[Sca-cooks] Honey and the New World/Old World food game

[TerryDecker]

>I may also have assorted cans of turkey, chicken and ham. Which lets me 
>point out that most domesticated food animals are Old World. It also helps 
>indicate why the native Americans never developed wheeled transport. It's 
>hard to harness >a turkey. :-)
>

The Incans had the concept of the wheel and used it in toys.  Llamas can be 
harnessed to pull carts.  At the moment, the best guess as to why they 
didn't pursue using the wheel is that the terrain and roads were such that 
it was easier to use llamas as pack animals than for pulling carts.

>I usually have a container of tea and one of coffee. Most people will guess 
>correctly on the tea, but only a few are correct on coffee being from the 
>Old World. Then I can explain that neither actually made it to Europe, or 
>at least England, >until 1650.

Coffee shows up in Italy in the last quarter of the 16th Century, but the 
first coffee house in Italy is in 1645.

>So, I guess I can no longer use honey as it originated in both places. And 
>unlike the beans, I can't have a jar or New World and Old World honey. One, 
>I doubt I can buy the first and second, I bet you can't tell the difference 
>by appearance >between the two.
>
>Some discussion of the New World/Old World food game and other people's 
>versions of it, can be found in, I think, the demos-msg file in the 
>Florilegium. I highly recommend it to those participating in demos.
>
>Stefan


Why not?  This is a real trick question because honey is found on every 
continent except Anarctica.  Melipona honey is a commercial product in 
Brazil, so you might be able to find some at a store doing South American 
imports or possibly a health food store.  You might also check 
www.melipona.org .

Bear