I think there are more than five. Add pawpaws to the list.

Corn is indigenous to N. America, as is squash, sweet potatoes (iirc), and beans.

Geo

Though I think bjt was talking about the northern US, right? So, sunflowers, pecans, beans, corn, potatoes, squash aren't indigenous to the area, but were brought here. Is a sunchoke the root of any old sunflower? If so, I just threw away about five prize specimens.

In Europe, the wild berry is technically a bilberry. According to the US Highbush Blueberry Council, the Blueberry is native to the Northeastern US.

So, a breakfast of blueberry muffins is a fairly safe bet in this situation.

Hi Mhays--

No, sunchoke is a particular species, H. tuberosus. So you didn't waste anything. For a bit of history, check here. And I don't know where "north" starts, but pecans are native to Missouri! And when does "native" begin? Here's from a N. Y. State Museum blurb re: the Iroquois Mohawks:

The Iroquois were farmers. Corn, beans, and squash were their main crops. If you look closely, you can find the red blossoms of the climbing bean plants and the broad leaves of the squash plants.

Found here, with pix.

Even tho' I'm not teaching logic this semester, I'm still fussy about definitions...

Geo

Well, OK, Geo - but my understanding is that corn, squash and beans arrived in the Northern US through trade - they weren't indigenous species. I always thought of the pecan as a more southern tree, but it's listed as hardy to zone 6 - you'd have to consider that north, you're right.

Thanks for the reassurance about the sunchokes - though I'm going to see if I can work some into my front garden. Apparently all you have to do is plan the ones you get at the grocery store, I think I'll try that this year. I don't mind a somewhat invasive species if it's pretty...

Yes, just plant the sunchokes from the store, they'll grow. BUT: there are improved varieties, French selections (e.g., "Fuseau") which are much better: larger, more productive, and, best of all, they're smooth, not warty. I've done it both ways, and the improved varieties *are* improved.

Pretty plants, but leggy, and the flower blooms weren't the breeder's objective, obviously. Yes, they ARE invasive, but not like, say, horseradish or bamboo [don't ask!] They spread, but not all that rapidly, and if you need to knock them back a bit, just ask some friends over for din.

Uh, one problem that I might mention. Much of the sunchoke carb is indigestible inulin [can't remember: either its stereo chemistry is wrong, or we don't have the right enzyme, whatever], which, in some people, causes (as our Brit friends would say) windiness.

Here's a very good source, which also names the varieties--you could google on them to find a source.

Geo

Did someone call for an Anthropologist?

Hundreds of plant and animal species now found throughout the world originated in the New World. Tracing plants back to a North American vs South American origin is a bit more complex because now one has to define origin.

The plant we know as corn, for example, originated 10,000 years ago but in a form hardly recognizable today. Its parent plant, teosinte, is a wild grass. Through human intervention (i.e. deliberate breeding techniques) Native Americans created multiple varieties of a plant that became a food staple of semi-sedentary to sedentary people across the Americas. Corn, and plants commonly grown with it (beans and squash) formed the primary food source that allowed for cities to develop in the New World.

Potatoes in all forms are of South American origin but were traded north so early as to make the distinction between South and North America nearly moot.

Strawberries, cacao, peppers, pineapples, tomatoes, sunflowers, peanuts and gourds are all of New World origin.

Turkeys, as mentioned, are a New World bird. They were traded north from Mexico in pre-contact times and turkey bones and feathers appear in archaeological sites throughout the southwest at least as early as 1200 AD.

I've excavated pre-contact sites in New Mexico with clear evidence of turkey roasting and recreating the technique is fun (for a foodie that is). Essentially one digs a pit, builds a fire and lets it burn to hot coals. The bird is wrapped in something that won't burn--wet burlap works well--then placed in the pit surrounded by coals. Then the pit is capped with dirt. Dig the bird up the next day and feast!

Diannie,

Strawberries are from the new world? I never knew it came from the Americas.

Thank you for dropping in today!

Regards,

Tnx Diannie! Nice to hear from someone who knows this stuff in situ.

But all of us have so far forgotten what is most certainly THE most important emigré from (whichever of, again, it's arguable) The Americas:




Geo

Corn?
Tomatoes?
Chocolate?

Geo wrote: And I don't know where "north" starts, but pecans are native to Missouri!
Geo

And interestingly, until recently, pecans could not be grown anywhere except very specific areas of North America (pretty much the Mississippi River valley, Georgia, and Texas). They are so completely adapted to very precise micro-climates that it has only been within the last few decades that anyone has been able to raise pecans anywhere else, and even then the success has been very limited. (The trees have been grown a few more places, but they don't produce nuts if they're not happy.)

So pecans are still almost entirely a North American product -- as opposed to, say, the cashew, which started in South America and is now grown in tropical areas worldwide, but most especially India.

When I was living in England as a student, a few decades back, they'd never heard of pecans, and wondered if I meant "piquant." Even today, when I visit ex-pat friends overseas, they often ask that I bring a bag or two of pecans, as they are rarely if ever available outside the U.S. (So if you're cooking for friends overseas and want to make pecan pie, remember that you'll need to take the pecans with you.)

Hmmm....though it isn't really Midwestern, it's certainly a Hays family thing - I would probably add pecan pie to the pork menu for my dessert.

Mhays wrote:Hmmm....though it isn't really Midwestern, it's certainly a Hays family thing - I would probably add pecan pie to the pork menu for my dessert.

