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Re: Crete

On Mon, 20 Apr 1998, Colette Dunkley wrote:

> Well as for plants!  bearing in mmind that my husband is somewhat reluctant
> to stop the car and let me wander around much 

Grounds for divorce or murder or both.

:)

> coach driver for a lift. She and her friend boarded the bus with a sack
> each which looked for all the world like  sack of spuds. What were they
> digging up?   A horrible thought struck me, were they cyclamen corms?

They were probably "volvi" (bolboi in greek transliteration - literally,
"bulbs").  They are the bulb of Muscari comosum, or the purple tassel
hyacinth.  They are pickled in vinegar and olive oil, and eaten like an
appetizer.  I find them quite bitter but somehow appealing.  They are very
popular among Cretans.
 
In some areas the plant is not common any more due to heavy collecting,
though I did see it in the hills of Athens.  In Cephallonia, they eat the
flowers of a grape hyacinth-like plant, Bellevalia, but not the bulbs.
They consider M. comosum to be poisonous and never touch it.  So an
old-wives tale helps the plant there I guess.

bob
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