SC - gingered butternut squash soup (Was: Italian Ren Feast)

[Decker, Terry D.]

> Seannach asked...
> >I just found a modern recipe for gingered butternut squash soup that has
> sweet potatoes in it, and am making it tonight to test out.....is there
> any way this could be period?<
> 
> 
> Prolly not. It has sweet potatoes in it. But then, I have gotten somewhat
> confused as to the legitimacy of yellow potatoes in late period Italy.
> Some
> of us are saying that they were there, and others are saying nay.
> 
> Since I was the original poster for the question of butternut squash being
> period (can't find it in Culpeppers or other sources) I too would be
> interested in this.
> 
> Micaylah 
> 
The references I have available suggest that the sweet potato (Ipomoea
batatas) entered Italy about 1528 with haricot beans as part of a
presentation to Pope Clement VII from Cortez's expedition into Mexico.

The butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata) is much more of a problem.
Cucurbita moschata is found in Africa, Asia, and both Americas.  The genus
contains winter squash, some pumpkins, and some gourds.  Of particular
interest are bottle gourds, which have been found in Egyptian and
Mesoamerican tombs.  While I have not been able to confirm it, I suspect
butternuts are modern variants and  bottle gourds or Japanese pumpkin would
have been more likely to be used in period.

Bear 
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