Mountain Views News          Saturday, November 28, 2015

THE WORLD AROUND US

13

Mountain Views-News Saturday, November 28, 2015 


WHERE ALICE IN WONDERLAND MEETS ALBERT EINSTEIN:

A CHESHIRE CAT LOOKS DOWN FROM SPACE

One hundred years ago this month, Albert 
Einstein published his general theory of 
relativity, one of the most important scientific 
achievements in the last century.

 A key result of Einstein’s theory is that matter 
warps space-time, and thus a massive object 
can cause an observable bending of light from a 
background object. The first success of the theory 
was the observation, during a solar eclipse, 
that light from a distant background star was 
deflected by the predicted amount as it passed 
near the Sun.

 Astronomers have since found many examples 
of this phenomenon, known as “gravitational 
lensing.” More than just a cosmic illusion, 
gravitational lensing provides astronomers with 
a way of probing extremely distant galaxies and 
groups of galaxies in ways that would otherwise 
be impossible even with the most powerful 
telescopes.

 The latest results from the “Cheshire Cat” group 
of galaxies show how manifestations of Einstein’s 
100-year-old theory can lead to new discoveries 
today. Astronomers have given the group this 
name because of the smiling cat-like appearance. 
Some of the feline features are actually distant 
galaxies whose light has been stretched and bent 
by the large amounts of mass, most of which is in 
the form of dark matter detectable only through 
its gravitational effect, found in the system.

 More specifically, the mass that distorts the 
faraway galactic light is found surrounding the 
two giant “eye” galaxies and a “nose” galaxy. The 
multiple arcs of the circular “face” arise from 
gravitational lensing of four different background 
galaxies well behind the “eye” galaxies. The 
individual galaxies of the system, as well as the 
gravitationally lensed arcs, are seen in optical 
light from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

 Each “eye” galaxy is the brightest member of 
its own group of galaxies and these two groups 
are racing toward one another at over 300,000 
miles per hour. Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray 
Observatory (purple) show hot gas that has been 
heated to millions of degrees, which is evidence 
that the galaxy groups are slamming into one 
another. Chandra’s X-ray data also reveal that 
the left “eye” of the Cheshire Cat group contains 
an actively feeding supermassive black hole at the 
center of the galaxy.

 Astronomers think the Cheshire Cat group will 
become what is known as a fossil group, defined 
as a gathering of galaxies that contains one giant 
elliptical galaxy and other much smaller, fainter 
ones. Fossil groups may represent a temporary 
stage that nearly all galaxy groups pass through 
at some point in their evolution. Therefore, 
astronomers are eager to better understand the 
properties and behavior of these groups.

 The Cheshire Cat represents the first 
opportunity for astronomers to study a fossil 
group progenitor. Astronomers estimate that 
the two “eyes” of the cat will merge in about 
one billion years, leaving one very large galaxy 
and dozens of much smaller ones in a combined 
group. At that point it will have become a fossil 
group and a more appropriate name may be the 
“Cyclops” group.

You can contact Bob Eklund at: 

b.eklund@MtnViewsNews.com.


CHRISTOPHER Nyerges


TOYON BERRIES: A TRADITIONAL NATIVE 
FOOD WHICH MATURES IN WINTER


[Nyerges is the author of “Nuts 
and Berries of California,” 
and other books. He leads 
ethnobotanical walks. He 
can be reached at www.
SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com, 
or Box 41834,Eagle Rock, CA 
90041] 

 Toyon is a common tree in the California chaparral 
regions. The leaves have small serrations on their edges, 
and are a bit leathery in texture. The fruits mature in winter, 
which makes them very unusual, and made them highly 
prized the native communities who ate the berries. After 
all, there are no other wild fruits that do their producing in 
winter. Today, folks can go to the grocery store whenever 
they want, but if you lived here 500 or more years ago in the 
pre-Mission era, “store” was a verb, not a noun. And if you 
ran low on supplies in winter, you could go into the hills and 
collect some food. Toyon was probably a life-saver! 

 There are many ways in which Native Americans ate 
the toyon berries in the past, and there are many modern 
methods of use. 

 When I am on the trail during toyon’s ripening, I collect 
several cups worth of the fruit clusters. Then I take about a 
half-hour to remove all the stems. Next, I rinse the berries 
well, since even if they appear clean, they have accumulated 
lots of dirt. 

 Typically, you do not eat raw toyon berries because they 
are astringent and the flesh is mealy. They are improved by 
cooking or drying. 

 Normally, I put the berries in a pot and cover with water 
and bring to a boil. I let them boil for perhaps 10 minutes, 
until they have plumped up just a bit. I strain out the water, 
add fresh water, and bring to a boil again. This process 
removes the astringency of the raw fruit, and brings out the 
sweetness. After this second boiling, strain out the water and 
then just taste one of the fruits without any sweeteners or 
flavoring. There is a fresh flavor which is a combination of 
the low sugar content and a sour flavor, akin to a cumquat, 
or a raw cranberry. 

