Tea at Trianon: Oskoruša

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Oskoruša

An ancient tree with healing fruit.

This tree is generally rare and very hard to find in almost all of Europe (although there are farms in France and Germany). It originates in modern day Turkey and it was brought to the rest of Europe by the ancient Romans. The oldest tree is believed to be one in Czech Republic and it is believed to be 400 years old. Service tree lumber was mainly used for making wheels and other heavy duty parts of mills and ships as it is very hard. In the past, nearly every house was planting this tree and even the Empress Maria Theresa ordered that every household in Austrian Empire needs to plant this tree. The fruit was used for medicinal tea (good for stomach ache and constipation) and even as a supplement to flour that was used to make bread. Especially good was the liquor made of the fruits! Service tree fruit has about 15% of sugar. (Read entire post.)