancy. It is strange that the plants are not liked by herbalists in the British Isles. They considered them the cause of many diseases and deaths, as they were too cold for human stomachs. In 1766, the English writer Landon Carter wrote critically about his daughter: She behaved impossible all summer, eating cucumbers and all kinds of bile at night.

The British view is sharp, as cucumbers are more often associated with sexuality. In Pennsylvania, cucumbers were thought to be best sown during the day by a naked man in the prime of his life, and that the "visible masculinity of the sower" would determine the length of the cucumber.

An ancient Javanese legend tells of a couple who prayed daily for a child. They were overheard by an evil giant named Buto Ijo, and he gave the couple a magic cucumber seed that would give them a baby. But there was a catch. Buto Ijo will give them the seed from which a girl will be born. But when he turns 17, he will return to pick her up. The couple wanted to have a baby so much that they agreed. A girl named Timun Mas was born.

When she turned 17, the hungry giant appeared. But her parents gave Timun Mas a special bag and told her to run and what to do. She ran away. She took salt out of the bag and threw it behind her. The salt turned into a sea that the giant was forced to cross. She then threw chili powder and it turned into a sharp bush entangling Buto Ijo. She then threw cucumber seeds, which immediately sprouted. This made the hungry giant stop for breakfast. When he finished, he continued to chase the girl. She finally threw a handful of shrimp. They turned into quicksand and swallowed the giant, and Timun Mas returned home to her parents.