PREPARING TOYON BERRIES 

 At one of my Wild Food Cooking classes around 
Thankgiving where we collected these fruits fresh, and 
boiled them as described above, everyone found them very 
likable. “They’re sorta like cranberries of the West Coast,” 
remarked one woman. I had to agree. 

 Most often, I collect the berries, remove all the stems, 
wash them, and then spread them on cookiesheets to dry. If 
the weather is hot, I put the cookie sheets in the sun for a few 
days, and just cover with a towel at night. Or, I will put them 
into the oven; the pilot-light temperature is usually sufficient 
to dry them in about a week. 

 The dried toyon is tasty. I often pass these out to school 
children. Yes, some will just spit them out, but the flavor is 
not objectionable. There is an initial flavor like black tea, and 
then, as you chew the hard little fruit you get a very pleasant 
combination of both sweet and sour. 

 My preferred method of preparation was taught to me by 
Linda Sheer, who grew up in rural Kentucky and learned how 
to experiment with most wild foods to create tasty dishes. 
The berries are boiled, and the water changed. Assuming 
the berries are no longer astringent after one changing of the 
water, the berries are given just a little water and cooked at 
low heat while flour is added. I usually use wheat flour, but 
any other flour could be used with similar results. I slowly 
stir as the flour thickens, and I add a few tablespoons of 
honey, to taste. This mixture thickens up, like a pie filling, 
and most people find it delicious. 

NATIVE FOOD SYMPOSIUM 

 In early November, my wife and I participated in the 
Native Food Symposium Rancho Santa Ana Botanic 
Garden. We experimented with several methods of 
toyon preparation, and the good results were fed to the 
participants of the symposium. One method was the recipe 
just described, where the berries were cooked with flour and 
sweetened with honey. 

 Another method, which my wife Helen devised, involved 
boiling the berries, and changing the water until it was 
no longer astringent. The fruits were then cooked with 
tapioca flour, in an amount that was determined by our 
volume of toyon berries. We sweetened the pot with about 
four tablespoons of honey. The result was like a jam, which 
everyone seemed to enjoy. We served spoonfuls of this on 
graham crackers. 

 We have heard many reports from people trying to make 
a good toyon product who were disappointed in the result 
because toyon is a dry berry, often astringent. However, this 
product turned out pretty well. According to gourmet wild 
food cook Pascal Baudar, “Toyon is a tough berry to play 
with, but Helen and Christopher did an amazing job.” Even 
his wife Mia, who admits to not caring for toyon berries, said 
that she enjoyed this experiment. 

MEET RICHARD TOYON: 

 Richard Toyon is a 14th generation Californian, according 
to the official records of the Mission San Juan Capistrano. 
He is descended from the Parra clan of the Acjachemem 
nation (pronounced “A-HA-Sha-mem), formerly known 
as the Mission Band of the Juaneno Indians. His family 
originates in what is now the city of San Juan Capistrano. He 
is a descendant of Alejo Parra, and the area was once called 
Rancho de los Toyones. Richard Toyon’s grandfather’s name 
was Ortiz de los Toyones, and after him the family name was 
shortened to just “Toyon.” 

 Toyon lives in La Crescenta and is active in Boy Scouts, 
local politics, and in representing the Tongva Tribe for 
various environmental and public issues. Of course, when 
we first spoke, I could not wait to ask him about the native 
toyon tree, the tree from which his family name comes. 

 “When I give my walks and lectures a few times a year, I 
talk about the native uses of plants,” he explains. “The ethno-
botanical uses of plants, not necessarily just the food uses.” 
Toyon went on to tell me about the first real estate venture 
just south of Griffith Park. “These guys looked up in the hills 
and they saw all the toyon trees with their brilliant red fruit, 
and they called the place ‘Hollywood.’ They should have 
called it ‘Toyonwood’,” he laughs. 

 “The toyon fruit played a significant role in the 
Acjachemem diet,” he says. Though there are probably a 
dozen common ways of preparing the fruit – ground into 
meal, made into a drink, made into a dessert – Toyon says 
that in Acjachemem get-togethers today, the fruit is cooked 
in a wok, fried and lightly seasoned, and served 50/50 with 
rice. His relatives have mashed up the toyon berries and 
served them on top of potatoes, with butter. 

BOTANY NOTES 

 Toyon is a member of the Rose Family (Rosaceae). 
The Rose Family contains 110 genera and 3000 species 
worldwide. Species from 45 of the genera are found in 
California. The toyon is the only species of the Heteromeles 
genus. (Heteromeles is Greek for “different apple.”) 

 Toyon can get to be a medium sized tree, and is probably 
most conspicuous in the winter when it’s covered with its 
clusters of orange-red fruits. The tree is found in the chaparral 
zones, and often planted on the fringes of the urban areas. 
The leaves are leathery, ovate, with toothed margins. The tree 
is evergreen and can be a large bush or a small tree. In the 
summer, the flowers form in terminal clusters. Each flower 
is white and five-petaled, about . inch wide. The clusters of 
orange-red fruit ripen from about November into January. 


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