lipamanka (scroll down for spice guessing challenge!!)

Community Introductions
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lipamanka

hello! i’m an inanimate object that can walk and talk and do various things. i’m not a human and i don’t really exist. i’m a construct that has been given the ability to harbor itself within this bag of flesh. there are other beings that can do the same using the very same bag of flesh, and they are far more real than i am.

:it: i use it/its pronouns. hm. if you have already framed me as a boat i would be fine with she/her. but other than that no gendered pronouns please. if this doesn’t make sense to you just default to they/them.

i speak :sparkler: toki pona :sparkler: and :brazil: brazilian portuguese :brazil: and :papua_new_guinea: tok pisin :papua_new_guinea: and :pinched_fingers: italian :pinched_fingers: and :star_of_david: yiddish :star_of_david: all to some level of proficiency.

:newspaper: https://lipamanka.gay/about here is my website.
https://lipamanka.gay/essays/dictionary here is my toki pona semantic spaces dictionary. :interrobang: https://lipamanka.gay/essays/FAQ here is my toki pona FAQ.

:star_of_david: I’m Jewish! (these days I feel like I need to clarify that I am against the state of Israel :-1:)

:student: i study linguistics. i’m 20. I have a pretty robust knowledge of morphology and lexicography, but I know the basics of most ling things. lmk if you need help with smth.

:brain: i am not neurodivergent im completely normal and i am not on any medication and i am not dangerous to spend time with and you do not need to fear me at all totally mhm yeah totally 100% yep

:microphone: im a pretty decent vocalist and i do other music stuff. I went to a special music school for high school and I was a vocal major. I have been playing jazz, folk, and baroque recorder for like 13 years or something crazy like that? like wtf. I do bossa guitar and ukulele. I play bagpipes :scotland: and like most other wind instruments (bassoon, clarinet, sax, I could prolly pick up flute or oboe pretty quickly, I have some more obscure wind instruments here and there and I don’t actually know what any of them are called because I bought them from people who didn’t have a language in common with me)

:notebook_with_decorative_cover: i do vector graphics

:paintbrush: i do painting too

:sailboat: i used to sail a lot.

i live in minnesota but im from new york. I visit Massachusetts once a year. I also go travelling to at least one toki pona meetup per year.

:hot_pepper: LIPAMANKA SPICE CHALLENGE :hot_pepper:

if you can name FIVE SPICES that I DO NOT OWN of the top of your head, you WIN!

guidelines:
:warning: YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LOOK THINGS UP FOR THIS. You must use your memory. Otherwise you could look up a list of spices and go through them one by one.
:1234: you have infinity guesses.
:bell_pepper: cultivars of the same species are not considered different spices
:palm_tree: different processed products of the same species (such as powdered ginger vs fresh ginger) are considered the same spice
:four_leaf_clover: herbs count!
:jar: spice blends do not count as spices, but if I am unable to make a spice blend myself with the spices I have then I will tell you the spice I don’t have and you get a point
:sake: if I have a spice blend that contains the spice you guessed but I don’t have it outside of that blend, it still counts
:blueberries: spices are aromatic plant products with a low moisture content. many have fresh counterparts, but in order to be a spice, it must be commonly preserved through removing moisture.

2 Likes
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a! sina tawa telo kepeken kon! ni li sina kepeken e tomo tawa seme?
mi tawa lon tomo pi mama mi. tomo ni li tomo Erikson 42

ante la
is looking at spices in our own cupboards allowed for this? cause i can never rememeber the names of spices. if so:

anise seed
caraway
cream of tartar
fenugreek
marjoram
cardamom

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I have all of this! I grow marjoram in my backyard, taso ona li kama moli lon tenpo poka :( but I have a bunch that I dried myself.

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SINA JO E NAMAKO ALE A!

terragon leaves, bay leaves, celery seed, coriander, clove, paprika, ginger, cayenne, tumeric, rubbed sage, fennel, poppy seeds, licorice, cinnamon, sesame seeds, nutmeg… ummm… salt? pepper? dill?

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yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes uh, I grow sage, so yes, yes yes actually I don’t have licorice but I’m not sure if that’s used that often as a spice? but I’ll give you a point even though I have like three other spices that have the same aromatic compound. yes (cassia and cylon) yes yes salt isn’t a spice. what kind of pepper? yes.

you’re at one point!

