With the Year of France in Mexico, I wonder about the landscape of French cuisine, European, had there not been all feed from the "new world" that we are brought back by the conquistadors.
In 1492, when Christopher Columbus discovered America, what are the flavors of our recipes that are also raised and pushed into history! In a Europe where the kitchen was very aristocratic marked by the use of spices, the fall of Constantinople in the hands of Hints in 1453 signed the closing of the shortest path to reach the spice trail. Thus Christopher Columbus proposed to the Catholic Kings of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, to reach the Indies by the other side of the world, and he met by chance America!
America was a disappointment. It lacked the spice in use at the time (pepper, cloves, lavender, saffron, ginger, bay leaf ...) but proposed vanilla and chile and its many varieties. Christopher Columbus himself who gave the name of the chile pepper. The Jesuit José de Acosta, chronicler of India at the time, wrote that contains so much fire and it burns as much with the entry and exit!
By cons, America offered his conquistadors other riches: tomato, avocado, corn, chocolate, peanuts, and even the potato, which will eventually play an important role in famines in Europe. The conquistadors discovered
also unknown animals, some edible, some not. Only the turkey and guinea fowl took the boat to Spain.
Guava, pineapple, prickly pear, so prized by the English were scorned by the greedy Charles Quint. By cons, it was Louis XIV who first introduced pineapple plant in her garden at Versailles, designed by Quintin, who also appropriated the sunflower native to Mexico, as the symbol of the Sun King!
Columbus never set foot on the land of Mexico, but the presence of induced Conquistador de facto "a cultural exchange imposed by history." The continent of America had a strong cultural mix, even on the culinary map. Dominant and dominated have tamed. Contrary to the Mayflower pilgrims, including women and children came to colonize North America and have translated their European cuisine, the English conquistadors came without women. By necessity, they frequented, intermarried with them, learned to love and also love their kitchen! The latter had learned to love as wheat, rice, carrots, cauliflower, orange and cow ....
In 1492, when Christopher Columbus discovered America, what are the flavors of our recipes that are also raised and pushed into history! In a Europe where the kitchen was very aristocratic marked by the use of spices, the fall of Constantinople in the hands of Hints in 1453 signed the closing of the shortest path to reach the spice trail. Thus Christopher Columbus proposed to the Catholic Kings of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, to reach the Indies by the other side of the world, and he met by chance America!
America was a disappointment. It lacked the spice in use at the time (pepper, cloves, lavender, saffron, ginger, bay leaf ...) but proposed vanilla and chile and its many varieties. Christopher Columbus himself who gave the name of the chile pepper. The Jesuit José de Acosta, chronicler of India at the time, wrote that contains so much fire and it burns as much with the entry and exit!
By cons, America offered his conquistadors other riches: tomato, avocado, corn, chocolate, peanuts, and even the potato, which will eventually play an important role in famines in Europe. The conquistadors discovered
also unknown animals, some edible, some not. Only the turkey and guinea fowl took the boat to Spain.
Guava, pineapple, prickly pear, so prized by the English were scorned by the greedy Charles Quint. By cons, it was Louis XIV who first introduced pineapple plant in her garden at Versailles, designed by Quintin, who also appropriated the sunflower native to Mexico, as the symbol of the Sun King!
Columbus never set foot on the land of Mexico, but the presence of induced Conquistador de facto "a cultural exchange imposed by history." The continent of America had a strong cultural mix, even on the culinary map. Dominant and dominated have tamed. Contrary to the Mayflower pilgrims, including women and children came to colonize North America and have translated their European cuisine, the English conquistadors came without women. By necessity, they frequented, intermarried with them, learned to love and also love their kitchen! The latter had learned to love as wheat, rice, carrots, cauliflower, orange and cow ....
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