You don’t have to languish in jail to make Jailhouse Booze. It’s an easy, fun project you can make in your own kitchen, with fruit juice. Old-time jailbirds used to call it Pruno. We also have another, no-waste, alternative wine recipe: Pea Pod Wine.

It’s said that the merry prisoners used to save up their lunchtime fruit juice, float a slice of moldy bread on it (for yeast) and ferment it in a milk carton, or even a garbage bag. To hide it from the jailers, they’d stash it behind the toilet, and break it out at night for a soirée in the cell.

I doubt anyone makes Pruno anymore. Today’s jailers know all about it, and know where to find that milk carton or garbage bag bulging with illicit alcohol. But if you’d like to try, I recommend fermenting the juice in a clean glass or plastic jug. Stash it in a dark, cool place instead of in the bathroom.

To get that old-time feeling, keep it under the kitchen sink. Best, and most hygenically, make room in the pantry or garage for it.

Don’t make a lot. And don’t use moldy bread unless you’re willing to risk getting sick. (Or maybe inventing Penicillin.) Pruno’s pretty rough, and there’s no quality guarantee at all.

Pruno, Or Jailhouse Booze

Equipment

• A very clean plastic or glass jug of 7- cup capacity
  A long-handled spoon
• A funnel or large ladle
• A latex glove or a balloon, new out of the box
  A rubber band
  A saucer to put under the container in case of fermentation overflow

Ingredients

1-2/3 cup sugar
1 quart/ 4 cups/ 500 ml. fruit juice, any kind, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon baker’s yeast
1 small handful raisins or grapes

Dissolve the sugar in the juice, stirring well. Funnel or ladle the juice into the jug.

Add the yeast and raisins or grapes.
Fit the glove or balloon over the mouth of the container.
Tie the rubber band around the glove or balloon: fermentation will make it swell and possibly pop off the container
With a pin or needle, poke a hole in the glove or balloon. This allows fermentation gases to escape while keeping bugs and dust out.
Set the container on top of the saucer and put that bad boy away in a cool, dark place.

The Pruno will be ready when the glove or balloon deflates.
Pour it off the sediment, chill it, and enjoy.

Recommended: play Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” as you sip.

The post Jailhouse Booze For Home Bootleggers appeared first on Green Prophet.

This light, creamy cheesecake fits into your green Shavuot, especially if you make it with organic cheese and eggs. It’s also light on sugar.

The ancient Romans left a simple cheesecake recipe: ricotta cheese, honey, and eggs.  Pour into a clay saucer. Bake over coals. That still works, but for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, we favor this recipe. It’s  got just that hint of lemon and vanilla that makes you feel like you need another slice now, before someone else lays hands on it. And it fits into your domestic Jewish eco-activities, because it’s home-made – much healthier and more delicious than margarine-laden bakery products.

Have three bowls at hand, 1 large, 1 medium, 1 small. Prepare a cake pan either with baking paper or by greasing it with sweet butter and coating it with flour.

And do not preheat the oven: you want to start baking cold.

New York Cheesecake

6 servings: double the ingredients and bake in a larger pan for 12 servings.

Ingredients:

6 eggs

3 Tblsp. sugar, plus 6 Tblsp. later

500 grams – 1 lb. – 2 cups –  soft, creamy white cheese – here in Israel I use 9% white cheese

1 tsp. vanilla essence

Juice of 1 lemon

6 Tblsp. sifted flour

Method:

1. Separate the eggs.

Keep the whites in the large bowl.

Put 3 of the yolks in the medium bowl; in the small bowl, the other 3 yolks.

2. In the medium bowl, beat the 3 yolks with the 3 Tblsp. sugar and all of the cheese. Mix well till smooth.

3. Whip all the egg whites till stiff.

4. To the whites, add the 6 Tblsp. sugar and whip till the whites make smooth peaks.

5. Add the flour, the lemon juice, the 3 yolks from the small bowl and the vanilla.

Mix very well. This is the batter.

6. Pour 2/3 of the batter into the baking pan.

7. Mix the remaining third of the batter into the cheese mixture. Mix well.

8. Pour this new mixture straight into the center of the batter in the pan.

Bake at  300°F – 150° C for one hour.  Turn the oven off, but don’t remove the cake: just open the oven door a crack and let the cake cool inside. Once cooled down, store the cake in the fridge.

Enjoy!

More Green Prophet recipes for your Shavuot meals:

• Creamy Eggplant Soup
• Majadra: Middle-Eastern Lentils and Rice

The post Bake a New York Cheesecake for Shavuot appeared first on Green Prophet.

“The future,” says Elon Musk, “is going to be weird.”

Sounds logical, given the billionaire entrepreneur’s typical far-seeing plans, like creating a station on the moon.

But now Neuralink, a company founded by Musk in 2016, has successfully implanted a chip in a human brain. It’s a brain-to-computer interface technology (BCI) called “the Link.” It records and decodes brain activity, passing neural signals on to devices.

