CANNABIS CUISINE THROUGHOUT HISTORY & CULTURES

A study published in the Journal
of Ethnopharmacology in 2006 noted a fascinating fact about cannabis. The
author, who thinks the plant originated in Central Asia, said we do not know
the exact history because cannabis cultivation and consumption predates the appearance
of writing. What is known, however, is that cannabis plants played a role in
the cuisines of many cultures dating back thousands of years. Below is a look
at several key examples.

THE ANCIENT CHINESE

The Economic Botany
journal published “An Archaeological and Historical Account of Cannabis in
China” in 1974, and author Hui-Lin Li cited cultivation records that date
back 6,000 to the Neolithic period. The Ancient Chinese viewed hemp seed
flowers, or ma ren hua, as both
fiber-rich food and a medicinal plant, and Chinese Emperor Shen Nung—the man believed
to have discovered tea—included cannabis in his compendium of medicinal herbs in
2737 BC. Likewise, a surprisingly well-preserved 2,100-year-old tomb found in
the Hunan province contained numerous grains, including rice, wheat, millet,
mustard seed and hemp seed. Exact records of cooking methods and products are
limited, but there is mention of a hemp-seed porridge, and in latter years, as
an extract used for frying foods. Other grain cereals gradually replaced
cannabis, which declined in use significantly by the 10th century.

INDIA

Cannabis dates back thousands of years in India, having come
to the country from China, and religious Hindu texts consider it a sacred
plant. The Hindu god Shiva apparently created cannabis, or bhang, from his body to purify the elixir of life. While other
accounts tell a different tale, Shiva did become known as the Lord of Bhang,
and drinking bhang as a religious
rite can cleanse a person of sins. The drink itself is typically a mix of
cannabis, nuts and spices cooked in boiling milk or yogurt, and bhang lassi is still available today
from government-licensed shops. Coincidentally, a British doctor named William
O’Shaughnessy working in India conducted the first comprehensive clinical
trials of the plant’s medicinal benefits. He published his findings in 1839 and
helped expand medicinal use in Europe.

AMERICA

The land of the red, white and blue used to be a lot greener.
British and French colonists began cultivating cannabis in the early 1600s, and
the BBC claims George Washington recommended that people “sow it everywhere.” Between
1850 and 1937, cannabis was a recognized medicine listed in the United States
Pharmacopeia, and hemp extracts were used in food and medicine. Eli Lilly,
Parke-Davis (Pfizer) and Squibb & Sons (Bristol-Myers-Squibb) sold it,
newspapers advertised it and the Sears-Roebuck catalog listed it. Cannabis was typically
used in foods as an oil or extract, but the Gunjah Wallah Company made a
popular maple sugar hashish candy in the 1860s that was popular for decades. Check
out the Antique Cannabis Book to see
the documentation of more than 2,000 pre-1937 medical cannabis products,
including a 1895 Red Cross advertisement for the “nourishing food remedy”
Maltos-Cannabis (an edible cake bar). What may have doomed cannabis in America,
however, was political pressure from cotton producers who saw hemp as a financial
threat.

EUROPE

The first cannabis mention in Western literature may be a
fifth century BC reference to hemp seeds by Greek historian Herodotus, but the
second century AD offers a more interesting mention from Cladius Galen, a
famous Roman physician of Greek ancestry, who talked about making hemp cakes
and serving roasted hemp seeds to party guests to “promote hilarity and
enjoyment.” Still, cannabis use originated earlier with Germanic tribes and an
Indo-European tribe known as the Scythians, whose territory once stretched from
Ukraine to the Chinese border. As far as the Dutch, it is unclear when and how
they began consumption, but hemp played a major role in their ropes, sails and
other materials used during colonization. The most famous edible culture,
though, occurred in the early 19th century with Club des Hashischins in Paris. This
group of intellectual elites, known as the Hashish Eater’s Club, included
notable authors like Victor Hugo (Les
Miserables, The Hunchback of
Norte-Dame) and Alexandre Dumas (The
Count of Monte Cristo, The Three
Musketeers), and they often consumed cannabis in cooked confections.  

MODERN CAMBODIA

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While the previous cultures date
back centuries or even millennia, a fascinating new cannabis cuisine emerged in
Cambodia in the early 1990s. Famous in backpacking circles, the Happy Herb
Pizza chain originated the use of cannabis in their pies and spawned countless imitators.
The process involves cutting up buds in a coffee bean grinder and spreading the
herb across the tomato sauce before topping with mozzarella cheese. Happy Herb
Pizza has locations in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, while similar
joints have included Pink Elephant Pizza, Ecstatic Pizza and Angkor Happy
Pizza. “It is really something of an indigenous classic around here,” said
Anthony Bourdain when he visited Cambodia on No Reservations. “It is the pizza that makes you insane in the
membrane.” Capitalizing on its tourist draw, the Cambodian restaurant industry
has expanded to include cannabis in other dishes, such as the Baked Chicken at
the Smokin’ Pot restaurant in Battambang. Still, patrons generally have to
request happy dishes, and make sure they are available before sitting down. Cannabis
is strictly illegal in Cambodia, and the proliferation of happy restaurants has
led to a crackdown, but many