[Sca-cooks] red tower feast?

[Decker, Terry D.]

Columbus found peppers in the New World and waxed poetical (greedily?) about
the number of caravel loads he could supply to Spain each year.  However, to
my knowledge, there is no real evidence supporting such a trade.

Also, as I remember it, Columbus uses the generic "pimiento," which covers
all red, yellow or green peppers and all spice, not just Capsicum annum.
Could be Columbus found Scotch bonnets.

There are a couple of 16th Century paintings, which may show New World
peppers in the kitchen.  One, which I have not seen, is supposed to show a
ristra (not bell peppers) hanging in the background.  The other has a couple
of fruit in a basket which look like bell peppers, but are too obscured to
accurately identify.

Despite his is inflating a few facts into an unsupported generalization,
despite his obtaining this opinion 63rd-hand and never having examined a
translation of the Diario, much less the original language, I must agree
with Adamantius, you will be unable to sway him from his ignorance.

I do find the menu interesting.  Since my wife is allergic to capsicum
peppers and I can't tell what they would be in (considering the bell pepper
and "hot suaces"), I think I would give this feast a pass, even if I thought
it would be historically accurate.

Bear

> When I asked about the bell peppers, he said, "they are
> period... Columbus
> found and named them in 1492 on his trip to the West Indies."
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> Olwen
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