Current goals are to treat neurological disease like Parkinson’s and restore autonomy to people with severe physical limitations by controlling exoskeletons and prosthetics. There’s also huge potential to improve cognitive abilities such as memory, attention, and languages.

Even the power to communicate silently via thought alone isn’t out of vision: telepathy, in other words.

The Link has already granted speech to a man made mute by ALS; allowed people paralyzed by spinal cord injury to control a cursor and use their computer to not only play video games but also to study and work, or manipulate a robotic arm – by power of their thought.

Musk foresees a BCI placed in the visual cortex that will allow the blind to “see” their surroundings in real time. The project is called “Blindsight.” Theoretically a blind person will be able to see at high resolution at multiple wavelengths.

Musk says, “You can be like Geordi La Forge in Star Trek and see in radar, infrared, and ultraviolet. Superhuman capabilities. Cybernetic enhancement, essentially.”” He also sees a time when, thanks to BCIs implanted in a person’s brain and spinal cord, corresponding Optimus robotic devices developed by Tesla will replace the functions of missing limbs.

Tesla has already developed a functioning robotic hand whose appearance is designed to mimic the human hand. Potentially, an Optimus robot may restore full body functionality, such that a person will “inhabit” the robot.

Yes, the future does look weird.

How it works

The link between brain and computer is a coin-sized implant. It records neural activity via 1,024 thin, flexible electrode threads inserted into the brain. Neurons are the nerve cells that send messages all over the body to drive nearly all human functions. Where there’s neural damage due to ALS, stroke, or injury, the brain’s signals to, for example, pick up a cup, don’t transfer to the muscles. One of the Neuralink engineers, Skylar Granatir, compares this to a severed internet cable.

“With the BCI, you bypass this (interrupted) pathway completely. You can read directly from your brain to a device that will do the thing you want to do.”

In other words, the BCI makes a bridge that goes past damaged brain areas to the computer or other device that serves you in real time.

The United States Artificial Intelligence Institute defines how a Neuralink BCI works:

“The fundamental principle of Neuralink’s brain-implant technology is a mixture of neuroscience, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

The implant has over 1,000 electrodes linked by ultra-thin threads, which are implanted in the motor cortex of the brain. These threads pick up the electrical activity of the neurons and relay it to the external devices.

How The System Works

When one wants to move or do something, the brain triggers electric signals.The Neuralink implant identifies these signals by using electrodes.The neural data gets transmitted wirelessly to a computer. The commands are decoded by machine learning algorithms. Those commands are then able to govern digital systems such as a cursor, keyboard, or robotic device. Since the implant is far too dependent on AI models and AI algorithms, the system gets better as it becomes accustomed to trends in the neural activity, and the interaction becomes smoother over time.”

The electrode threads are too fine for human hands to handle without damage. To ensure their precise precise placement in the brain, Neuralink developed a specialized robotic surgeon that inserts these micro-threads into the cerebral cortex, the area of the brain containing functions like learning and emotion.

A chip within the implant processes thought signals and transmits them to a digital device through a standard Bluetooth connection.

Currently 21 humans with limited, some with even no physical functionality, are undergoing clinical trials. Surgery – implanting the BCI in the brain – requires only minutes, and causes almost no discomfort. The patient goes home the next day. Neuralink claims there has been no sign of damage to the brain since clinical trials began.

Competition

Neuralink has competitors. Several other companies have been developing surface electrodes offering similar technology for decades. One in particular, Paradromics, uses platinum-iridium microwire electrodes and a hermetically sealed titanium alloy body, as opposed to the flexible polymer threads and plastics in Neuralink’s implant. We have a post on Neuralink’s rival here.

For the love of everything, make it so it can NEVER. EVER. stream ads directly into our brains.

Called “Connexus,” the Paradromics BCI is water tight, which is critical for the salty and warm environment of the body. Neuralink doesn’t claim that advantage. In addition, the Connexus electrodes have a longer longevity as compared to Neuralink’s.

On their website, Pardomics states,

“Platinum-iridium is a medical-grade metal alloy that has been used in implants (like pacemakers and deep brain stimulators) for decades without corrosion or significant degradation. By choosing robust materials, Paradromics aims for its electrodes to last for many years or even decades inside the brain. This focus on durability directly tackles the implant lifespan issues, giving Paradromics an edge in achieving the 10+ year functional lifetime that many BCI users expect.”

The goals of these breakthrough technologies are to reduce suffering and enhance human capabilities. Musk even hopes to explore and expand consciousness. Another of Musk’s concerns is to mitigate the risks of unchecked AI.

Criticism

From Wikipedia: “Neuralink has faced substantial criticism over its animal testing practices. Between 2018 and 2022, at least 1,500 animals—including monkeys, pigs, and sheep—were used in experiments, with reports of complications leading to euthanasia in some cases. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, prompting an investigation.”

