SC - Botched Translations ;) OOP -OT

[Micaylah]

Shari Burnham wrote:
> 
> does this include the type of peppers found in Thai/asian cooking?  what about Indian
> cooking?  or are what I am thinking of very new?  does this exclude paprika from new
> world because a variety can be considered turkish and in period?  or am I thinking of
> a different type of pepper?  reason I am asking is because I really like most peppers
> (except for very hot=heartburn) and would love to try doing some period or
> period-like dishes using the period peppers.  and trying some peppers I might not
> have had before.

I hesitate to condense it to a rule of thumb, but for practical purposes
period (assuming you mean eaten in Europe prior to 1601) peppers consist
of black peppercorns, white peppercorns, and perhaps green peppercorns.
Pink peppercorns aren't actually peppercorns, and I think there are some
African varieties whose origins I don't know anything about.

Most geneticists agree all chili peppers, and all sweet Bell-type
peppers, are descended from a comparatively small number of New World
samples, none of which seem to have been eaten in Europe in period, at
least not on any scale. At least not that the extant recipes or other
written records seem to suggest. 

The earliest capsicum pepper (in other words, all "peppers" that aren't
peppercorns) consumption in Europe on any scale is probably across a
band ranging from northeastern Italy across southeastern Europe, _not_
coincidentally bordering the Ottoman Empire. The Turks probably got
capsicums from the Portuguese, who got them in the Americas. The
earliest Asian consumption of capsicums is probably from roughly the
same period, late 16th-early 17th centuries.
 
Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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