Tag: beans

The History of the USA Told By Three Sisters

M's Adventures

Here is part three of the where I got to in my draft book about the history of America told through immigrant food. This is about three sisters.

For the next chapter in American history, we jump a century or so. After Columbus, there were other groups who attempted to conquer the “new land” of the Americas. Columbus had sailed for Spain. 

Captain John Smith should get more play in American history as he made a lot of it. On May 14, 1607, he established Jamestown in Virginia. This was the first town of European settlers in the Americas to survive to this day. The earlier attempt at Roanoke failed in 1593. There had been attempts to settle in parts of the coast along what is Virginia today. The “Lost Colony” of Roanoke is a mystery. The 100 settlers left there probably were starving and assimilated with the natives who lived in the area. From 1492 to 1586, there were bloody battles between the natives who lived in America and the privateers/pirates/buckaneers who attempted to claim the land for their kings and queens. They were also looking for gold. When the rumor started that “Eldorado” or the land of gold existed, the race was on. But that is a story about South America. Maybe the subject of a different book.

Some of these explorers include Giovanni da Verrazzano who landed on the American coast in 1524 and in 1578, Queen Elizabeth I granted permission for Sir Humphrey Gilbert to conquer lands “unclaimed by Christian kingdoms.” When he died at sea, his charter was taken over by his brother and half brother, Sir Walter Raleigh. There are lots of myths about Sir Walter Raleigh and it makes for imaginative films. Interestingly, he could not leave the queen’s side, so all his “conquering” was done through other men. Roanoke Colony was founded in 1685. In 1586, Sir Francis Drake, returned to England after visiting Roanoke. It was at this time that tobacco, maize, and potatoes to the English court.  

But what were the Americans eating? The natives were eating the richness of the land they lived in. They ate mainly corn, beans, and squash. These three are called the “three sisters” but the natives also fished and hunted. The natives in the first encounters with the English were part of the larger Algonquian peoples. 

The natives ate many foods that are rare today (porpoise, whale, seal, moose, beaver, and other animals that are still part of the native diet) but they also ate things that we non-natives also eat such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, nuts,  scallops, mussels, clams, crabs, trout, bass, flounder, and cod. 

The three sisters, maize, beans, and squash (gourds) were planted together and formed part of the mythology of several native cultures including the Seneca Nation. 

From the USDA site:

The Iroquois and the Cherokee called corn, bean, and squash the three sisters’ because they nurture each other like family when planted together. These agriculturalists placed corn in small hills planting beans around them and interspersing squash throughout of the field. Beans naturally absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it to nitrates, fertilizing the soil for the corn and squash. In return, they are supported by winding around the corn stalks. The squash leaves provide ground cover between the corn and beans, preventing weeds from taking over the field. These three plants thrive together better than when they are planted alone.

These are not the food of immigrants. These are the foods of people who were already here. Of course, the immigrants took on the foods that the indigenous people taught them about, told in a dramatic story that is celebrated as Thanksgiving. The Puritans arrived famously on Plymouth Rock in 1620. Modern day America is based on a group who found England to be too lax. No wonder America is so puritanical. But I digress. These puritans are why Americans celebrates Thanksgiving (in Canada it is on the second Monday in October). Thanksgiving in the United States is a big deal. It’s the biggest holiday.

Next time, I may try to make a three sisters salad.

The History of the USA – The Columbian Exchange

M's Adventures

Continuing the history of American food… from last time…

“1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”

In the port city of Genoa, as a young boy, Christopher Columbus, helped out at his father’s cheese stand. When Christopher was about 14 years old, he began an apprenticeship with a merchant family. This lead to his career at sea. He moved to Portugal as an adult and eventually convinced Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand of Spain to fund his search for a westward route to the Orient — source of the expensive spices, including pepper. Once Columbus saw gold, he wanted gold. 

The three ships that Columbus captained were famously the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Actually, they were the Santa Clara, the actual name of the Pinta is unknown, and the Santa Maria. The Nina was the nickname given in honor of the owner, Juan Nino. The Santa Maria’s nickname was the “Gallega” as the boat was built in Galicia. And the Pinta actual means painted one or prostitute. 

Whatever one thinks of Columbus, scholars consider his “discovery” of America to be the start of the modern era.

The massive exchange in flora and fauna is called the Columbian Exchange. 