Neuralink has said that animal testing followed regulatory standards and was necessary for development.

In human trials, the first patient’s implant experienced partial thread retraction in 2024, reducing the number of functional electrodes, though software updates restored much of the lost performance.

Bioethicists have raised concerns about informed consent, long-term patient support, and the absence of trial registration on ClinicalTrials.gov for some studies.

Broader ethical debates include risks of hacking, loss of privacy, and potential misuse of neural data. One person left a cry from the heart under the YouTube Neuralink update: “For the love of everything, make it so it can NEVER. EVER. stream ads directly into our brains.”

Altogether, it’s clear that the lives of clinical trial participants have improved amazingly. One participant, disabled by ALS and unable to communicate for four years movingly says, “Neuralink has given me a purpose. We work together to make this thing (the BCI) better. Maybe I can’t cure ALS, but I can participate in research, I can give feedback. It will give us back a voice.

“It would be a total waste of who I am if I didn’t do all the good I possibly could before I check out to be with the Lord. That’s the number one reason I’m doing this – because I’m doing good for others, and that’s the best thing of all.”

Others, who have regained a part of independence via their computers, are returning to studies and work abandoned when paralysis set in. Some mention the joy of having a purpose again.

So how about this weird future? Are you optimistic about the advances in medicine, health care, and disabled people’s quality of life that BCI offers, or are you worried that cyborgs will overtake control of the planet? I confess to both.

The post How does Neuralink work? appeared first on Green Prophet.

April is National Garlic Month! We’re close to the end of April, but fear not: the North American garlic harvest lasts through July, and you can pick up the bulbs until Fall. Even after the green stalks wither and the bulbs are drier, your garlic will remain pungent for any months if you store it well.

The trick is to keep the fresh garlic in a well-ventilated, shady place away from steam and heat. Not by the stove, in other words. I place a tension pole in a shady spot in the laundry room, not close to the washer/dryer, and hang my year’s harvest from it by the stalks. I’ve also cut the stalks off and stored the garlic heads in wicker baskets, on a well-ventilated shelf.

Buy plump, firm bulbs wearing their sheath of papery outer skin. If it’s soft or shriveled, or feels light in the hand relative to its size, it’s not worth buying.

The little bulblets inside the stalks may be worth the trouble of extracting. Press the stalk and judge if the bulblet is big enough to bother with. Sometimes they are.

Now for peeling the cloves. One way is to crush a clove with the flat side of a knife. Just place the knife over the clove and bang your fist down on the knife, taking care to avoid the knife edge. This loosens the garlic skin and makes it easy to pull off. If you prefer to peel the cloves whole, pour hot water over them for a few seconds. The peels will come off with a little help from a paring knife.

A tip for crushing garlic: throw away the metal garlic crusher. You can reduce garlic to a paste on your chopping block in seconds by chopping the cloves coarsely, then scraping the bits with the edge of your knife. One less gadget to wash, and no time spent digging garlic out, blunting your knife in the process.

Where does American garlic come from?

Approximately 80% of the garlic consumed in the United States is imported from China. Prices have gone up with the current tariff war, but some pre-tariff produce may still be found. It won’t be fresh, though. You may find garlic imported from Spain, Argentina, Egypt, India, or Mexico in your grocery store.

California produces about 90% of American-grown garlic. Local garlic very much fresher and tastier than garlic imported from China, and here’s why you should prefer it.

A commenter on Reddit who goes by hamdunkcontest manages the garlic category for a fairly large industrial food ingredients company. These are his insights regarding what American garlic consumers can expect in 2027:

“Assuming the tariffs hold, for this year specifically, some amount of the demand will still be covered by Chinese garlic that was already imported into the US. The balance will likely be covered by Indian garlic.

“The US can’t feasibly cover their current demand with US-origin product. Even if we wanted to increase production, the land we’d use to increase acreage will also need to be considered for other crops that are also impacted by the tariffs.

“What we’ll instead likely see is a modest increase in US production for next year, with the balance of the gap being covered by: 1) Indian or other small tertiary sources, 2) demand being reduced by companies reformulating garlic out of recipes, and 3) Chinese garlic that is illegally dodging the tariffs, though things like falsifying the country of origin.”

It’s enough to make you uproot your lawn and plant garlic, isn’t it? Many in the US and Canada do.

Green Prophet’s editor, Karin Kloosterman, says that in her native Ontario, the local CSA brings the garlic harvest down to one July weekend when they announce that the garlic’s ready to pull. The news spreads around the community by word of mouth and that’s how home gardeners known when to start digging.

Here I go to the local open-air market and revel in the garlic abundance.

But I can’t hang around reveling too long, because the season is short, a month at the longest. I ensure a year’s supply of local garlic by buying a tad more than I’ll need, to account for some inevitable loss over the months.

Eating Garlic a Natural Medicine

People have been claiming health benefits from eating garlic for centuries. Today we include:

Eating a raw clove daily keeps your heart strong, as it reduces cholesterol and blood pressure, and prevents blood clots.

