Mike Hillis: Following in the footsteps of the Blair Brothers

Saturday afternoon I got a visit from Mike Hillis, my old buddy from California. Mike has just come back from Ambon, the capitol of Maluku (formerly the Mollucas)in eastern Indonesia. A couple of hundred years ago these islands were called the Spice Islands as they were the source of nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and pepper. Mike is a cultural anthropologist and hiked into the jungle with the locals as well as checking out downtown Ambon. As luck would have it Ambon is a place that has seen some ethnic tensions and in 1999 the Muslim / Christian riots there got pretty out of control. Currently there is a US government warning against Americans visiting Ambon and Mike said there is a heavy military presence.

Outside of Ambon things are way more relaxed and he was telling me about how the Mollucas came into prominence. Basically Europeans were sick of their boring food and Arab traders started introducing them to exotic spices that could enliven their dull flavors. The Arabs had trading connections with the Chinese and other East Asian nations and would not divulge the actual source. The Dutch finally figured out where the Spice Islands were and conquered them.

Mike brought back a few mementos and gave me a mace nut. I had never seen one before but mace has been used all over the world in recipes. The shell is semi-hard and pliable. The interior nut is dark and covered with a tangy red flesh that gives a fruit odor. It reminds me of the smell you would get from a freshly baked Christmas pudding.

Mike has many stories and I will be documenting some of his adventures in the future. He told me that Ambon was like Bali in the 1920s, no one there and beautiful scenery.