AUG 25 HUNDRED YEAR-OLD FRUITCAKE IS ALMOST EDIBLE

AUG 25 HUNDRED YEAR-OLD FRUITCAKE IS ALMOST EDIBLE  

The poor fruitcake. It's America's most lampooned dessert. No, it's not the simple ingredients. You just add candied fruit, diced nuts, a dash of spices to your basic flour cake. Rather, it is fruitcake's impressive shelf-life that is the source of ridicule. Since the fruit is candied and nuts are dry, most fruitcakes last three months...some up to a year...before spoiling. This is where the notoriety starts. Famed talk-show host Johnny Carson often joked that their is actually only one fruitcake in the USA...it just passes from family to family.

So this week, comedians nationwide are jumping at the chance to ridicule this story: A 106 year-old fruitcake has been found in the Antarctic. And here's the part that everyone expected: According to the scientists examining the artifact, it's 'almost edible." Manager Lizzie Meek noted "a very slight rancid butter smell" but still tried a bite. How did it survive? First, it was wrapped in sturdy paper and stored in a plated alloy tin. Secondly, it was stored in the world's largest icebox, so it's been frozen the entire time. Even the name of the bakery is legible. It was baked at British biscuit company in London called Huntley & Palmers.

You're wondering: How did the fruitcake end up at the South Pole? It was part of the provisions trekked in for the Robert Scott Antarctic Expedition in 1912. They must have been saving it to celebrate their return...which sadly never occurred. (The entire mission died from frostbite upon their return from the Pole). Back to last week: The New Zealand-based Antarctic Heritage Trust has been busy on Cape Adare for month, examining a dozen forgotten human settlements.  One such place is an abandoned staging hut used not only by Scott's party but Norweigan voyages as well. Here, they found the now famous tin box.

You're asking: How long have fruitcakes been around? Forever! Naturally, ancient Romans were the first. They mixed in pomegranate seeds, raisins and pine nuts into their bread. Medieval times saw the addition of honey and dried fruit. But the fruitcake really took off in the 1600's. That's when products from the tropics first came to England. Cones of sweet sugar flooded the European market, giving rise to the horrendous Sugar-Slavery triangular trade. But, let's face it...even today...most people have no idea how delicious foods came to their lands; they just came up with tasty ways to eat them!

For the time being, the 106-year old Huntley & Palmers fruitcake is being examined by the team. Despite its fame, the cake is being treated just the same as the other 1,500 artifacts recovered on Cape Adare. So it may take months for any new information. (NOTE: They also found edible jam, but since there are no running gags about jam, no one cares!) Anyhow, we here at the DUNER BLOG just can't help think that Johnny Carson is looking down from heaven. He's smiling, because a new generation is cracking jokes about fruitcakes!