Today, we think of Genoa and think of pesto and pasta. More broadly, of Italy, we think of tomatoes and pasta. Here are some of the things that did not exist in Europe at the time: the tomato, the potato, maize/corn, vanilla, cacao, the turkey, and tobacco. And these are some of the things that went FROM the old world to the new world: citrus, apples, bananas, mango, onion, coffee, wheat, and rice. Can you imagine anywhere in the Americas without bananas, rice, and beans? 

The United States was not a country at this point. Columbus claimed what he found for Spain. Columbus ate what sailors ate, from dried meats, fish, beans, hardtack (a dried bread), olive oil, wine, cheese, nuts, and it was noted that he was fond of figs. Often to purify foods, they would use vinegar. Columbus landed in what is modern day Caribbean. He noted in his log that the natives ate fish and “bread which tasted exactly as if it were made of chestnuts.” This is an interesting description because in the north of Italy where Columbus was from, they eat, even today, lots of chestnuts. They even make pasta from chestnuts. Chestnuts are easily found whereas wheat is not as easy a product. Perhaps the bread that Columbus had in Hispaniola was made of sweet potato and cassava, two of the mainstays of the Taino Indians who lived on Hispaniola, the island that is today Haiti and the Dominican Republic. This is where Columbus landed.

Columbus would be familiar with the texture of products made from chestnut and sweet potato bread would be similar in sweetness and texture. Today, most people think of the American sweet potato as a bright orange thing used for casserole or pie. It is associated with the South and the African American communities who descended from slavery. There are sweet potatoes that are not orange and do not have as sweet a flavor. The texture is also harder and less like pumpkin. Speaking of pumpkin pie, Jacques Pepin said that growing up in France, he only thought of pumpkin/gourd as a savory food ingredient but once he moved to America, he found out how great it was as a sweet ingredient. 

New world foods for sale in Italy.

The Europeans were accustomed to eating carbohydrates in the form of gruel, pottage, pasta, or bread. Columbus was accustomed to a mediterranean diet. On his second voyage to the Americas, Columbus brought things he thought he could eat like wheat, rice, barley, oats, coffee, sugar cane, citrus, melons, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, beef cattle, and other agricultural animals like horses. (As an aside, when horses first arrived with the conquistadors in South America, the natives had never seen them before. If you find yourself in the cathedral in Cusco, Peru, take a look at the horses in the painting. They look look like llamas as the artists had never seen horses before so they painted them like llamas.)  

Can you imagine American food without fried chicken and watermelon? 

Columbus and his men enjoyed some of the new world foods immediately (such as a corn maize drink called atole which one can still find, or the more well known horchata) but others took many years to become common place foods in Europe. The most famous is the potato which was considered poisonous for many years. 

So when America started as a country, it was not one. It was a few islands touched by Columbus and an unknown sphere claimed for the Spanish King and Queen. This map is from Wikipedia but it shows where Columbus may have set foot in Hispaniola and Cuba (Haiti/Dominican Republic and Cuba) but there was no United States yet. 

Columbus made four trips to the new world but the exchange of products he started changed history forever. With the arrival of the Europeans, millions of native Americans died from diseases that they had never encountered before. Those first Indians met by Columbus, the Taino, also all died out. The Indians are called Indians because Columbus wanted to think he made it to India, the source of spices, or so he thought. 

In 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon, who had sailed with Columbus, landed in Florida. St. Augustine in Florida is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited European settled place in America. Ponce de Leon was the first governor of Puerto Rico. He also discovered the Gulf Stream. According to myth, he was searching for the fountain of youth, but that is most likely a myth. Not much is known about what he ate but as he was part of the Columbian Exchange, I assume he ate what Columbus ate. 

The foods of the Americas are integral to the modern foods of America from corn, French fries, ketchup, guacamole, but not apple pie. We will get to that in a few hundred years.

Next time, more about corn.

The Capital Cookbook Club

M's Adventures
A concoction from the book.

Apparently a cookbook club is the thing to do. I am part of one that was recently started by one of my social friends.

Cover of the cookbook we cooked from this month.
Cornbread.

Luckily the rules are not too strict (some clubs require evaluating the recipes and other rules. Read about how to set up here or if you don’t live in that area or want to find one to join, look at this site) at the Capital Cookbook Club. We get one cookbook to choose from, tell what recipe we are making, and then bring it to the meal on the agreed upon date.

The spread of bean salad, crab salad, peach glaze chicken, cornbread, potato salad, beans, and drinks. There were two desserts.

