[Sca-cooks] musings on nightshade

[Huette von Ahrens]

Alan Davidson mentions different dates.  The Spanish first encountered them in Colombia in
1537 and called them "truffles".  The potato was introduced to Spain in the 1550's.  And also
to Italy, but the variety introduced had climatic requirements that Spain and Italy could not
meet and this variety was small, watery and somewhat bitter, and therefore unappealing. He also
says, "It is generally accepted that potatoes were introduced to the British Isles (including
Ireland) during the 1590's."  He goes on to relate that Protestants refused to plant potatoes
and one reason was that they weren't mentioned in the Bible.  Irish Catholics got around this
by "sprinkling their seed potatoes with holy water and planting them on Good Friday."

Davidson goes on to say that Gerard appears to have "muddled" potatoes with another American tuber
called "openauk".

Huette  

--- Terry Decker <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net> wrote:


> White potatoes are just late coming to the party and weren't as appreciated 
> as the sweet potato.  They may have arrived as early as 1539.  The first 
> reference to them being used in Europe is in Seville in the 1570's.  They 
> don't arrive in England until 1586 and Northern Europe until 1587 as 
> botanical specimens and most references to them are as botanical specimens. 
> As a crop, the earliest adopters appear to be the Irish around the end of 
> the 16th Century and it is the Irish that bring the white potato to North 
> America in 1719.  There are references to them being planted in various 
> parts of Europe in the 17th Century, probably as a hedge against invasion 
> and grain failures, but general use isn't documentable until the mid-18th 
> Century.  One speculation is the more temperately adapted Chilean potato was 
> introduced at that time.
> 
> Bear
> 
> >
> > So my job is dull.  I was thinking about the animosity of Europeans to the 
> > New World nightshades (you know, peppers, potatos, tomatos) and realized 
> > that the Europeans who first started eating them were also the ones who 
> > were eating eggplant.  The only edible Old World nightshade.  Thoughts? 
> > Or am I really that bored at work?
> >
> > Morgana
> 
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