SC - Period recipes for lavender?

[LrdRas@aol.com]

David Dendy commented:

> Kimba pepper is *Xylopia aethiopica*. It is a pod off a tree which grows
> only in Africa south of the Sahara. The taste is like a very pungent black
> pepper, even a little numbing on the taste buds. I've managed to get hold of
> a supply, and will soon have it in the web-catalogue, once I've calculated a
> price.
> 
> Red Sudan pepper is the hot African variety of capsicum pepper (African bird
> pepper).

Any idea of how long these have been grown in Africa? Did they originate
there?

Were they known in Europe prior to 1600? Since Europe did not have many
strong, hot spices it would seem that they would have been eagerly snapped
up if they'd been available. And even though this is south of the Sahara,
it's still closer than India or Indonesia.
- -- 
Lord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas           stefan at texas.net
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