[Sca-cooks] plantain, bananas, herbals

[David Friedman]

>On Sep 1, 2009, at 11:33 PM, David Friedman wrote:
>
>>>...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?
>
>Because the plantain had to make it from Asia to Africa. There are 
>two ways of doing that: going through the Near East, or going by sea.
>
>The presence of bananas in the Qur'an argues for them going through 
>the Near East.

We know there were bananas in the near east, because they show up in 
al-Warraq in the 10th century. That doesn't tell us that there were 
plantains in the near east. Nor does it tell us that plantains, which 
are a different plant although related, got from Asia to Africa  via 
the Near East, rather than by the sea route across the Indian Ocean.

...
-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com