In her writings, the Tennessee born naturopath Dr. Alvenia Fulton (1893-1999) used herbal recipes and food-based prescriptions to cure illnesses. Here is a look at the Africa origins of some of them which provides interesting insights into the history of medicine, folk medicine, and food as medicine. Dutch explorer Pieter de Marees’ traveled to the Gold Kingdom of Guinea in the 1600s and published a record of his observations, which included foodways and medicine. In December and January locals harvested and dried ginger using it in medicinal recipes and in making meals. It had been popular to cut the ginger root into small pieces, mix it with other spices, and fuse it with oil, salt and vinegar, and serve it like a salad.
