[Sca-cooks] Re: Old World vs. New World Fruits

[Terry Decker]

From: <kingstaste at mindspring.com>

> Old World Fruits include:
> apple, pear, quince, apricot, peach, cherry, grape, raisin, orange (sour),
watermelon and other melons,*  strawberries, berries, fig, plum,
pomegranate, date, currant, and prune. Pineapple and bananas were known, but
unusual.
> Nuts available were hazelnut, almond, pistachio, pine nuts, walnut, and
chestnut.
>
> *Period varieties of these fruits, as well as other vegetables and even
some now-extinct game animals, are similar to those we can get readily
today, such as cantaloupe, honeydew, cranberries, blueberries, zucchini, and
domestic rabbit.

Pineapple is South American in origin and does not arrive in Europe until
the 16th Century.  Most of those available were botanical samples.

Bananas are, in general, limited to their area of cultivation.  Once they
are cut, they last 10 to 12 days without refrigeration.  The Portuguese
encountered them in West Africa around 1482.  The Spanish found them being
cultivated in the Canaries when they took the islands in 1496.  They were
brought to the New World in 1516-17.

Old World zucchini is a gourd (Lagenaria).  Modernly, zucchini is a New
World squash.

Modern commercial strawberries are a cross between Chilean and Virginian
strawberries first done in the 18th Century.

Cranberries, IIRC, are New World in origin, although the term appears to
derive from the German, "Kraanbere," or "crane berry."

>
>
> New World Fruits include:
> pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, cranberry, raspberry, blackberry,
black raspberry, custard apple, papaya, guava, avocado, currant, crabapples,
gooseberry, coconut, chayote, star fruit, key lime, cacao (chocolate),
tomatoes, tomatillos, ground cherry (a relative of tomatillo, not a cherry);
> Nuts include brazil nuts, black walnuts, pecan, hazelnut(Corylus
americana), cashew, pumpkin seeds.

Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is spread across the tropical Pacific and is both
New and Old World, but appears in Europe in the 16th Century with the
expansion of regular trade into the tropical areas where it grows.

Star fruit (Averrhoa carambola) is of southeast Asian origin.

Some varieties of crab apple are Eurasian.

Gooseberries (Ribes uva-crispa) are European in origin.

>
> (other New World Foods)
> bison, wild pig, turkey, moscovy duck, rabbit, fish, shrimp, shellfish,
crawfish, lobster, eggs of duck and other birds, frogs, dog, iguana, guinea
pigs;
> corn, wild rice, amaranth, quinoa, sunflowers, arrowroot, cassava (yuca),
beans, lima beans, peanuts, zucchini, pumpkin and squash (yellow-flowered
squashes), potato, sweet potato, green beans, jerusalem artichokes

The Old World bison is the wisent (Bison bonasus).

Turkey was the major replacement for swan and bustard in the 16th Century.
First imported into Europe around 1527.

Unless you mean peccary (javelina), wild pig is a European import gone
feral.

Crayfish are found just about everywhere except Africa.  Lobsters and shrimp
have wide distribution.  Shellfish are found worldwide and the Romans
aquafarmed oysters.

Amaranth is a general name for members of the Amaranthaceae (pigweeds) which
have been used as cereals and pot herbs in both the New and Old Worlds.

Beans, lima beans, and green beans are all varieties of genus Phaseolus and
don't appear in Europe until the 16th Century.  Broad beans (genus Faba) and
cow peas (genus Vigna) are Old World equivalents.  Kidney bean is used to
describe members of both Phaseolus and Vigna in Europe, requiring temporal
consideration when preparing the recipes.

Bear