March 6th: Spinach

In the French Revolutionary Calendar, March 6th is dedicated to Spinach. Here are a few things you might not know about spinach:

1. No-one knows for sure the origin of the English word for spinach - it derives from a French word, espinache, but where that came from is uncertain. One guess is that it came from the Persian word for 'Green hand'.
2. Spinach originated in Persia but spread to India and China. In AD 827, the Saracens introduced spinach to Sicily, and by the 12th century it was popular in Spain. Spinach first appeared in England and France in the 14th century, probably via Spain. The Brits liked it because it appeared in early spring before most other vegetables so it could be eaten during Lent.
3. Spinach is mentioned in the first known English cookbook, the Forme of Cury (1390), where it is referred to as 'spinnedge' and/or 'spynoches'.
4. 100g of spinach contains 23 calories. It is a rich source of vitamin A, Vitamin C, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, folate, B vitamins, vitamin E, calcium, Potassium, and dietary fibre. It is also rich in Iron.
5. There is a theory that spinach's richness in iron was the reason it became associated with Popeye and the source of his strength. The theory goes that German scientist Emil von Wolff misplaced the decimal point in his calculation of how much iron there was in spinach so there appeared to be ten times as much as there actually was - so for years people thought it was a superfood. However, a more recent suggestion is that spinach was chosen because of its vitamin A content alone. Whatever the reason, it made spinach more popular. In the 1930’s U.S. spinach growers credited Popeye with a 33% increase in domestic spinach consumption, and one US spinach growing town actually erected a statue of Popeye.
6. Catherine de' Medici was also thought to be a lover of spinach. She came from Florence, hence dishes served on a bed of spinach being known as "Florentine".
7. China is the world’s largest spinach producer with 85% of global production.
8. Medieval artists extracted green pigment from spinach to use as an ink or paint.
9. During World War I, wine fortified with spinach juice was given to French soldiers weakened by haemorrhage.
10. Fresh spinach loses much of its nutritional value with storage of more than a few days. Cooking it improves its health benefits as the body cannot completely break down the nutrients in raw spinach. Also, there's a compound in spinach called oxalic acid, which blocks the absorption of calcium and iron. An easy way to solve this problem is to pair spinach with a food high in vitamin C. The other way is to boil the spinach for at least two minutes.