For the last two weeks at my house we have been totally absorbed in “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.” If is, you see, the theme of a birthday party to be held on Saturday. The birthday boy, all of 2 years old, is completely enchanted with Peter and his mischievous escapades.
We have discussed what Peter ate, according to Beatrix Potter, from Mr. McGregor’s garden: lettuces, French beans, radishes and parsley (the parsley was to settle his tummy which was rather shaky from so many beans and radishes).
Other foods mentioned in this classic story are blackberries, cucumbers, fresh peas, cabbages, gooseberries, potatoes, onions and black currants. The final food mentioned was chamomile tea that Mrs. Rabbit brewed as a medicine for Peter’s upset tummy.
The foods Peter ate are familiar to people in the 21st century, but just what is chamomile tea? My first thought is of a friend I had many years ago who was at least 83 then. She would occasionally have a cup of chamomile tea to “settle her nerves.”
I have never tasted it so in the interest of understanding literature I decided to learn about it. Chamomile is a small, white perennial flower found wild and cultivated in Europe and North America. The flower, which resembles a diminutive yellow-and-white daisy, is hand harvested, taking only the flower. The preferred and most expensive chamomile tea uses only the dried flowers; some producers extend the flowers by using dried leaves. The taste is a cross between smelling a sweet flower and smelling dried, cut grass. Not a bad combination, just one that takes some getting used to.
Over the past decade chamomile has become much more mainstream. Once only available in “health food stores,” it is now supplied by all the major tea companies.
And I learned that Mrs. Rabbit was exactly right about it: Chamomile is well known for its properties for stress relief and inducing sleep. After his wild adventures getting out of Mr. McGregor’s garden – being dunked in a half-full watering can, a bad tummy from overeating the delectable and forbidden vegetables, losing his beautiful blue coat and slippers (the second loss of these in just two weeks) and the mad dash under the garden gate just ahead of Mr. McGregor’s hoe and mean cat, Peter was a traumatized young bunny. Did I remember to mention that Peter’s father met his end in a Rabbit Pie made by Mr. McGregor? Mrs. Bunny knew just what to do to soothe her naughty, but precious little bunny. Interestingly, the only reference on most sources to literature about chamomile is Mrs. Bunny.
This tale’s cast of characters came from the creative mind of Beatrix Potter. She grew up in a fairly isolated part of England – the Northern Lake District. Her parents were both artists and were very comfortable in allowing her to roam the countryside. She observed and played with all manner of wildlife – hedgehogs, owls, geese, frogs, badges, fox and mice. Beatrix was also so attached to the animals she considered pets that she insisted they accompany her and her family on trips. Accommodated comfortably in a small case, these animals were good travelers. Her excursions into the woods also resulted in a great education in local botany. In fact, before her books were published, she had already established a fine reputation as a knowledgeable painter of mushrooms and other forest-floor fauna.
As many women of her class and financial status, she was not encouraged to attend school; a series of governesses taught her at home. She was a voracious reader and extended her education into many fields outside the normal realm of a governess. She had a good head for business, managing her monies from the sale of her books; she was a responsible farm manager, using the inheritance of her father’s lands to grow crops and sheep. She specialized in a special breed of sheep, becoming an authority on it, being the first woman elected to chair the breed organization.
A woman before her time, a creative author, an excellent watercolorist, a warm and compassionate women - the literary world would be a bit less colorful without Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tiddlywinkles, Jeremy Fisher and the host of her other friends. Even today, thousands of fans make the pilgrimage to the Lake District of England to see where her animal friends lived. Very little has changed there over the 100 or so years since Beatrix immortalized these animals.
It is easy on a cool, foggy fall morning to believe you glimpse one of these friends just disappearing behind a big leaf.
Fran Ginn is former chef/owner of The Back Door Café, who retired after 31 years in the food industry to be a grandmother. She can be contacted at fran@franginn.com.
P.S. Although the birthday cake will be decorated with tiny vegetables made of almond paste, the tiny guests will be served pizza and fresh fruit. The birthday boy would be delighted with carrots, cucumbers and celery but not most of his guests.