Well, there actually is a Midwestern connection. The farthest north reaches of the pecan are in southern Illinois, and that's where it was first seen by Europeans in a position to be naming things, so it got named Carya illinoensis, or Illinois hickory.

Related to this thread is a very interesting story in today’s NYTimes about the development of a Springfield, Missouri, dish—a unique version (it’s claimed) of Chinese cashew chicken. It’s worth reading for the history of the dish and its enshrinement as a beloved local specialty.

EvA wrote:Related to this thread is a very interesting story in today’s NYTimes about the development of a Springfield, Missouri, dish—a unique version (it’s claimed) of Chinese cashew chicken. It’s worth reading for the history of the dish and its enshrinement as a beloved local specialty.

Dammit - I was just in Springfield MO, wish I knew they had some type of local specialty when I was down there.

You were *specifically* warned aschie30, right here about this Springfield 'treat'!!

Geo

Geo wrote:You were *specifically* warned aschie30, right here about this Springfield 'treat'!!

Geo

You're right! In my pre-trip busyness, I must have forgotten to check back on my thread before I left so I missed your post. (Thanks for posting, by the way.) I'm sure I'll be back in Springfield soon, so I will have to check it out.

I'm born and bred in Chicago for four generations and from German Czech stock. We did not have anything fancy. Meatloaf, pork chops, either sauteed or baked, baked chicken, never fried. My grandmother happened upon something called oven fried chicken and would make that. Cubed steak with mushroom gravy, spaghetti with meat sauce, tuna casserole, pork tenderloin, pot roast, stew, roast beef, etc. The dreaded chipped beef on toast for a quick meal. Foods were usually served with boiled potatoes and maybe some gravy. Chow mein noodle casserole or "German" Chop suey. Vegetables were usually corn, green beans or peas or sauerkraut. They made homemade soups. Once and a while we would have chicken paprikash, knedlicy and roast pork, or rouladen, or braciole. Desserts would be apple pie, cookies, cakes such as German Chocolate, Angle food cake with strawberries, tapioca or rice pudding or bread pudding with whiskey sauce. Hoska or stollen, and apple kuchen. My grandparents ate spareribs or neck bones and sauerkraut, rye bread with goose liver, head cheese, sulze and pickled pigs feet and herring in cream sauce or pickled all which would send me running from the table. They eyed pizza with suspicion and believed it was an Italian fascist plot.

I hated to eat meat sometimes and would sneak it under the table to the dog or cut it in pieces and tuck it under the rim of my plate when my parents were not looking.

If I had a foreign guest who was staying with me throughout the week, she would get Maureen's version of 30 minute meals. That generally means:

1. Pasta with a fast sauce. Common winter variation: canned artichokes in food processor with lemon juice, olive oil, parmesan cheese & lots of black pepper.
2. Broiled meat or fish with a veggie and rice. Example: Salmon topped with smoked paprika served with sauteed spinach.
3. Some kind of sausage with "vegetable". Examples: Kielbase w/ sauerkraut or Italian sausage and bell pepper sandwiches. We love sausage.

My poor foreign guest, but she has to face facts. This is the way I live now with a full-time job and a whirlwind toddler. At least I'm able to prepare things half-way from scratch.

Now, if I were to reach back into my own personal culinary history, the fare might be a little different. My ancestral homeland is Cleveland, Ohio . . . . the part of it that was populated by Irish and German immigrants. My husband's family also lived in Cleveland, but his mom was Polish. The difference being that Polish people know how to COOK. If I were drawing upon these traditions I would serve:

1. Braised pork roast with sauerkraut. So homely, but so good.

2. Chili with mashed potatoes.

I have no idea where this disch comes from, but according to my mother's family this is the way you serve chili. My husband thinks we're nuts, so it must be a German thing.

3. Buttered noodles with sauerkraut and lots of black pepper.

This is from my husband's family. It has a Polish name, but I can't remember it. I would call it manna from heaven.

Maureen, I'd love to hear a bit more about both the braised pork and the chili. Esp. the chili—I can't even imagine how to construct such a dish!!

Geo

Hi,

I have always been impressed by CrazyC's comments on her favorite breakfast growing up in Hong Kong: roti and curry.

I have been on a mission to clear the freezer and shelves of my impulse buys that never get used. Inspired by CrazyC, I had a meal that was truly East meets West: Roti served with Skyline Chili Sauce:



It worked well for one evening. We may not repeat Skyline any time soon, though my family would like to see more roti.

Regards,

C2, the label shows industrial-strength shredded cheddar (which is de rigueur in Skyline's shoppes fer shure) atop the chili, yet yours is unadorned... so did you give that canned delight a *fair* test?

Geo

Wow - that really is from my corner of the world! FWIW, the canned skyline is pretty wretched...the real thing would be interesting on Roti (and you need the cheese.)

Hi,

I was really using the Skyline chili as a dipping sauce. To add cheese would have been messy.

The Skyline was the second of two chili meals. The first was Ray's Chili from Decatur, IL, which was served over rice. I was probably more interested in getting the Skyline off the shelf to prevent looking at it for a long time. I thought the roti was a pretty inspired idea to get it into our gullets.

I actually expected not to like the Skyline. I didn't find it as bad as several had suggested I would find it.

Clearly I was seeking expediency rather than authenticity.

Regards,

I can see where the roti was an inspired choice: it would work with the heavy greek-sweet-spice notes of the chili. However, it's a different animal fresh (still not my favorite thing in the world, but something I eat once a year when we visit the area.)