[Sca-cooks] plantain, bananas, herbals

[David Friedman]

...

>According to the Big Black Book of Doom, which I know is unreliable 
>about a lot of things but should provide at least a starting point 
>for looking for other sources of information, all species of the 
>Musa genus are indigenous to the tropical region of Southeast Asia. 
>It's thought (again, citing Wikipedia) that Portuguese Franciscan 
>friars are responsible for bringing the plantain to the Americas. 
>FROM Africa.
>
>So, if that is accurate information (and yes, I know that's a BIG 
>IF), that argues that plantains are Period for Southeast Asia, 
>Africa, and the cute little territory that lies between them (Near 
>East).

I don't follow that. The are period for Southeast Asia. They may be 
period for Africa, if the friars brought them to the Americas from 
there before 1600. But how does that make them period for the Near 
East?

Incidentally, I'm not sure how (or if) people in this discussion are 
distinguishing "near east" from "middle east." I think of them as 
roughly synonymous.
-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com