I do not like cooking anymore so I found a simple way to make a chicken dish. Others had made more effort. It was a lovely evening socializing while eating dinner. In honor of Juneteenth, we made recipes from Watermelon & Red Birds by Nicole A. Taylor, a James Beard winner.

12 Seasons of Roman Vegetables and Fruit

M's Adventures

Romans truly eat by season. They get excited by what is only available at certain times of the year. Of course, all year, there are imported vegetables and fruit in Rome, but the Romans still find joy in the seasonality of fresh vegetables. And, it seems like chicory is always in season…

Three types of asparagus with the expensive wild version in the front.

Cicoria (chi-CORE-E-ah) or chicory is “Italian dandelion” and is a bitter green leafy vegetable that looks a bit like spinach. If you live in the U.S. and want to plant some for your self, this farm sells the seeds.

January: puntarelle (puhn-tah-R-ALE-eh), or cicoria di catalogna or cicoria asparago (although no one in Rome uses these names) is in the chicory family but looks more like a thick stemmed dandelion. The Romans eat the white stems, cut to curl up, in a salad with an anchovy garlic dressing — like a zero-carb caesar salad. No cheese. In other parts of Italy, puntarelle are cooked. In Rome, only the trimmings are cooked as part of a general vegetable stew. But, the white inner stems are the treasure.

The first stage of the preparation of puntarelle.
Puntarelle ready for dressing.

March: agretti, asparagi selvatici (wild asparagus), fava beans, and artichokes. Wild asparagus are slimmer and have a stronger taste. Agretti (Salsola Soda, opposite-leaved saltwort, opposite leaf Russian thistle, Roscano, or barilla plant) is almost unknown in the English speaking world, although recently becoming a bit of a thing with chefs.

Agretti
Peas and fava beans are both eaten fresh and raw when young. Fava beans are eaten with pecorino cheese.

April: Strawberries, agretti (monk’s beard), peas, beans, and small artichokes.

May: Peas, beans, spring onions, garlic chives, etc.

June: Apricots, peaches, green beans, potatoes, etc.

July: Melons, peaches, plums, nectarines, pears, lettuce, etc.

August: This was hard to figure out as most of the markets close in August… but at the back of the Trionfale market, there are still some zero kilometer farmers who sell their produce. So it’s all about peaches, cucumbers, pears, walnuts, water melons, cantaloup melons (called so because they were grown in Cantalupo just outside Rome), lettuce, grapes, nectarines, plums, and apples.

Apples

September: Pears, apples, figs, melons, lettuce, broccoli tops, pumpkins, pumpkin greens, plums, peppers, chiles, peaches, and grapes.

Pumpkin greens

October: pumpkin, potatoes, gourds, squash, nuts, cabbage, lettuce, and peppers.

November: potatoes, clementines, and nespole/medlars.

Medlars which one eats when they are brown and toffee like.

December: puntarelle, artichokes, and clementines.

clementines

Every restaurant will have “seasonal vegetable” on the menu and it will always be cicoria/chicory greens. Very healthy. One of the nice things about living in Rome is that it is possible to eat pesticide free food and in a perpetual “farmer’s market” all year round. I have to admit that I’m excited for artichoke season after not having artichokes for six months.

Typical Foods of Apulia

M's Adventures
In Bari, I saw a lady making the “little ears” pasta.

Orrechiette are the famous pasta shape of Puglia/Apulia. There are over 350 official shapes of pasta in Italy and many more if one includes all the variations and local names. Just watch Pasta Grannies and you’ll know. One day I ordered the handmade “little ears” pasta and I found them to be filling. Maybe because when the pasta is made, the dough is squished so it becomes much doughier than a machine-made pasta?

Apulians also eat lots of raw seafood (they have a dish of pasta with sea urchin roe — typical of Apulia) and many forms of fresh cheeses. Somehow these are not as famous as the little ears. I also saw row after row of almond trees and olive trees.

Apulians also eat a puree of fava beans served with sauteed chicory greens. I’m not a bean eater, but I like this dish.

This was a fancy version topped with crumble made from beans.

Another typical food of Apulia is the foccacia. I like it when it’s got a crunchy greasy bottom. I wrote about this previously.

Apulia is also famous for their round dried breads, “friselle” or “cimbale” if they are tiny as rings. These are savory dried breads like crackers but used as the base for a meal (dipped in water to reconstitute) or dipped in wine… They may look like bagels but the dough is much lighter.

