I agree, Mr Turnbull

I agree, Mr Turnbull, respect is fundamental to getting rid of domestic violence in our society. Thank you for saying we need a change in culture. We do. The spate of murders of women and children in our society (in Australia) over the past week is truly shocking. To me, it indicates a society in crisis.

Respect is fundamental to any good relationship. That means within our families, in our schools and work places, in the community at large. Respect is not just about other people, either. Showing respect tells about who we are as people. It is a positive value that makes our own lives better.

I’m no angel and I’ve certainly made many mistakes and done plenty of things I shouldn’t have, but life does teach you things after a while. One of these is that good actions are much more likely to produce good results than bad actions.

We can see this in our families: treat people well and fairly and you’ll achieve good results. It happens on the international scene too. I’m amazed at how often national leaders think that bad actions will produce good results. Despite clear evidence to the contrary. The situation between Israel and the Palestinian states is a notable example of this. But that’s politics.

In our own families, I’m sure that showing respect, love and care is what gives us good families and allows our children to grow up as happy and well-balanced individuals.

Bad behaviour teaches people too, but mainly it teaches that bad behaviour is the way to go; and that can result in violence, crime and – as we see – death. Bad behaviour brings bad results.

So let’s reach for the best in ourselves; let’s be our best selves, our kind, loving, respectful selves. We’ll feel better about ourselves. And we will live in much happier families and in a less troubled society. Amen to that.

 

A Generous World

There has been an outpouring of generosity in our world and it’s wonderful to see. I applaud the courage of leaders such as Angela Merkel in Germany who have taken the steps to do what we all know in our hearts is good.

Around the world, human hearts have a balance of fear versus goodness; a worry that if ‘I’ give or do too much, ‘I’ will suffer for it, balanced against our compassion and fellow-feeling for others. That’s the paradox of the human heart.

Years ago, I lived in Thailand and a Thai friend said to me, ‘People are just people’. It’s true; we are brothers, sisters and cousins in the one human family, with the same needs, wishes and fears.

I’m sure all of us have felt moved in the past few of weeks by the plight of refugees fleeing to Europe by sea. Only the desperate would make these perilous journeys. They have put authorities and residents in Greece and Italy under severe stress because of their numbers; and we have all seen the determined would-be asylum seekers in Europe walking stoically along roads and railway tracks to reach their goal of acceptance and a new, safe life. Many I saw have called out, ‘I’m human! I’m a human being!’

We all are human beings and I believe we feel better for acknowledging that. My heart warmed when I heard German citizens clapping their hands, applauding the first refuge-seekers to walk into Germany after their long trek.

The way ahead for our world is clearly not going to be easy and I have no crystal ball about how matters will turn out. But I do truly believe that if you do your best, things will work out much better than if you do your worst.

Of course, as a Christian, I hold dear the teaching of Jesus: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. Amen to that. 

The strawberry decision

Now, here’s my question: what is the yummiest way to serve fresh, delicious strawberries?

Is it strawberries with cream, or strawberries with vanilla ice-cream? With the Southern Hemisphere spring making our days beautiful, it’s time to enjoy a classic dessert. And what’s better than strawberries with cream or ice-cream? Unless, of course, you add a little rosewater or a splash of kirsch.

Strawberries and cream, I read on Wikipedia, were introduced to the court of English King Henry VIII by his advisor Thomas Wolsey. Henry VIII became king in 1509 and Wolsey soon gained an influential position in his court, and was the king’s Lord Chancellor from 1515 to 1529. It’s not certain which English summer it was when Wolsey’s chefs brought in the first bowls of strawberries and cream to tempt the royal palate. But for hundreds of years now, the English and their visitors have loved summer-time strawberries served with dairy-fresh, clotted cream.  

They might also have loved it with ice-cream – as we have it today. I’m sure Henry VIII, a man with a hearty taste for life, would have enjoyed it with his strawberries. But ice-cream was still developing. Chilled dessert treats were not new. The Chinese had chilled treats (of ice and rice) about 200 BC. People in the ancient Persian Empire poured concentrated grape juice over snow; and the Arabs had milk ices, sweetened with sugar and flavoured with rosewater, dried fruits and nuts. Not bad.

In Europe, the Roman Emperor Nero (54 to 68 AD) had ice brought from the mountains and combined with fruit toppings to create chilled delicacies. And records say that Catherine de’ Medici brought Italian chefs into France in 1533, when she came to marry the Duc d’Orlέ᷂ans (who became King Henry II). These Italian chefs are said to have had recipes for sorbets and ices.

Today, we are the lucky inheritors of this smart thinking and have a wonderful range of ice-creams. For my photograph, I’ve used strawberries with Gippsland Dairy pure double cream, on the left; and strawberries with Kohu Road ice cream vanilla flavour, made with Heilala vanilla, top and right. I can vouch that both variants were delicious, though I did have to go a bit easy on the double cream.

A short history of strawberries

I went back to Wikipedia to learn that the first strawberries our ancestors enjoyed were the woodland strawberries growing wild in the countryside. Such strawberries are mentioned in Roman literature for their medicinal purposes. The wild strawberry was seen in illuminated manuscripts and in Italian, Flemish and German art and in English miniatures. The woodland strawberry, Fragaria vesca, began to be cultivated in Europe in the early 1600s.

A great breakthrough came about when French explorer Amέ᷂dέe-Franꞔois Frέzier introduced a new strawberry variety, Fragaria chiloensis, from Chile into France in 1714. There it was crossed with the North American strawberry, Fragaria virginiana, sometime in the 1750s to produce the garden strawberry. The place was Brittany in France.  Our modern, cultivated strawberries, Fragaria x ananassa, grown around the world, come originally from this French cross-breeding.

Of course, the strawberry is not really a berry. Botanically, it is an aggregate accessory fruit. Each apparent ‘seed’ on the outside of the fruit is in fact one of the ovaries of the flower (which preceded the fruit), with a seed inside it.

Health benefits

Strawberries are rich sources of vitamin C, phyto-nutrients and minerals. They help fight infections and colds, are powerful anti-oxidants, contain folates, and are low in carbohydrates. So strawberries are good for you – although unfortunately, some people are allergic to them.

In Australia, we are lucky that strawberries are grown all year round to supply our fresh fruit needs; in our winter months, in Western Australia and Queensland, and at other times in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales.

The world’s biggest strawberry producer is the United States of America, followed by Turkey, Spain, Egypt and Mexico.