[Sca-cooks] Rude and Barbarous Kingdom

[Antonia di Benedetto Calvo]

On 17/01/2013 7:37 p.m., Sharon Palmer wrote:
> Rumpolt 1581 has recipes for Indianischen Henn complete with a drawing 
> that is clearly a New World turkey. Judging by the number of times it 
> is mentioned, turkey is already very popular.
>
> "Indianishen" is used for several other things that are probably also 
> New World varieties. Indianische Schweinlein  and Indianische 
> Fercklein (Guinea pig), and Indianische Bonen (perhaps New World 
> beans).  I think the name is because Columbus thought the New World 
> was India, not that the things came from India.
>
>

Scappi also has recipes for the "pollanche d'India" (Indian chicken, ie, 
turkey), which he praises very highly, and also the "anatre d'India" 
(the Muscovy duck).

IIRC, it's just a mostly a linguistic quirk that assigns "exotic" items 
to slightly random geography. In Germany the turkey was "Indianshe", as 
Ranvaig mentions, and also sometimes "Kalkuttische".  In France and 
Italy it was an "Indian" bird, and in English it was (and still is) 
Turkish(!).

Just to complicate matters, the Turks call it 'hindi' and the Indians 
call it Peruvian :-)




-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo
-------------------------------------
Saccharum pergratum. Villum lubricum.