Garlic is known to be antibacterial and antifungal.

Raw garlic, freshly cut, works as a home-remedy antibiotic in a pinch. In other words, sliced raw garlic applied to an infected cut, scrape, or pimple will clear it up. Mashed cooked garlic also works. Obviously, a serious infection calls for standard medical help.

Is all this talk about garlic getting you hungry? We have some great garlicky recipes, like this vegan roasted cauliflower dish and creamy roasted garlic soup. I recommend the soup as a delicious pick-me-up for any time you’re tired and disheartened.

And if you’re not convinced that garlic is the answer to the world’s woes, try this decadent garlic bread recipe from the American food writer Ruth Reichl (taken from her Substack newsletter, La Briffe):

Make Decadent Garlic Bread

1 loaf sturdy French or Italian bread
1 stick sweet butter
1 head garlic
Zest from 1 lemon (optional)
¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley or chives (optional)

Begin by cutting the bread in half, lengthwise (a serrated knife helps). Preheat oven to 350⁰ F.

Peel and finely chop the garlic. Melt a stick of sweet butter, and add the garlic.

Slather the garlic butter onto the bread, cut side up, with a brush. Let it soak in. Use it all, and evenly spread the bits of garlic all over. Now is the time to salt it if you want to, and to sprinkle on the zest.

Bake the loaf, cut sides up, 15 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven and wait to take the final step just before serving.

Turn the heat up to broil. Add cheese, if using. Broil for about 2 minutes, watching carefully to make sure it doesn’t burn. Sprinkle with herbs just as it comes out of the broiler and serve immediately.

My note: include all the optional ingredients. It’s the best garlic bread you’ll ever eat.

Happy National Garlic Month!

Cook on – Recipes that feature garlic

Creamy Roasted Garlic Soup — Creamy Roasted Garlic Soup

The Ultimate Hummus Recipe — The Ultimate Hummus Recipe

Ful Medames and Musabaha Recipes — Ful Medames and Musabaha Recipes

Vegetarian Haricot Bean Stew Recipe — Vegetarian Haricot Bean Stew Recipe

Noodles and Lentils Recipe — Noodles and Lentils Recipe

Baba Ganoush Recipe — Baba Ganoush Recipe

Grilled Vegetables With A Middle Eastern Accent — Grilled Vegetables With A Middle Eastern Accent

Spinach and Cheese Bourekas Recipe — Spinach and Cheese Bourekas Recipe

Shakshuka, Tunisian Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce — Shakshuka, Tunisian Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce

Late-Summer Pickled Peppers — Late-Summer Pickled Peppers

The post April Is National Garlic Month appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Roman governors named the city Noviomagus. It was an important urban center and a key military and administrative hub on the northern border of the Roman Empire. The residents left thousands of everyday artifacts that archaeologist have been excavating and stashing into boxes for the past 70 years.

Researchers are now bringing these remnants of Roman material culture out of storage, in a project aiming to identify and catalog them for future study and preservation.

The 16,000 boxes ended up in the province of Gelderland nearly 20 years ago. The province recently allocated €8 million to inventory the contents of the boxes and repack them. It’s expected that it will take 6 years to sift through every box.

300 of the boxes have been opened. The objects inside are between 1,800 and 2,000 years old. They are things used in everyday life and that reveal a vivid picture of how people lived and interacted when Roman government held sway in Noviomagus (today’s Nijmegen). Several are considered “masterpieces” and are causing a lot of excitement among researchers and specialists.

Fine Roman tableware – intricately decorated cups and bowls – have survived the centuries. The clay pot with a human face sculpted onto it below served two purposes: it was a drinking vessel whose twisted nose and hard-boiled eyes promised a good time for the drinker.

Among the magical protective objects is a 20-centimeter/8-inch phallus carved from bone.

People have used phallic images since ancient times, to bring prosperity and avert bad luck. See our post on Iran’s phallic stones. This example is unusual in that it’s made of bone. Other Roman phalli were made of stone or metal.

As many other cultures did, the Romans used phallic images in hopes of increasing human and agricultural fertility, but also to deflect the evil eye, a powerful fear in the minds of ancient people. It still exists among some modern communities: see our post on the evil eye in the Middle East.

Mosiacs and wall paintings depicting gods, animals, and men in full erection were displayed in homes. Below you see an eye representing envy and malice being attacked by all sorts of creatures, a dagger, a trident – and the exaggerated penis of a man.

Phalli carved into clay plaques were set over front doors to prevent bad vibes from entering. Wind chimes featuring multiple metal phalli hung over shop doors in the belief that the  charm would protect owner from thieves and financial loss.

A woman might have worn a jeweled phallus in her hair, or a man a phallic pendant around his neck. There were even tiny phallic charms on bracelets meant to fasten on the wrists of newborns, and finger rings with engraved phalli so small that they could only have been meant to be worn by children.

