[Sca-cooks] Corn Bread

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Someone on our Kingdom list is arguing that old line: if they had
ingredient X in period, they must have had cooked dish Y. In this
case, the discussion is centering around...

Cornbread

My experiences in Europe indicate that even today, corn, i.e., maize,
is not a commonly eaten food. This person is arguing that since
Renaissance Europeans made bread, they must have made cornbread once
they discovered corn.

I think that this is not a logical argument. Can anyone point out the
pros or cons of this discussion? If i'm wrong, i'm willing to admit
it.

Another person says that since they have a late period Spanish
persona, they can freely eat tomatoes, potatoes, and corn.

IIRC, there is some evidence in the 16th c. for tomatoes cooked as a
vegetable in Italy (and maybe Spain), and sweet potatoes (but not
*white* potatoes) eaten in Spain in period. However, i don't recall
maize coming up on this list as a food eaten in Spain or other parts
of Europe in the 16th c.

I welcome all information - particularly about corn, i.e., maize.

Anahita

The discussion has also been about chocolate and stew, which someone
in the thread insisted that just because there's no evidence, it's so
simple and obvious, it must have been eaten since humans first
figured out how to cook in pots (not a quote).