How the Cossacks ... Bought Salt

Recap

The Cossacks are cooking borscht, but it turns out that they have run out of salt. They go to the fair / market, where they meet the Chumaks. They say how they used to trade in salt, but an evil lord took it away. Tur, Gray and Oko go to the lord's estate and steal the salt while the lord is sleeping. The lord and his servants go in pursuit in a britzka.

Tur and Gray shoot pepper at their pursuers. The master sneezes so hard that he knocks down the mills, from which sacks of flour fall out like bombs from airplanes. This delays the master, but not for long. He catches up with the Cossacks and, with his servants, takes the salt, but rams into a fence. The salt ends up in the hands of the Chumaks. The Cossacks chase the master and his servants away, shooting each of them in the backside with salt.

The Chumaks want to give the Cossacks a bag of salt, but Gray only takes a handful.

My reaction + questions for you

Borscht? First of all, where does this -t come from in the English spelling? Secondly, I thought they were eating kulish! Did it look like borscht to you?

Who on Earth are the Chumaks?

Who was this evil lord? When I was watching, I was trying to work out if he was supposed to be a representation of something. Was he?

What on Earth is a britzka?

Anyway, how much did you enjoy this episode? How does it compare with the others?

The Chumaks

The Chumaks were Ukrainian merchant-carriers who played a vital role in the economy of Eastern Europe from the 15th to the 19th century. They are best known for transporting salt and fish over enormous distances using long caravans of ox-drawn wagons. Although they were traders rather than soldiers, the Chumaks became one of the most enduring symbols of traditional Ukrainian life, alongside the Cossacks.

Their main trade involved travelling south from central Ukraine to the Black Sea and the Crimea, where they purchased salt produced from coastal lakes and salt pans. At a time when refrigeration did not exist, salt was essential for preserving meat, fish and vegetables, making it one of the most valuable everyday commodities. Chumaks also transported dried fish, grain, honey, wax and other goods, returning home with products that could be sold throughout Ukraine and neighbouring regions.

The journeys were long and dangerous. A typical expedition could last several months and cover more than 1,000 kilometres. The traders travelled in large groups called valkas, sometimes consisting of dozens of wagons, both for companionship and protection. Their wagons were pulled by sturdy grey oxen, which were slower than horses but much stronger and better suited to carrying heavy loads across the open steppe. Along the way they faced harsh weather, poor roads, disease, robbery and occasional attacks by bandits or raiders.

The Chumaks left a deep mark on Ukrainian culture. They appear in countless folk songs, poems and paintings, where they are often portrayed as honest, hardworking travellers who spent months away from their families. Their lives inspired stories of adventure, loneliness and perseverance. One famous cultural legacy survives in the Ukrainian name for the Milky Way: Chumatskyi Shliakh ("The Chumaks' Road"). According to tradition, the bright band of stars resembled the dusty route that Chumak caravans followed across the steppe, while another legend says it looked like salt spilled from their wagons.

The profession began to decline during the second half of the nineteenth century. The rapid expansion of railways made transporting goods by wagon far slower and more expensive. Steamships also reduced the cost of moving cargo by sea, while improved roads changed traditional trade routes. As a result, the Chumaks gradually disappeared as a distinct profession by the end of the century.

Discussion

Had you heard much about the chumaks before today's class?

What's your impression of the Chumak lifestyle? Does it sound exciting and adventurous, dangerous, exhausting, boring, or something else?

Pretty cool that the Chumak's Road is their name for the Mily Way, no?

Do you ever stop and appreciate just how amazing it is that you can just buy things like salt cheaply in your local store?

Ultimately, technology killed off the Chumak lifestyle. Can you think of any equivalent ways that technology has killed off / will kill off parts of our every-day life?

Salt is amazing ... and, as such, we're going to look at 8 amazing facts about salt.

What do you think will appear on the list?

Salt was once worth its weight in gold.

In many parts of the ancient world, salt was so valuable that it was used as money or traded like precious metals. This is why it was often called "white gold."

The word salary comes from salt.

The English word salary ultimately comes from the Latin salarium. Although historians debate whether Roman soldiers were literally paid in salt, the word shows how valuable salt was in Roman society.

You can't live without salt.

Sodium helps your nerves send signals, your muscles contract (including your heart), and your body maintain the right balance of fluids. Too little salt can be life-threatening.

Salt made long-distance travel possible.

Before refrigerators, people preserved meat and fish by salting them. This allowed sailors, soldiers and traders to travel for months without fresh food.

There are many different kinds of salt.

Table salt, sea salt, kosher salt, Himalayan pink salt, fleur de sel and black volcanic salt all have different textures, minerals or methods of production.

The oceans contain an incredible amount of salt.

If you could remove all the salt from Earth's oceans and spread it over the land, it would form a layer around 150 metres (500 feet) thick.

The Dead Sea is about ten times saltier than the ocean.

