Famine Relief Herbal, Volume 3

Page 9

Water Gourd

original: 水壺廬 (shui hulu). This refers to a variety of the bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria). In the context of "famine herbals," these plants were studied for their ability to provide sustenance when primary crops failed.

Water gourds are found throughout the Shanxi and the capital regions. In general, they resemble the pumpkin The original term nangua (literally "southern melon") refers to various squashes and pumpkins which had been introduced to China and were becoming common by the Ming dynasty., though their leaves have significantly more forked lobes; the flowers, however, are no different from those of other gourds. There are several varieties of the fruit, including those with green patterns and those that are purely white. If planted early in the season, they reach maturity quickly.

The flesh of the gourd is fibrous and holds much juice, yet farmers and gardeners do not plant them extensively. This is because if they are cooked with rich, fatty meats, they acquire a "flavor beyond flavor" An idiomatic way to describe an exquisite or transcendent taste that arises from the gourd absorbing the fats and juices of the meat.. However, if they are simply boiled with other vegetables and salt, the result is like "adding water to water" original: 如水濟水 (ru shui ji shui). A classical idiom used here to describe a dish that is bland, redundant, and lacks any nutritional or flavor-based "punch.". To those accustomed to a rich diet Gaoliang; literally "fatty meat and fine grain," a traditional term for the lifestyle of the elite, the gourd is a refreshing and savory delicacy; for those with the sallow complexions of the famished, it is merely a grass that scours the intestines The author points out a harsh reality of famine: high-fiber foods that the wealthy find "cleansing" or "refreshing" can be nutritionally empty and physically harsh on the digestive systems of the starving..