Various round cracker breads at a local supermarket.

But the one I like the best is the greasiest — panzerotto. I also mention it in the “not pizza” article.

Made with cannabis flour
Assume the eating position.

Basically, a panzerotto is a deep fried pocket pizza. If you like fried dough, calzone, or melted cheese sandwiches, then you’ll like this.

At the one place in Monopoli, one can get it made with hemp dough. Hemp is a variety of Cannabis. Hemp is good for many things and was Christopher Columbus took tons of it with him to the new world. It’s good for rope making.

Hemp makes you happy.

Look at how happy they are…

The Real Cucina Povera Is Vegetarian

M's Adventures

These are salad greens, which are different from cooking greens.

In almost all cooking or travel shows about Rome, “cucina povera” — the poor kitchen, is featured with the host shown noshing at the offal of some animal. Invariably, they will also mention the fifth quarter, the quinto quarto, which is what is left after the other parts were shared between the nobles, clergy, bourgeoisie, and military.

Borage. I think.

What if you were vegetarian? I’m being facetious, because if you are poor, you eat what you can. Most poor people, through history, have been vegetarian. On a side note, the pig is the only barnyard animal that is worth more when dead. Most animals are worth more for their eggs, milk, wool, etc.

Cooked chicory greens. Available every single day.

Italians have been poor for most of their history (from long before there was a nation called Italy — created in 1861) and their cuisine has grown from necessity. As recently as a few generations ago, there were times of famine. Eating offal such as heart, tripe, and other organ meat, would have been rare. The daily food would have been vegetables, bread, pasta, and legumes, such as wild greens and beans. Even today, there are dishes such as puree of fava beans served with chicory greens. Vegetables that would be considered weeds are normal food in Italy. Dandelion and other wild greens that are now on Michelin star menus have been normal food here for centuries. Things like beet tops/greens which would be animal feed in other countries, is normal human fodder.

Dandelion?

Parmesan cheese has over thirty percent protein so it is considered a good source of protein when meat is not available. It is called “the poor man’s meat” or was, but it certainly is not for the poor anymore. Meat is cheaper. There are even recipes that call for toasted breadcrumbs — this was if you could not even afford cheese.

Broccoli greens.

I recently discovered another frugal use of dairy. Ricotta is made from the whey leftover from the making of cheese. In Puglia, they take the ricotta and let it ferment to become “Ricotta Forte” a strong cream cheese product that is picante because its sourness will bite you in the back of the throat. I have not asked but it’s probably “good for you” which normally means they need to convince you to eat it…

Fortunately, there is olive oil. Even the poor can afford it. Italy was a mostly agricultural society and even today there are many small farmers. Many big city families still own an olive tree orchard and produce their own olive oil each year.

Today is mother’s day in Italy, but really, every day is mother’s day in Italy. While men are often the famous chefs, it’s the mothers who do the majority of the cooking. They can even turn weeds into comfort food.

Three Amigos ~ Mexican Food In Dhaka

M's Adventures

Americans are obsessed with “Mexican food” of which there is a dearth of in Dhaka. But, as I have tried 100 restaurants in Dhaka, here are the three “Mexican” places (and my review rating of them):

Uno ~ El Toro, Gulshan 1 (3/13): Mexican. Must try: going on a night when they have avocados (!!!). This is the only real contender and yet…

Dos ~ Quesadilla, Road 11, Banani (3/13); The quesadilla was actually okay. Edible and not greasy. The “Mexican pizza” was a basic frozen pizza with some charred crumbled beef added plus a few loops of green pepper. The nachos were a plate of fried wonton skins covered in brown beans, cheese, and decorated with swirls of “mexican” sauce — a slightly sweet pink sauce. The garlic bread with melted cheese was so tasteless as to be useless.

Tres ~ Rush Tex Mex, Road 6, Banani (3/13): Burgers and fries. The advertised Mexican dishes were mysteriously not available… small place with two booths. Fries were okay.

As I mentioned in a FAQ, Panini has the best nachos I’ve had here.

Chips and salsa are so easy to serve in the U.S.
Chips and salsa are so easy to buy and serve in the U.S.

Like a lot of things in the expat life, if you want it, you gotta make it. So we started our own Mexican Monthly Club. Getting enough avocados is the hardest part of making Mexican food in Dhaka. Let us see how it goes. Buen provecho!