OUTHIP YOUR HIPSTER

FRIENDS AT THE

BCC SERVICES CENTER

THIS SUNDAY

Next time you're comparing notes with fellow "foodies" in the DC area, you'll be able to one-up them, if you follow my advice. Score bragging rights by heading to the Bethesda/Chevy Chase Regional Services Center (4805 Edgemoor Lane in downtown Bethesda) at 2:30 PM Sunday, for a special, FREE event.

After your friends tell you of their latest culinary adventures, you can amaze them with your new and vast knowledge of "Food and Drink in Medieval Cyprus." That's because you'll have attended the presentation of the same name by food historian William Woys Weaver, from 2:30 to 4:30 Sunday.

Just what sorts of food might one find in medieval Cyprus? Well, according to Weaver's previous tome, Food and Drink in Medieval Poland (I sense a theme here, folks), rare spices and sugar were two major ingredients in Cypriot cuisine. In fact, he writes, sugar came to us from Cyprus, who were introduced to it by the Egyptians.

Those eccentric spices? Labdanum, a resin thought to ward off the bubonic plague, and Monk's pepper, agnia seeds added to monastic dishes.

What else does Weaver tell us?

Forks came from Byzantium to Cyprus. Having taken a course in Byzantine history, this isn't surprising. For the uninitiated, Byzantium was the eastern half of the Roman Empire, and ultimately all that remained of it.

So while Europe in the Dark Ages was pretty much a backward continent of Conan and King Arthur types fighting, monks praying and peasants toiling, Byzantium was living large and benefitting intellectually, culturally and otherwise from its proximity to the Middle East and Asia.

Great books and art were preserved by the Byzantines, and they were able to pass this knowledge, culture, science, and... forks on to us.

And now Weaver will pass it on to you this Sunday, right here in downtown Bethesda.