[Sca-cooks] Olla podrida and family members vs. in-laws

[Terry Decker]

>  Chickpeas were brought to Cartagena by the Arabs where Spaniards readily 
> accepted them while Romans scorned them. Suey

I question the historical accuracy of this statement.  From archeological 
evidence, chickpeas were distributed across the Mediterranean between 7,500 
to 3,500 years ago.  Chickpeas were definitely being consumed in Greece and 
Italy by the Late bronze Age (2,000-1,500 BCE).  They were eaten both by the 
Carthaginians who established Cartagena in the 3rd Century BCE and the 
Romans who took the city in the 2nd Century BCE.  The Romans were aware of 
at least three different varieties of chickpea including the cicer punica or 
Carthaginian chickpea.  I don't think the Arabs had anything to do with 
introducing chickpeas into Cartagena or that the Romans scorned chickpeas, 
exempi gratia, cognomen Cicero.

Bear