[Sca-cooks] New World Foods / potato in Rumpolt?

[Terry Decker]

The recipe is for Erdapfel, which modernly refers to the white potato, 
Solanum tuberosum.  At the time Rumpolt was writing, Erdapfel very probably 
was being used to refer to a round gourd, squash or melon.  Thomas Gloning 
pointed me toward some of the reference to this particular linguistic usage, 
but I haven't chased down the complete discussion of the usage.

There is definitely a recipe for potatoes in correspondence between Wilhelm 
IV von Hessen and Christian I von Sachsen in 1591.  As translated by Thomas 
Gloning, it reads, "We also send to your Highness among other things a plant 
that we got from Italy some years ago, called Taratouphli (.) Below, at the 
root, there hand many tubers. If they are cooked these tubers are very good 
to eat. But you must first boil them in water, so that the outer shell 
(peeling?) gets off, then pour the cooking water away, and cook them to the 
point in butter."

While people experimented with white potatoes in the late 16th Century, they 
are likely specimens from various botanical gardens.  John Gerard recieved 
his first specimen in 1586 from undetermined sources (possibly Francis 
Drake's raid on Cartegena).  Carolus Clusius got his in 1587 from Italy via 
the Pontifical Legation in Belgium.  Rumpolt may have access to potatoes 
through the Hapsburg botanical gardens in Vienna, but there were certainly 
no potatoes there when Clusius was in charge of the garden.

I think it can be safely argued that any recipe before 1590 is probably not 
for white potatoes.  And the evidence tends to show that general acceptance 
and use was over a century later.

Bear

> David Malddon / Eduardo:
>
>> For potatoes you might want to consider referencing
>
>> Marx Rumpolt's book "Ein neu Kochbuch" 1581
>
>> where there is a potato pottage/soup/creamy stew recipe.
>
> I don't think there is a potato recipe in Rumpolt. I have read it several
>
> times on the internet, that there is a potato recipe in Rumpolt, but I 
> haven't found
>
> such a recipe. Could you point me to the place?
>
> E.