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Issue 12 - Valentine's Day |
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All of us at the Gourmet Shopper hope that you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones and that your New Year will prove to be a healthy, happy, and very importantly, a peaceful one.
Whatever the origins of Valentines Day it has come through the ages to have a special meaning for lovers. In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their valentine and wore the name pinned to their sleeve. This took on the meaning of wearing your heart on your sleeve and it is easy to understand why.
Valentines Day
All of us at the Gourmet Shopper hope that you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones and that your New Year will prove to be a healthy, happy, and very importantly, a peaceful one.
This column is being written in Sydney with the smoke of the fires creating a constant reminder of the tragedy of this summer. Many of our customers may be affected, particularly those living in Canberra, and to them we send a special message of support and comfort. The courage and perseverance shown by all the families who have lost everything is truly inspirational and the flow of help and support from the rest of the community gives real meaning to mateship.
The month of February will soon be here when we will all be back from holidays, the children at school, some for the first time, and, come the 14th , love will be in the ascendancy.
Valentines Day, now a very commercial occasion, has its roots back in the Roman Empire when February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses and of marriage. However the name Valentine comes from a priest in Rome who secretly married couples who were forbidden to marry by the Emperor Claudius II who wanted young men for his army and believed that if they were to marry they would not want to leave home. Saint Valentine as he became, was put to death by the Emperor on the 14th February about 270AD. Before he died he was reputed to have left a letter for the daughter of his prison guard who had been very kind. It was signed from your Valentine an expression still in use today.
Whatever the origins of Valentines Day it has come through the ages to have a special meaning for lovers. In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their valentine and wore the name pinned to their sleeve. This took on the meaning of wearing your heart on your sleeve and it is easy to understand why.
Valentines Day was first commercialised in the US when the first valentine cards were sent out in the early 1800s. In Australia the date has become part of the calendar and those companies marketing cards, flowers, champagne and chocolates have one of their busiest days of the year. It is also a sell out for restaurateurs and food pages will be filled with recipes for the special lunch or dinner.
In our part of the world of course it is high summer and it is a perfect time to serve chilled strawberries in champagne or perfumed white peaches with raspberries. Anything with chocolate, known as the perfect aphrodisiac, is expected and oysters or caviar are the traditional foods of the day.
Check out our site for recipe suggestions for this special day and be sure that whatever you cook is done with love and care. After all isnt that what we would want for ourselves every day of the year.
The Happy Gourmet
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