Can we ever enter the minds of people so at home with the arts, international trade, high-level politics and governance – not to mention a military that conquered a large part of the world – yet who lived in superstitious fear of envy and ill-wishing every day? Researchers feel that those 16,000 boxes full of ancient Roman debris contain that possibility and that they will reveal much more about the Roman way of life than we’ve yet seen.

The post Hidden Archives Reveal Amazing Roman Artifacts appeared first on Green Prophet.

Think of truffles, a gourmet wild food. The European tuber commands astronomical prices because of its inimitable flavor, rarity, and difficult harvesting. Oregano-like za’atar herb and thorny akub (Gundelia tournefortii) are desired in the Middle East in the same way. Read our post on the delicious truffles that grow in the desert.

Akoub and za’atar grow wild in the arid hills of Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt), Syria, and Turkey. In Israel both za’atar and akoub are protected species. Both can be cultivated. Both may be collected from the wild for personal use, in moderate amounts. We even have a recipe for za’atar pesto from chef Moshe Basson.

But traders illegally picking them for sale collect them by hundreds of kilos. Often they uproot the whole za’atar plant. With akoub, taking the edible flower head means no seed left for the next year. As a result, wild za’atar and akub are on the brink of extinction.

I myself grow za’atar in a container on my balcony; it’s a hardy Mediterranean herb that flourishes from year to year in the same spot. I bought the seedling from a plant nursery. I’ve also seen contraband sacks of the herb in Arab open-air markets.

But admittedly you need to be a farmer to grow akoub, because propagation is tricky, the season is short, and the sharp thorns surrounding the delicious leaves and flowers make harvesting hard.

When living in northern Israel, I’d buy fresh akoub from a Beduin vendor in the local open-air market. It was expensive because of the labor involved in harvesting – I’ve seen robed Beduin slowly walking over the hills, stooping to pry the akoub away from the earth with a knife, then stripping the thorns off the edible stems.

I cooked both the flower and the stem. And yes, it was delicious, with its artichoke-like flavor. But now I wonder where that delicious akoub came from, and if I’d contributed to its overharvesting.

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority in the Golan have confiscated hundreds of kilos of za’atar and akoub. Some were meant to be sold in local markets, but much of this illegal produce makes its way across the border to Jordan.

Yaron Maderchi, head of the Investigations Department at the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, states that the fight against the illegal picking of wild plants is first and foremost a struggle to preserve them for future generations.

“We focus on strict enforcement against traders, not on picking for personal use,” said Maderchi. “There’s room for tradition and for responsible use of natural resources, but when picking is carried out on a commercial scale and without oversight, it leads to severe damage and even local extinction of species.”

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority noted that overpicking is driven mostly by financial incentives.

“Akoub is a highly sought-after product in the market, and illegal harvesting can generate profits of thousands of shekels per day,” said Oriya Vazana, a regional inspector in the central Golan for the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

“Economic pressure leads people to enter these areas in large numbers,” said Vazana. “The entire market operates in cash, without oversight. Beyond the damage to the plant itself, we are also seeing collateral harm: cutting fences, opening gates, damage to grazing lands, and safety risks on roads. This is a complex issue that requires significant resources, manpower, and targeted enforcement throughout the short harvesting season.”

The plant has significant ecological importance, serving as a food source for pollinators and insects and contributing to biodiversity. Left unharvested, the flower head dries up and tumbles on the ground, dispersing seed.

About 240 kilos of akoub and 25 kilos of za’atar were seized by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority in the Golan, working with border police.

The post Saving Gourmet Wild Plants For The Future appeared first on Green Prophet.

Big, gnarly fava bean pods are in season right now, just as winter gives way from cool nights to bright, warm days. Heaps of the greens loved in the Middle East appear in the shouks (Arabic word for market): peas, string beans, asparagus, and for a short while, these fresh fava beans.

Somehow vegetables with short seasons excite the imagination and appetite more sharply than produce that’s available all year around. Good Middle Eastern cooks have many recipes for delicate fava beans, and this turmeric-fragrant soup is one.

Fresh beans are peeled twice: once when when you slide them out of their pods, and again when you squish each bean out from its rubbery covering. True; a little extra work. But it’s a restful task, and the soup is wonderfully herby, and redolent of green Springtime.

The preparation time listed relates to fresh beans. Frozen beans won’t need the peeling.

You’ll notice that the recipe calls for a fair amount of cilantro, but you can easily swap parsley for it if you prefer.

Fava Bean Soup Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups fresh or frozen fava bean pods
1 large leek, well washed and sliced ​​into thin rings (about 2 cups)
2 celery stalks sliced
2 carrots, sliced thinly
2 zucchini, diced
2 large potatoes, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
A bunch of coarsely chopped cilantro (about a cup)
8 cups/2 liters water or more as needed

Pull the strings off each pod and open it along the slit to expose the green beans. Use your thumbnail or a small knife. Push the beans out. Make a small cut in each bean, along the black stripe on its side, and squish it free of its sheath.

