Dyeing For My Seder

Last night, advance prepping for a big Seder supper in my home, I blended potent Middle Eastern spices meant to go under the skin of a couple of plump roast chickens. The combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, clover, cumin, sweet paprika, cardamom, black pepper and tumeric made for a heady aroma.

An unplanned side effect of my spicy ways: nasty yellow blotches on my fingers, from where I touched the tumeric.

I was sure that a long shower before I hit the hay would take care of the problem.

No luck. Ultimately, I had to break out industrial strength dishwashing soap to do the trick.

And, according to a posting on Suite101.com, the spice's dyeing properties have been well-used in the Orient:

Tumeric --- yes that seldom used spice on the shelf--- makes a wonderful deep gold dye on protein (wool, mohair, etc) and cellulose fibers (cotton, ramie, flax, etc.)and *does not* need a mordant. In the Orient it is used as a substitute for the much more expensive saffron in dyeing monks cloaks.

So, it looks like Jews and Asian monks are being bound together by my Seder meal selection. And, just to throw the Christian contigency in there for good measure, apparently tumeric is a favorite natural dye for coloring Easter eggs.

Figure that this type of togetherness at my Passover table is warranted - especially after my "undiplomatic" posting yesterday. Of course, my guests might have to pay the price with bright yellow teeth. But I'm thinking that if I hide a Simply White kit along with the afikomen tonight, we'll all walk away smiling.