SC - Walking onions revisited-info- long response.

[LrdRas@aol.com]

Cariadoc asked:

>> These recipes use citrus fruits. Were there any in the New World before
>> Columbus? Ditto for cinnamon and black pepper. I believe all of those are
>> native to the Old World.

and Adamantius replied:

>I could be wrong (and remember a massive ...um, discussion with Andy
>Smith on rec.food.historic, but not the conclusion, if any) that the Key
>Lime is native to the New World.

According to a very detailed and scholarly article I read on the history of
the citrus, all citrus are originally native to southern Asia and the Malay
Archipelago. From there they spread across Asia and Europe, and were among
the earliest plants brought by Europeans to the New World. If this is
right, then both Ana's bitter oranges from the Yucatan and the Key Lime are
descended from Old World citruses, but may have developed as distinctive
varieties in the New World. Grapefruit, for example, seems to have
developed out of the thick-skinned pummelo or shaddock in Barbados in the
17th century.

If anyone is interested, I can repost my (rather long) summary of the
conclusions of this article, which I originally posted here back in March.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook


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