Blue Corn and Chocolate

How many of us still believe that the potato originated in Ireland? That the Mediterranean, and particularly Italy, is the ancestral hearth of the tomato and its tradition of savory sauces? That the fiery chile pepper is an ancient and enduring part of the cuisines of India and Southeast Asia? That the pineapple is as native to Hawaii as chocolate is to Vienna? We believe such things for the good reason that these foods have become very heavily identified with certain cuisines and...
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How many of us still believe that the potato originated in Ireland? That the Mediterranean, and particularly Italy, is the ancestral hearth of the tomato and its tradition of savory sauces? That the fiery chile pepper is an ancient and enduring part of the cuisines of India and Southeast Asia? That the pineapple is as native to Hawaii as chocolate is to Vienna? We believe such things for the good reason that these foods have become very heavily identified with certain cuisines and certain areas of the world. But before the fateful day in 1492, these foods, and many more, were not known and could not have been known to any but the inhabitants of the New World, for it was here that they originated and here that they were utilized exclusively. They include corn, tomatoes, potatoes, the capsicum peppers, many kinds of beans, squashes, and pumpkins, turkey, pineapple, chocolate and vanilla, peanuts and pecans. As European explorers returned, they took these new and exotic products with them to every corner of the Old World, and it was not long before New World foods were changed and adapted to fit into traditional cuisines, adding original and valuable dimensions, to the nutritional and gastronomic experience. But that was only the beginning of the story, for these new foods, venturing forth to unknown lands, were transformed and refashioned along the way. Then they came back to their native shores, brought by the many immigrants who settled America, dressed up in new seasonings, prepared with a variety of new techniques, remodeled and reworked through the traditions of their adopted cuisines. And once they had returned to their original homeland, they were transformed yet again, to fit into the shifting patterns of an emergent American cuisine. Imagine, Elisabeth Rozin asks, what Italian cooking would be without tomatoes, Irish food without potatoes, Indian curry without the fiery capsicum pepper or Hungarian fare without paprika, and French or Viennese cuisine without chocolate and vanilla? Yet it's been only five hundred years since these foods were found in the New World and brought back to the Old. Each food has a story: how it was discovered, how it was greeted in its adopted countries then integrated into the Old World cuisine, how it returned here in dishes that immigrants brought with them, and how it has become a part of mainstream American cooking. And Elisabeth Rozin's 175 recipes -- interlaced with her intriguing sidebars -- tell the story. To wit: Corn dishes: From Grits Milanese and Chinese Crab & Corn Soup to Blue Corn & Pepper Frittata and Maple-Corn Coffee Cake Potato dishes: From Potato Chowder with Roasted Garlic and Deluxe Scalloped Potatoes to Potato Latkes and Sweet Potato Pone Pepper dishes: From Island Pepper Pot and Southwest Lamb Chili to Chicken Paprika and Sweet Pepper Focaccia Tomato dishes: From Gazpacho and Tomato Chutney to Creole Spaghetti Sauce and Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Bean and Squash dishes: From Curried Lima Chowder and West Indian Pumpkin Soup to Dill-Pickled Green Beans and Black Bean Quiche Turkey dishes: From Turkey Gumbo and Mexican Turkey Mole to South African Turkey Bobotie and Cincinnati Hot Shots Chocolate and Vanilla: From Chocolate Chili and Mississippi Mud Cake to Black & White Chocolate Roll and Vanilla Fruit Puree Peanuts, Pecans, Maple, and Sunflowers: From Country Ham & Peanut Soup and Pecan Pie Squares to Maple Mustard Sauce and Sunflower Seed Cocktail Biscuits