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huh yea… i guess salt isn’t really…
parsley, mesquite, thyme, basil, onion, garlic, black pepper, pink pepper, red pepper, mustard, lavender, rosemary, celery seed?
if different varieties of sesame seeds count then… black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds?
uhhh… does cocoa count?

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yes, misquite? isn’t that like, used for bread? I looked it up and I’m not going to count it as a spice. yes yes obviously of course yeah yes. by “red pepper” do you mean like chilis? if so then yes. yes yes (neighbors grow it and I steal it frequently) yes you already guessed celery seed.

I have black and white sesame seeds. and I have cacao nibs.

you’re still at one point!

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preliminary search on mesquite says that “mesquite seasoning for dry rubs and sauces comes from the dried, ground pods of the mesquite tree”
that seems rather spice-ey, but you definitely know more about spices than me

yea i meant like chilis

i’m running out of cupboard to search through

white pepper, oregano (don’t know why i didn’t guess this sooner), tomato powder, jalapeño powder, mint?

would vanilla or almond extracts be considered a spice?

i think that’s it for my (actually my grandmothers) cupboard, but tenpo kama la i’ll start raiding other peoples cupboards too in search of increasingly obscure spices LOL

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I’ll give you a point for mesquite!

I have chilis! most chilis are cultivars of the same species Capsicum annuum, including jalapeños. I have white pepper and oregano. I have fresh tomatoes. I grow mint! but I also have peppermint tea (which is the same thing as dried mint!)

I have vanilla and almond extract!

GOOD LUCK on winning; I belive in you! nobody has won so far and I post this in every community I join. You have two (2) (ב) points! congrats!

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I am going to try a spice blend here: 十三香

The actual recipe has regional differences, so I will take the first recipe on Wikipedia:

  • Sichuan pepper
  • Star anise
  • Fennel
  • Clove
  • Cinnamon
  • Cardamom
  • Chenpi
  • Ginger
  • Indian costus
  • Wurfbainia villosa
  • Shell ginger
  • Chinese angelica
  • Kencur
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you aren’t allowed to look up stuff but I have the five spices in five spice (which are the first five listed); I don’t have everything on this list but this list isn’t off the top of your head so you don’t get any points! sorry :(

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the list isn’t but 十三香 is

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yep! I have all the common ingredients in 十三香. reread the guidelines!

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Huh? Those statements seems contradictory

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oh I see- 13 spice powder. well the list of ingredients you listed seem to be a list of ingredients, the first five of which are used commonly, the rest of which are used less commonly, for five spice powder, not 13 spice powder? :thinking: wikipedia isn’t super clear. in any case I don’t really know wether or not to award points here! mostly because I can’t find an actual list of spices used in 13 spice powder. it’s probably similar to the spices on your list though; idk. … I can definitely make 5 spice powder though. I’ll see if I can’t get back to you on this!

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why do u own so many spices? like, it’s kinda cool that you do, i’m just curious. is it a hobby? do you just like to use them very often? are different spices even meaningfully different other than their strength?

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  • all of my spices are meaningfully different from each other, I’d say. with the exception of my sumac berries and my dried sumac, which taste the same. lol. none of them taste the same!
  • I do consider it a spice collection, though it’s not what I originally set out to do! I just love learning about how different cultures season their food.
  • I use ALL of them VERY frequently. it’s not like star wars action figures; I actually use my spices! I have probably used at least 30 different spices in the past month. (I own way more than that.)

I have like, sensory seeking autism and I need lots of aromatic compounds in my mouth! I also love food science. so having all the spices is like. I get to put them into jars. and I don’t even need to label them because of all the knowledge I have :eyes:

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O sewi Lipamanka kama pona a!

Sina jo ala e:
Amchur (unripe mango powder)
fenugreek
saffron
sorrel
wild ramps
juniper berries

I‘m a sensory seeker myself but I‘m more into smells than tastes. I have a storage cube dedicated to scented wax.

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wild ramps are out of season :sob: so I can’t get them. I don’t think you deserve a point for that lol because I literally can’t get my hands on them! I have similar enough alliums though?

I have everything else (I have fenugreek leaves and seeds, and I love amchur omg I have a huge bag of it)

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Wow! I‘m not even mad because this just shows how many kinds of spices you have and how knowledgeable you are. I didn‘t even know that wild ramps weren‘t in season!