SC - Re: First feastsy

[Jenne Heise]

If you start with the diary of Christopher Columbus and the comments of his
physician, peppers were initially viewed as a spice and a medicinal.
Columbus' intent was to introduce the spice to Europe.  Turkish red peppers
were almost certainly being eaten when the Ottomans introduced them into
Central Europe.

The 1633 edition of Gerard's Herball contains the following entry:

"Capsicum. Ginnie or Indian Pepper. 
...Ginnie pepper hath the taste of pepper, but not the power or vertue,
notwithstanding in Spaine and sundrie parts of the Indies they do vse to
dresse their meate therewith, as we doe with Calecute pepper: but (saith my
Authour) it hath in it a malicious qualitie, whereby it is an enemy to the
liuer and other of the entrails... It is said to die or colour like Saffron;
and being receiued in such sort as Saffron is vsually taken, it warmeth the
stomacke, and helpeth greatly the digestion of meates." 
(thanks to Cindy Renfrow for the quote)

So peppers were definitely being used as a condiment by 1633 and probably
had been used in that manner since their original importation.  I don't know
if this appeared in the 1597 edition of the Herball, but it is worth
checking, if a copy can be located.  I think the question of how they spread
from their initial arrival in Spain is more important than how they were
used.  

It is interesting that Gerard differentiates Calcutta pepper from the
Capsicums while Fuchs identifies Calcutta pepper as a Capsicum.  Gerard
obviously knew the true origin of the Capsicums.  Fuchs identifies some of
them as Indianische peppers, which might denote a West Indian origin, but
could, in view of the Calcutta pepper identification, may mean Fuchs tied
their origin to India.  This raises some questions about the origin of Fuchs
plants.  If they did originate on the Indian sub-continent, then they would
be descended from plants brought there by the Portuguese, and would document
a very fast spread of the plants in the Old World.

The Hungarians identify the source of their peppers ("the only good thing
the Turks brought") as the Ottomans.  Those area of Eastern Europe under
Ottoman control probably received Capsicums from the Turks.  The Turkish
Capsicums very likely entered the Ottoman Empire in the trade between Italy
and Spain and between Venice and the Ottomans.

The German Capsicums may have come from the Ottomans in Eastern Europe, but
the German states also had trade relations with the Portuguese and the
Italians, providing other possible sources.  A dearth of documentation
leaves us to speculate on just how the peppers spread across Europe.  

BTW, I suspect the peppers at the monastery in Brno were used as medicinals.

Bear


<clipped>
> > Capsicums were also reported as being grown in a
> > monastary garden in Brno,
> > Moravia in 1566, but I haven't found the source of
> > the report.
> > 
> > Bear
> 
> Ah, but were they grown as an ornamental, as a
> curiosity or as a food?  That I think it the prime
> question.
> 
> Huette