If using frozen beans, skip this step.
Heat olive oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Add the leeks, celery, carrots, zucchini and potatoes. Add turmeric, salt and black pepper, stir and let the vegetables cook gently for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add 8 cups of water, stir and bring to a boil. Cook, covered, for 45 minutes over medium heat until all the vegetables are tender.

Add the peeled fava beans, bring back to a boil and continue cooking for another 45 minutes. Check the soup once or twice: if necessary, add a little water.

Using a potato masher, mash the vegetables very coarsely.

Taste for seasoning and add a little more salt and pepper if needed.

Turn off the heat and add a bunch of finely chopped cilantro or parsley.
Serve right away, and enjoy.

Love fava beans and want another recipe? Try this fava bean Iranian salad

The post Fresh Fava Bean Soup, A Vegan Springtime Recipe appeared first on Green Prophet.

In this Ozempic age, a person may diet themselves down unattractive gauntness. Hip dips, bony shoulders, withered hands; not to mention drooping breasts and flat buttocks: a sad list of body parts needing plumping up to look good again.

“Personal fat banking” is a solution. A person set on losing a lot of weight can have their own fat harvested ahead of time via liposuction and later reinjected into any part of the body that needs a smooth contour. Expensive, but it can be done. Read here about plastic surgery’s environnmental impact.

But what happens when there’s no personal fat left to harvest?

Well, turn to fat harvested from dead people instead. Cadaver fat returns the bounce to the breasts just as efficiently as your own fat. As much as five kilos of fat may be harvested from a corpse. Certified agencies use male and female cadavers from 18-71 years old. The commercial name for processed human fat is Alloclae.

Cosmetic surgeons call it “regenerative medicine. ” Their websites may refer to “donated tissue,” if they mention the fat’s origins at all. To squeamish patients, they soothingly explain that AlloClae is part of a “biologic revolution.” It encourages the patient’s own cells to migrate into the donor matrix, rebuilding tissue.

That sounds so much more scientific, even sort of natural, doesn’t it? It sort of takes the uncomfortable dissonance away, unless you remember that the fat injected into your living body came from a dead person who never consented to its commercial use.

There is no proof that any donor, while living, gave informed consent for companies to make money off their remains; the remains they nobly donated to research and science, not for someone to fill out their bikini.

In fact, it’s not entirely clear if family members who agreed to donate their dear departed’s body are aware that someone may exploit it for sale. The original donors or their families typically do not profit.

Who’s making money from human fat in 2026?

The first parties are companies are known as “body brokers,” officially called non-transplant tissue banks. They acquire, dissect, and sell human bodies and body parts for medical research and education. They are intermediaries between the recently deceased and commercial buyers, such as medical device companies, military researchers, and private surgical training programs.

Tissue banks generate substantial revenue by “parting out” a single body; for instance, a head can fetch roughly $1,000, while a torso might be sold for several thousand dollars. A single corpse can generate up to $10,000 in total sales.

In the United States, no central registry for body brokers exists. Legitimate companies identify themselves as non-transplant tissue banks. If you look it up, you’ll find The American Association of Tissue Banks. They list accredited non-transplant anatomical donation organizations.

Biotech companies buy human fat from body brokers, then process and sterilize it. The finished product, Alloclae, is considered a legal and safe, FDA-compliant human cell and tissue product. It doesn’t technically have to be “approved” or “cleared” by the FDA, per the agency’s web site.

But unlike the organ transplant system, which is strictly regulated by the federal government, this industry operates with significantly less oversight.

Tiger Aesthetics, a subsidiary of the Tiger BioScience company, is the biggest processor of human fat in the USA . They claim that Alloclae, cleansed by detergents, is purified down to DNA residues that may provoke immunogenic response.

And so it may be. The process is still new enough that we don’t have long-term studies on possible secondary effects in patients injected with Alloclae.

The processed human fat is then sold on to specialized clinics and plastic surgeons. Those clinics and surgeons earn big fees for plumping up body parts of the rich and the vain. How much? It depends. Scanning the websites of several clinics, I saw quotes between US$5000 to US$7000 per syringe.

Dr. Sachin M. Shridharani offers the procedure at his Manhattan clinic, Luxurgery. Interviewed by The New York Post, he said that the procedures typically start at $10,000, with costs increase depending on the scope of treatment.

“If you want a full breast augmentation, hip dip and some buttock treatment and you have to use hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cc’s of AlloClae, well, that’s going to cost tens of thousands of dollars.”

What you get for your money

Traditional fillers come in 1cc syringes, while AlloClae is packaged in much larger 12.5cc and 25cc sizes. This makes it a unique middle ground for “micro-augmentations” – fixing hip dips, “scooped-out” breasts, or post-liposuction dents that are too big for standard fillers but not large enough to justify surgery.

