[MR] Demo any one?

[Dave Montuori]

Scripsit Geva de Lisle:
> With that in mind I have nabbed my copy of The Cambridge World History of
> Food Vol.I to present some of the food that was not known to Europeans
> until after Columbus' voyage.  The list as I have compiled them at this
> time are:
> 
> Old World                                                              New
> World
> 
> Beef, pork, cheese                                                Corn
> Buckwheat                                                         Tomatoes
> Wheat                                                             White
> Potatoes
> Rye                                                               Chili
> Sesame                                                            Maize
> Soy                                                               Peanuts   
>                                                                   Manioc
>                                                                   Yam
>                                                                   Sunflowers
>                                                                   Amaranth
>                                                                   Squash,
> pumpkin, cucumber

The list above seems to have gotten oddly formatted.

White something is apparently New World, but a more specific value for 
"something" would be useful in evaluating it.

And from the comma after squash, I suspect that pumpkin and cucumber are 
supposed to be on the "New World" side. But while pumpkin and other winter 
squashes do appear to be New World, cucumbers are on the melon side of the 
family. Melons and eggplants being native to India and/or Persia; 
Time/Life's _Foods of the Middle East_ cites a picture from Egypt about 
2400 B.C. that includes a melon, and references to eggplants in Arabic 
books possibly as far back as 1500 years ago.

As for other foods, what about green beans? I've been given to understand 
that they, and many other beans, are New World in origin, while favas, 
chickpeas and lentils are all native to Eurasia.

Evan