Podcast: Wines with Ancient Lineages

Tuesday, February 23 2:18 pm

Discover if there is a modern wine that can trace its lineage back to ancient Turfan, a desert oasis along the Silk Road.

Join Mollie Battenhouse, sommelier and wine director of Maslow Six, and grape geneticist Peter Cousins, of Cornell University, as they discuss wines with ancient lineages and the early history of viticulture.  Wines with Ancient Lineages was recorded on February 14, 2010 at the American Museum of Natural History.

Podcast: Download | RSS | iTunes (1 hr 38 mins, 90 MB)

Mollie Battenhouse Talks Wines with Ancient Lineage

Wednesday, February 10 10:07 am

Mollie Battenhouse, the sommelier and wine director of New York City wine shop Maslow 6, will be one of the speakers at Adventures in the Global Kitchen: Wines with Ancient Lineage on February 17 at the Museum. She recently answered some questions about the upcoming talk and shared tips for budding oenophiles.

How did you become interested in wines?

It was through my love of food that I found wine. Tasting wines at the various restaurants I worked in, and later in cooking school, fueled the fire. Then I went to work for Joshua Wesson at [wine store] Best Cellars, and I was hooked on the business.

How has viticulture evolved since the time of the Silk Road?

The interesting thing about this part of the world and other ancient wine regions is the mixture of viticultural methods. There are still some old and very traditional ways [wine makers] work with the vines, such as burying them under the ground for the winter and propping them back up on supports when the weather warms up. You can also find very modern trellising techniques.

What are the key elements to consider when pairing wine and food?

Think of food in terms of sweet, sour, bitter, salty, spicy or savory, then choose a wine. Each of these components relates to the components of wine: sugar, acid, alcohol, and tannin. A few short rules: avoid tannic or alcoholic wines with salt and spice, sugar needs sugar, and acid needs acid. Salt also needs acid. Balancing complexity and intensity of flavor comes next.

What are some of your favorite food and wine pairings?

Pork belly and Riesling—well, pork anything and Riesling would be fine! Both Rieslings and Chenin Blanc pair well with most foods and are really beautiful with cheeses.

What’s the best way to learn more about wine?

Drink more wine! Try something new the next time you go wine shopping. Ask for a recommendation from the store staff. If you’re really interested in learning, buy a book like Idiot’s Guide to Wine by Tara Thomas or Wine For Dummies by Mary Ewing-Mulligan and Ed McCarthy.

What can guests expect to take away from your discussion at the upcoming program Adventures in the Global Kitchen: Wines with Ancient Lineage?

Hopefully, they’ll realize that China makes wine and is actually one of the largest grape-growing and wine-producing countries. It also has a very long history of grape growing and winemaking. In the not-so-far future, we may be able to do this lecture again and serve all Chinese wines!

Podcast: The Perfumed Road

Tuesday, February 09 10:04 am

Frankincense, myrrh, patchouli, jasmine — aromatics were valuable commodities traded along the ancient Silk Road, and they are still prized today.  Renowned perfumer Mandy Aftel, the nose behind Aftelier perfumes, awakens the senses to the amazing world of aromatics and discusses their fascinating history.

Aftel, the author of books including Essence and Alchemy: A book of Perfume, Aroma and Scents and Sensibilities, leads  Aromatics Along the Silk Road, recorded on January 20, 2010 at the American Museum of Natural History.

Podcast: Download | RSS | iTunes (55 mins, 50 MB)

Renowned Perfumer Leads Aromatic Journey Along Silk Road

Thursday, January 14 4:35 pm

Renowned perfumer Mandy Aftel, the nose behind Aftelier perfumes, will lead visitors on an aromatic journey at the Museum’s January 20 Adventures in the Global Kitchen: Aromatics Along the Silk Road. She recently answered some questions about the upcoming talk, discussing the fascinating world of fragrances.

How has the human sense of smell evolved?

It’s the root sense. Processed in the amygdala, the primordial part of the brain, the sense is humans at our most primitive. The ability to smell well was key to survival for the individual and the species. But while the transition from all fours to upright was a giant step for mankind, it was a big step backward for our sense of smell. The primacy of the olfactory system has faded. An ever-more artificially scented world has dulled and overwhelmed our ability to smell with nuance and sophistication.

In what ways have fragrances and perfumes impacted world history? How important were aromatics to the trade along the legendary Silk Road?

From earliest times, people have taken pleasure in rubbing fragrant substances into their skin. Timeless and universal, scent has been a powerful force in ritual, medicine, myth, and colonial conquest. Aromatics were highly prized articles of luxury and refinement in the ancient world, and trade routes developed in part around the relentless pursuit of perfume ingredients. From remote civilizations, caravans and ships brought cinnamon from Africa, spikenard and cardamom from India, ginger, nutmeg, saffron, and cloves from Indonesia.

What makes smell such a powerful sense?

Smell is the only sense that connects directly to the limbic system of the brain, the center of taste, emotion, and memory. This direct link gives scent its emotional power, and it is why we form strong attachments to things that smell or taste good. We have all had memories like the narrator of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, who is brought back to his childhood by the taste of crumbs of madeleine mixed with tea. Scent links us to our memories, it is a direct connection to our emotional life. Read more »

Author Tom Standage Talks Food on the Silk Road

Wednesday, January 06 1:41 pm

Tom Standage, author of An Edible History of Humanity, will be one of the featured speakers at the Museum’s January 14 panel Curry Economics: Food as a Driving Force of Economic Development. He recently answered some questions about the upcoming talk, discussing food’s effect on industrialization, the “green revolution” and the Silk Road.

Food trade routes such as the ancient Silk Road have always been important networks for the transmission of ideas, science, and culture. What are some of foods that have spurred international trade?

The classical example is spices. The term generally refers to non-perishable foodstuffs, found only in some parts of the world, that have a high value-to-weight ratio: pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and so on. The fact that they are non-perishable and very valuable means they can be traded over long distances. Their value stems from their scarcity and from their mysterious origins — spices were thought to have magical properties. The network of spice-trading routes, including the Silk Road, was the largest trade network in the ancient world. Europeans, motivated by a desire to find the sources of the spices and cut out the Arab middlemen, revealed the true geography of the world, opening up sea routes to the Americas and around the tip of Africa to the Indian Ocean.

Is there a contemporary example?

Countries including Argentina and New Zealand have industrialized on the back of food exports to other countries, and Kenya does a roaring trade exporting exotic vegetables to Europe. Fans of “local food” oppose this, of course. But restricting food trade is tantamount to denying opportunities for economic development to many countries.

You’re speaking at the Museum on January 14 as part of a panel on “Curry Economics: Food as a Driving Force of Economic Development.” Can you give an example of how food has driven industrialization?

Britain was the first country to industrialize, and food played a crucial role. Agricultural productivity increased in the 18th century, liberating people from the land to work in small-scale manufacturing. New farming techniques and crops also led to a population boom. This in turn prompted the clearance of coppice land so that it could be used to produce food rather than wood for fuel. Britain could do this because it had abundant coal. The need to pump water out of coal mines led to the development of the steam engine, which was then put to work in manufacturing. Voilá: industrial revolution.

Read more »