But the effects don’t last forever. While some claim that the “donated” fat is a sort of scaffolding for the patient’s own body to build up tissue, more often the lovely rounded effect wears away and dissolves after 18 months at longest.
Now that can’t be bad for business.

It gets darker.

Brokers frequently target low-income families by offering “free cremation” in exchange for the donation. In effect, the family agrees to sell their relative’s fat to pay for funeral costs. Some funeral directors maintain partnerships with body brokers to provide low-cost burials or cremations for poor families.

Investigations have uncovered instances of families being misled about how bodies would be used, as well as cases of improper handling, such as dismemberment with power tools or the sale of remains to gruesome “exhibits.”

Makes you wonder if any low-income cremations were empty coffins, while the deceased’s body was sold to independent body brokers.

Human Remains, The Newest Cosmetic

Science has given us many medical uses for bits and pieces of the human body. Lives are saved by heart, kidney, liver donations; parts of eyes, of skin, and more. These procedures come from a place of value for human life and dignity.

And maybe you know someone who’s had cosmetic surgery, or had it yourself. Why not; if surgery enhances a person’s appearance, makes them feel more confident and secure, and they can afford it, more power to them.

But would you get yourself injected with Alloclae?

The post The Next New Cosmetic: Human Fat Known as Alloclae appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Purim holiday is coming up next week: this year, 2026, it occurs from the evening of March 2nd until the evening of March 3rd. (In Jerusalem, where Shushan Purim is celebrated, the festival takes place on the following day, from March 3rd to March 4th.) Read about Purim and building a good society here.

There’s feasting at home on the night and the next day, and to make sure everyone gets good things to eat, families send out packages of treats to friends and neighbors. Traditional goodies are hamentaschen, and other treats like our chocolate nut clusters .

Now here’s another treat for sending around: a delicate nut-filled Moroccan pastry called Haman’s Fingers. It’s a sweet take on savory Moroccan cigars.

Haman’s Fingers
Yield: 20 rolled pastries

Pastry Ingredients
2 cups whole walnuts
2 cups whole almonds
½ cup sugar syrup (recipe below)
1 tsp orange blossom water (optional)
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cardamom
¼ tsp allspice
¼ tsp kosher salt
15 sheets of frozen phyllo pastry, thawed overnight in the refrigerator
1 stick (½ cup) melted butter

Syrup Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 tsp orange blossom water or 1 tbsp lemon juice
Zest of 1 orange

Directions

Remove the phyllo dough from the freezer to the fridge the night before starting. 2 hours before starting, remove the package from the fridge to room temperature. When ready to start, open the package and cover the phyllo with a damp towel or plastic wrap, to prevent drying out.

Make the syrup:
Bring water and sugar to a boil. Reduce the heat to a steady simmer and cook uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until syrup has reduced to about ⅔ cup. Add orange blossom water or lemon juice and orange zest. Set aside to cool.

Prepare the filling:
Place the walnuts and almonds in a food processor. Pulse until the texture resembles coarse crumbs, with some chunks.
Add ½ cup of the sugar syrup and the cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, salt, and optional orange blossom water. Pulse another couple of times until mixture comes together. Don’t overwork the filling; you don’t want a smooth paste, bu a mixture with some texture.

Roll the pastry:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
Place a sheet of baking parchment on your work surface. Melt the butter (30 seconds in the microwave should do it) and set it aside to cool.
Place 1 sheet of phyllo on the baking parchment. Brush with melted butter. Place a second sheet over it, brush with butter. Do the same with a third sheet, finishing with brushed butter.
Roll the filling into a tube shape on a clean surface. Place it half an inch from the edge of the phyllo layers, on the long side. Carefully roll up the dough. Slice it into 4 pieces.
Transfer the cigars to the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining phyllo and filling.

Glaze the fingers:
Brush the finished cigars with more butter and then brush generously with syrup. There will be some syrup left for a final glazing.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and while still hot, brush with additional syrup to glaze.
Trim any filling that oozed out of the “fingers” off with a knife.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.

Recipe and photo via Chabad.org

The post Haman’s Fingers, A Moroccan Purim Specialty appeared first on Green Prophet.

In the Middle East, aromatic traditional foods are regarded as medicine. Soup made with basil and thyme warms the body. Traditional Moroccan mint tea, or tea with a sprig of wormwood in it, aid digestion after a rich meal. Arab grandmothers well know the value of za’atar as a cough remedy.

Food well-seasoned with spices arouse the appetite. Those little dishes of spicy mezze set on the table aren’t enough to satisfy a good lunch-time hunger, but nibbling on them makes you cheerful, looking forward to the main dish.  Spicy foods make you aware you’re thirsty, and drinking plenty is a good thing in hot, dry climates where dehydration can happen quickly. And spices provide trace minerals that some populations, especially impoverished or vegetarian ones, depend on to maintain health.

