[Sca-cooks] More on potatoes and chilies

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> Sweet potatoes.  The Portuguese established a permanent foothold in Asia
in
> 1502 and the first Portuguese shuip arrived in Canton in 1513.  Sweet
> potatoes were introduced into Europe in 1493 and became popular fairly
> quickly.  The Portuguese introduced them into the spice and slave trades.
>
> White potatoes were not encountered until 1539 and probably could not have
> been introduced into Europe before 1543.
>
> IIRC, Fuchs Herbal of 1543 labels one variety of capsicum pepper as
> "Calcutische Pfeffer," suggesting a relationship with India.  Fuchs
peppers
> probably came from Spain via Vinice of Genoa and the Ottoman Empire.
> Columbus encountered capsicum peppers in the first voyage and may have
> started their importation into Europe.
>
> As a guess, sweet potatoes and capsicum peppers arrived in China around
> 1530, but I don't have the sources to prove it.  If Paul Buell has a more
> accurate answer, i wanna know.
>
> Bear

OK, Paul's response was "Following Anderson and Ho Ping-ti here. Both crops
had an almost immediate impact, according to what I have read." then, in a
moment, told me he thought that BOTH varieties of potatoes arrived. Since he
referenced Gene, I forwarded it over to him, to find out where the
references came from.

Was definitely thinking of you when I started this line of inquiry, Bear ;-)

Meantime, I'm very much enjoying Paul's book. The quote I gave you was from
an essay he wrote on Chinese history- next essay I'll be proofing is in the
history of Chinese medicine.

One of the more interesting things I'm discovering is that the current
Chinese medicinal treatmeant advertised by the airheads as being thousands
of years old are often quite (relatively) modern, taking strong influences
from European and Arabic medical practices. The Chinese have been literate
for quite a while, and you can actually trace quite a few "ancient Chinese
techniques" to specific western practices.


Saint Phlip,
CoDoLDS

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....