Its high salt concentration makes it very difficult for fish and plants to survive, and it allows people to float with almost no effort.

Animals love salt too.

Wild animals travel to natural salt licks—places where mineral-rich salt reaches the surface—to obtain essential nutrients. Deer, elephants and many other species make regular visits.

Discussion

Which of the facts (if any) do you find most interesting?

Were there any facts that were a bit obvious?

When it comes to cooking, is salt just salt? Is there really any value in getting special Himalayan salt?

Why do people add salt when they're boiling pasta? Is it for taste? To break the boil? To stop the pasta from sticking together? To make the water boil faster?

The text mentions that not enough salt can be bad, but what happens if a person eats too much salt?

The Dangers of Eating Too Much Salt

Salt is essential for human life. Our bodies need sodium to help nerves function, muscles contract, and maintain the correct balance of fluids. However, like many things in life, too much can be harmful. The effects depend greatly on how much extra salt a person consumes.

Eating a Little Too Much Salt

Many people regularly eat slightly more salt than health experts recommend. This usually happens through processed foods such as bread, cheese, sauces, snacks, and ready meals rather than from adding salt at the table. In the short term, eating a little too much salt may make you feel thirsty because your body needs extra water to maintain the correct balance of sodium. Some people may also notice mild bloating or temporary weight gain caused by water retention. Over many years, a high-salt diet can contribute to increased blood pressure. High blood pressure puts extra strain on the heart and blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Eating Way Too Much Salt

Consuming a very large amount of salt in a short period can cause more serious symptoms. The body struggles to maintain the correct balance of fluids, causing cells to lose water. Symptoms may include intense thirst, headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, confusion, and weakness. In severe cases, blood pressure can rise sharply and the kidneys may struggle to remove the excess sodium quickly enough. Although the body has systems designed to regulate salt levels, they can be overwhelmed if the intake is extreme.

Eating a Ridiculously Large Amount of Salt

Consuming an enormous amount of salt over a short period can be a medical emergency. Extremely high sodium levels in the blood, known as hypernatremia, can cause severe dehydration of cells throughout the body, including brain cells. Symptoms can include seizures, loss of consciousness, coma, and, in rare cases, death. Such cases are uncommon but have occurred when people consumed exceptionally large quantities of salt in a short time.

Discussion

When some people read a text about potential health problems, they have mild panic. Did you worry while reading this text at all?

How do you feel about your own consumption of salt? Is it something you actively think about?

The worst foods in terms of salt are instant noodles, beef jerky, potato chips, salted peanuts, wasabi peas, salted popcorn, processed cheese snacks and salted sunflower seeds. How many of these do you eat?

Food taste is often broken down into sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. What's your preference?

vocab

Match the salt expressions with their meanings.

01: to take smth with a grain of salt

02: to be worth one's salt

03: to be the salt of the Earth

04: to rub salt into the wound

05: to be salty

a) competent, deserving of respect

b) informal, to be angry / annoyed after losing, often resulting in emotional outbursts

c) to make a bad situation even worse

d) to recognise that something might not be 100% true

e) virtuous, honest, kind, hardworking ... all round a great person

1) Alex lost the tennis final against his friend yesterday. Today that same friend showed him the winner's trophy and joked about how easy the match was. That really __________.

2) My grandmother spends every weekend helping her neighbours, volunteers at a local charity and never expects anything in return. She really __________.

3) Ben still complains about losing the office quiz three months ago. Every time someone mentions it, he gets annoyed. He's soooo __________.

4) That news story came from a government funded news organisation, so you really should __________.

5) Any doctor __________ knows how important it is to listen carefully to their patients.

Discussion

How many of these expressions were new for you?

As a rule, the cycle for ESL students is: learn vocab, use vocab, forget vocab, never ever use that vocab again. This is especially true when it comes to idiomatic expressions. Do you have this problem?

This adjective salty has exploded in use in the last 10 years or so. First, can you work out why it is used? Second, what's led to its popularity?

Do you have any similar expressions (or any other salt-related expressions) in your language?

Finally, let's look at some salt-related superstitions:

1) spilling the salt is bad luck

2) throwing salt over your left shoulder can cancel out this bad luck

3) salt protects you against evil spirits, such as witches, vampires and English teachers

4) In Japan, salt is believed to purify your home

5) Some cultures place salt in a coffin after a person has died

6) In some cultures, people throw a little salt into the fire after an argument

7) Some people used to carry a pinch of salt in their pocket for good luck

8) Around the Mediterranean and in parts of the Middle East, salt has sometimes been used in rituals intended to remove the effects of the evil eye - a curse believed to be caused by envy or malicious attention.

Are there any common themes here?

Are any of these superstitions common in your country?

Are there any other salt-based superstitions / rituals that you know of?

Superstitions are ...

a) proof that humans are not very smart

b) evidence of the supernatural

c) a fascinating insight into a particular culture / time period

d) something else