[Sca-cooks] New World Foods in the Old World

[Barbara Benson]

> One poster pointed out that plants brought back from the New World
> were planted in the Old World and that poster concluded that because
> they were planted, the food stuffs they produced would have been
> sought out by the wealthy and powerful and would have been among the
> foods served at feasts, not necessarily with great frequency, but
> somewhat often.

Greetings,

I have been reading that discussion, but not participating because I simply
do not have the time to dig out all of my references to document the points
that I would like to make. All of my books are packed in storage in
preparation for moving.

But, I have been doing a good bit of research on the gardening end of the
spectrum and might be able to present a different point of view. The plants
were imported and they were highly sought after, but I do not believe for
food stuffs. Developing and maintaining an elaborate and exotic garden
became a  status symbol for the wealthy i n many countries during the 16th
century. Wealthy lords would send out "scouts" to comb the world and bring
back interesting plants to put in their gardens and when visitors would come
calling they would parade them through the gardens to show off their wealth
of plants.

I have documentation for Maize and Agave in a Pisa botanical garden, but
that does not mean that they were making whiskey and tequila. These plants
were very, very valuable and difficult to acquire and maintain. There are
references to plants being planted alongside brick walls and the other side
of the wall having a fireplace in it so that when it became too cold there
would be someone keeping a fire so that the brick would heat up and the
ambient heat would keep the delicate plants alive. Seeing that most of the
aspects of a plant that we eat double as the plants reproductive elements I
would think it would be to the owner's best interest to use them to
perpetuate more expensive plants, not eat.

One of the specific references that I would need to look up is the story of
one of the Kings of France in the 17th century (I believe, I might have the
country/time slightly off, need that book!) that tried everything he could
to get his people to eat potatoes, and they refused. His final solution was
to plant several potato plants in his garden and put armed guards on them
day and night. And then let it become widely known that the punishment for
stealing said plants would be severe. After a time he instructed the
soldiers to relax their vigilance and the plants were stolen and then
replaced only to be stolen again ad nauseum. In this way he got the people
to eat potatoes,

So, it is my opinion that most of the New World (plant) foods would not have
found their way onto many tables. Turkey on the other hand........ maybe.

Glad Tidings,
Serena da Riva