Spontaneous Generation Is Alive And Well

I have long held that Louis Pasteur was having a lend when he rubbished the theory of spontaneous generation.

Just because he was on a high from lending his name to his heat treating process for milk to eradicate bacteria doesn’t mean that he can proclaim that there aren’t other bugs lurking in the fourth dimension awaiting their moment of glory.

Spontaneous generation …equivocal generation, is alive and well – and clearly evident in my pantry.  Just take a peek Louis baby. It’s pantry moth time of the year.  There are veritable squadrons of the little winged denizens performing Tiger Moth/Red Bull style acrobatics around the oils and vinegars, through the condiments and landing anywhere they like.  I’m over it.

It’s etymological alchemy. Get yourself some farinaceous pantry fillers and you have a pretty good chance of winning the kitchen moth, pantry moth or Indian meal moth lottery.  And they aren’t even big enough to use as a substitute for a bit of Bogong Moth bush tucker.

Louis – a name synonymous with flies in this country – has a lot to answer for.  He has made the likes of cheese fanciers and importers like Will Studd froth at the mouth in trying to get unpasteurised cheese on the market.  I know people will prattle on about the millions of lives he saved with his eponymous pasteurising process – but that’s milk and bacteria. I’m talking moths and my pantry. Pull your head in Louis they either spontaneously materialised or were beamed in like so many winged Star Trek security guards waiting to be rubbed out.

And it is embarrassing.   It’s bad enough when you open your wallet these days and Mothra’s cousins emerge but having your own Sci-Fi swarm effect re-enact the Battle of Britain in your own kitchen is beyond the pale.

I have it on good authority from some of my flat earth colleagues that bay leaves are the go.  I’m just hoping that is as a repellent rather than a seasoning.