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New World Food
It occured to me today that my back garden (as opposed to the herbs) is almost all New World plants. I have green beans and wax beans - both Central/North American; squash, pumpkins and zucchini, ditto; and tomatoes - Central American. In the front, I have another tomato plant, a potato (South American), and the herbs, which are mostly European (basil, rosemary, lemon balm, two sages) and Middle Eastern (two types of mint, parsley). Only the Mexican Mint Marigold is New World. The sunflowers, if they'd escaped the birds, would have been New World, too; same for the peppers and tomatillos that didn't make it. (Hmm. I have two extra pots from when I thought I was going to have an overplus of basil. Maybe I should try again with the peppers outdoors?)
All of this is just a wee bit odd, because I think of myself as an Old World vegetable partisan. I'm a big fan, in particular, of the cruciferous vegetables, the various members of the Brassica family. The simple mustard has given us so very much. There are leaf crops - cabbages, including red and green, heading, savoy, and napa varieties; collards; kales; bok choy and pak choy; its odd budding variety, Brussels sprouts; and numerous leafing mustards. There are the flowering crops, broccoli and cabbage. There are stem and root crops - kohlrabi, turnips, and rutabaga. And there are seed crops - seed mustard and rapeseed (now more euphemistically known as canola). But, alas, most of them want a cooler climate and a sandier soil than we have here; collards will grow as a winter crop, but most varieties of the brassicas aren't meant for Zone 9.
Thinking about it, though - the brassicas had to be that diverse, didn't they? I mean, we have them, the various Allium crops - onions, garlic, leeks, and shallots - and a few peas and beans - favas, the various sweet peas, cowpeas, chickpeas, and lentils - some root crops like the carrot and parsnip, and all the lettuces. What else did the European chef have at hand before the Great Columbian Exchange? Asparagus; it's related to the leeks. Celery, probably - the name's from Latin, I think. Cucumbers are Old World - they're really melons - but I don't think they were grown in most of Europe until the invention of the greenhouse (thus "cucumber frames"). Eggplants are from Asia. Okra is African. Ah, spinach! That's from the Middle East, right? And sorrel, which has fallen sadly out of favor. Beets, too, and chard. So there were lots of leafy greens - salads were easy enough - but a great deal of our "ingredient" vegetables were missing.
While there are great embarrassments in our colonial past, I do tend to think that the culinary gains made on both sides of the Atlantic in the Columbian Exchange were not one of them. It's a bit of a shame that we haven't adopted more of the tropical crops, but we're far the richer for the vegetables we do have.
All of this is just a wee bit odd, because I think of myself as an Old World vegetable partisan. I'm a big fan, in particular, of the cruciferous vegetables, the various members of the Brassica family. The simple mustard has given us so very much. There are leaf crops - cabbages, including red and green, heading, savoy, and napa varieties; collards; kales; bok choy and pak choy; its odd budding variety, Brussels sprouts; and numerous leafing mustards. There are the flowering crops, broccoli and cabbage. There are stem and root crops - kohlrabi, turnips, and rutabaga. And there are seed crops - seed mustard and rapeseed (now more euphemistically known as canola). But, alas, most of them want a cooler climate and a sandier soil than we have here; collards will grow as a winter crop, but most varieties of the brassicas aren't meant for Zone 9.
Thinking about it, though - the brassicas had to be that diverse, didn't they? I mean, we have them, the various Allium crops - onions, garlic, leeks, and shallots - and a few peas and beans - favas, the various sweet peas, cowpeas, chickpeas, and lentils - some root crops like the carrot and parsnip, and all the lettuces. What else did the European chef have at hand before the Great Columbian Exchange? Asparagus; it's related to the leeks. Celery, probably - the name's from Latin, I think. Cucumbers are Old World - they're really melons - but I don't think they were grown in most of Europe until the invention of the greenhouse (thus "cucumber frames"). Eggplants are from Asia. Okra is African. Ah, spinach! That's from the Middle East, right? And sorrel, which has fallen sadly out of favor. Beets, too, and chard. So there were lots of leafy greens - salads were easy enough - but a great deal of our "ingredient" vegetables were missing.
While there are great embarrassments in our colonial past, I do tend to think that the culinary gains made on both sides of the Atlantic in the Columbian Exchange were not one of them. It's a bit of a shame that we haven't adopted more of the tropical crops, but we're far the richer for the vegetables we do have.