No wonder that every shuk, every grocery store and supermarket, has rows of colorful spices loosely heaped up in burlap sacks or  packed into hygienic cellophane bags. Let’s have a look at some of spices so well-loved in the Middle East. Please keep in mind that ordinary culinary use is different from using spices as medicine. Very high intake of some spices can be toxic or dangerous to pregnancy.

Anise

Anise seeds steeped in hot water treat coughs, bronchitis and asthma.   The spice loosens mucus in the respiratory tract. They also  relieve indigestion in children and grownups.

For colicky babies, cumin and fennel seeds are also used. The breastfeeding mother can drink a cup of seed tea just before or during nursing, and the benefit will pass through her milk to the baby. Otherwise, a teaspoon of very weak seed tea can be given directly.

To make an infusion, gently crush 1 teaspoon of anise seeds per cup of boiling water. Steep for 10-20 minutes and strain. Drink 1/2  cup  3 times a day. If you want a weaker infusion, use 1/2 teaspoon and steep only 10 minutes.

Do not exceed the recommended strength: high or very strong doses of anise may cause nausea and vomiting.

Basil

Basil is a good companion to mint when making a tea for stomach cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting.  If you suffer from travel sickness, it’s a good idea to drink a cup of basil tea before starting to travel, or take some with you in a thermos. Basil tea also treats nervous headaches and anxiety.  A wash of basil tea is antiseptic and especially good for treating acne.

Basil is one herb that loses a lot of its beneficial properties once dried, so it’s worth keeping a small pot of basil in the kitchen windowsill, to pinch off leaves for cooking and for tea.  It’s easy to grow.

Bay Leaves

Bay (Laurel) Leaves in cooking made food more digestible, and relieve flatulence. A tea made of several bay leaves broken in half and allowed to steep for 10 minutes is tasty and soothing for people suffering from colds and flu and, especially, menstrual cramps.

It also warms the body because it promotes circulation – which is why it’s good first aid for cramps. Pregnant women should not drink more than one cup of mild bay leaf tea at any given time.

Bay leaves are diuretic. Tea from the leaves will promote sweating, which is useful when there’s fever. Its antiseptic properties are useful as a skin wash for treating acne and small wounds and scrapes.

Bay leaves repel insects, and are often scattered around closets where grains are stored.

Caraway

Caraway (Kumel) – Half a teaspoon of  caraway seeds steeped in a cup of water and drunk, settles the stomach after a large meal. Its medicinal uses are the same as for anise seeds.

Caraway  is also a powerful appetite stimulant and a standard infusion can be drunk half an hour before a meal.

As caraway appears to have anti spasmodic properties that might relax the uterus, pregnant  women  should be careful  to use the herb only for seasoning food, not to take it in large, medicinal doses.

Chamomile

Chamomile is an herb, not a spice, but it grows readily in all kinds of climates (in Israel we pick it wild in neglected lots and fields) and it’s uses are so many that it’s worth including here. While chamomile is seldom used in cooking, it’s well-known as a soothing tea, easily available both loose and in tea bags. It’s good to drink after a heavy meal or to use in treating diarrhea. For people with fever, a cup of chamomile tea refreshes and relieves some of the body pain.

Chamomile calms down jitters. Hand a grouchy teenager a cup of chamomile as he or she walks in after school, and you will have a much more relaxed son or daughter in the house.

A soothing oil for earache can be made by opening a teabag of chamomile and simmering it in olive oil to cover it well for a few minutes. Allow the herbal oil to steep, covered, for 20 minutes, then strain well through fine cloth or something similar like a coffee filter (you do not want herb particles in the ear!). Heat over a candle and when it is pleasantly warm, drop 1-3 drops into the affected ear. Cover with cotton wool and rest for at least 5 minutes.

This same oil is lovely for massaging babies, children, and anyone in need of relaxation.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon. Used more often for flavoring than as medicine, this woody, aromatic spice can be infused as tea to effectively relieve flatulence, soothe nausea and stop vomiting and diarrhea. Modern research has proved that as little as 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon daily helps to lower blood sugar.

Cinnamon, by the way, is one of the spices that stimulated the birth of the great spice trade in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Cloves

Cloves treat nausea and vomiting. Placed between the  gum and a painful tooth,  a clove will take the edge off toothache till you can get to the dentist.

Coriander

Coriander, both green leaf and seed, stimulates appetite and digestion.

Cumin

Cumin: The spice that seasons all the falafel in the Middle East. It’s a mainstay in seasoned meats, soups and it’s almost like salt to a Middle East kitchen. And also like coriander, it stimulates appetite and digestion. It also relieves flatulence. Taken as tea sweetened with honey, it increases breast milk.

Read PART II: Middle Eastern Spices D through G (Dill to Ginger)

You’ll enjoy these food-related posts:

• Recipe: Preserved Lemons
• Recipe: Nourishing Oatstraw Tea
• Two Winter Salads

The post Middle-Eastern spices and natural medicine (A through C) appeared first on Green Prophet.