[Sca-cooks] The Musical Fruit(s)

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Apr 12, 2008, at 12:37 PM, Barbara Benson wrote:
> simplistic. But what struck my curiosity was this statement:
>
> "The English first used the name "kidney bean" in 1551 to distinguish
> our American common bean from Old World types"
>
> and piddling around more I came across claims that the new wold beans
> were commonly being imported to the old world in the 15th century.
> Now, this makes common sense to me - beans are easy to ship, easy to
> plant and easy to grow. Europeans were already growing plenty of beans
> and I can see the new varieties being easily accepted.
>
> So, I know the word geeks on this list (with your fancy pants OED)
> could probably easily confirm/debunk the above claim vis a vis the
> earliest use of Kidney bean. Hopefully someone will find it an
> interesting enough thing to look into (please ;) ). And I am wondering
> if, considering that I am looking at a late 15th century source, it
> would be safe to make the leap that one of the new world beans
> (Kidney, Black, Pinto, White Northern ...) might be an acceptable
> choice in interpreting the recipe?


It seems to me that there's an eight or nine year window of  
opportunity, maximum, for that statement (i.e. the 15th-century part)  
to be true. Probably less, given that it would be the Spanish and  
Portuguese explorers of the New World that came after Columbus, that  
would have brought these beans back from places like South and Central  
America.

Could we be dealing with the mysterious law that says it is okay, in  
certain parts of the world, to call the 1500's the 15th century?

If we're not, and we're really talking about the eight years (less  
when you count the return trip, I suspect) between 1492 and 1501 CE,  
I'd say these are probably one of the Old World beans.

Adamantius




"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,  
when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's  
bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter