On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 897

isolated from ergot a handful of alkaloids
with very different effects: one stimulates
the
uterine
muscle;
some
are
hallucinogens; and some constrict the
blood vessels, an action that can cause
gangrene, but that also has useful medical
applications. All these alkaloids have a
basic component in common called
lysergic acid. In 1943 the Swiss scientist
Albert Hofman discovered the particular
variant that would come to such
prominenceinthe1960s:thehallucinogen
lysergicaciddiethylamide,orLSD.
Oats

Theworldproducesmoreoatsthanryetoday,
but95%ofthecropisfedtoanimals.Oatsare
thegrainsofAvenasativa,agrassthat
probablyoriginatedinsouth-westAsiaand
graduallycameundercultivationasa
companionofwheatandbarley.InGreekand


Romantimesitwasconsideredaweedora
diseasedformofwheat.By1600ithad
becomeanimportantcropinnorthernEurope,
inwhosewetclimateitdoesbest;oatsrequire

moremoisturethananyothercerealbutrice.
Othercountries,however,continuedto
disdainit.SamuelJohnson’sDictionary
(London,1755)givesthisdefinitionforoats:
“Agrain,whichinEnglandisgenerallygiven
tohorses,butinScotlandsupportsthe
people.”
TodaytheUnitedKingdomandtheUnited
Statesarethelargestconsumersoffoodoats.
U.S.consumptionwasboostedinthelate19th
centurybyFerdinandSchumacher,aGerman
immigrantwhodevelopedquick-cooking
rolledoatsforbreakfast,andHenryCrowell,
whowasthefirsttoturnacerealfroma
commodityintoaretailbrandbypackaging
oatsneatlywithcookinginstructions,labeling
it“Pure,”andnamingit“QuakerOats.”Oats
arenowamainstayinready-to-eatgranolas,