Foods the Americas Gave the World

I'm doing some research for a pre-Columbian dinner (details to come shortly) and while I knew that a lot of our indigenous food was a real gift to the world, it's almost staggering seeing it in a list like this. It's not complete (I left off a lot of the hard-to-find exotic fruits and edible weeds) but it's impressive! LIST OF AMERICAN FOOD PLANTS Source: Foods America Gave the World By A. Hyatt Verrill, 1937 L.C. Page & Co Books

Agave Cacao Sarsaparilla Sassafras Corn Quinoa Squash Sunflower Wild rice Avocado Gooseberry Blackberry Sapote Blueberry Cacti (nopales and tunas) Cashew Cranberry Elderberry Grapes (particular species are native to N. America)

Potatoes Guava Mamey Papaya Persimmon Pineapple Raspberry Strawberry (Particular strains found in Chile and Colombia) Achiote Beans Chiles Chayote Tomatillos Lambs quarters Tomato Mushrooms (not exclusive to the Americas) Peanut Purslane

Can you imagine an Indian curry without a chile? Italian food without tomatoes?
I would have bet that persimmons and purslane were Asian. Do you know? I've seen purslane listed as both Asian and as Mayan.

Images: The top illustration is from Mexico: A Study of Two Americas by Stuart Chase and the photo is a detail from a mural in the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City, both by Diego Rivera.

Bean and Purslane Soup

I've been a fan of purslane for a long time. There's a famous Mexican stew with pork and purslane but sometimes you don't want a big old pork fiesta. It's rare, but sometimes you just want a nice soup.

I made this delicious soup with purslane from my back yard. I had about 4 cups of chicken stock and 4 cups of mostly bean liquid with a some beans in it. While I heated these two ingredients together, I sauteed the cleaned purslane with onion, garlic, a minced serrano and some olive oil. When these were soft, I added them to the soup. Finally, I added about a cup of boiled tomatillos and some of their boiling water to the blender, made a puree, and then this went into the soup. It cooked for another 10 minutes or so and it was a little ugly but very delicious.

Which Beans Are Healthiest?

The question I dislike most, after “Which is your favorite bean?”, is “Which bean is healthiest?”

There’s a side of me that couldn’t care less. Beans have so much going for them and we know they’re healthy, so let’s relax. But the reality is a lot of people are very concerned about health and diet and for them I pass on this link, sent to me by my online friend Andie, to an article in Real Age. They claim darker beans are higher in nutrients but compared to what and by how much? And is this true of all varieties or just Phaseolus vulgaris? What about limas or tepary? It’s not much to go on, but the recipe for Roasted Corn, Black Bean, and Mango Salad might be a winner.

Pigeon Peas (Cajanus cajan)

We grew a small amount of pigeon peas. They’re not New World, in fact, they probably originate in Asia. You don’t see them much in Mexico but in Central America, they’re very popular. In India, they’re known as toor dal.

I cooked them with onion, garlic, a splash of oil and water. They smell like overcooked peas and don’t taste much better. I hate to let a pot go to waste. Is there some way to prepare them that I might like? It doesn’t have to be Latin. I feel like a cad for not being thrilled by a legume!

I was thinking I could puree them and make some kind of patty out of them.
Any help appreciated!

An Obsession with Cactus:Like Love, It Can Really Hurt

The following is an article I wrote last year that didn’t get published. I just reread it and thought it was pretty good! Some of the information may be redundant for regular readers.

Tunas, not quite ripe. Rancho Gordo.

One of the highlights of last summer was a glorious barbecue with all the usual suspects: wine, grilled meats, tequila, good friends, salad, music, etc. The surprise was when my Mexican friends brought cleaned cactus paddles and grilled them along side the sausages. After one side was finished, one of the paddles was turned, then topped with grated Oaxacan cheese and topped with another paddle. After this cactus “sandwich” was finished, it was removed from the fire and smothered in a fresh salsa made with local heirloom tomatoes. As far as I was concerned, a new tradition was born right then and there.

Nopales are succulents in the Opuntia family and you spy them all over the Bay Area. They’re somewhat majestic and scary. They remind many of us of whales. They seem to grow slowly and they seem to survive no matter how much neglect they receive. Among fanciers of succulents and other cacti, they are considered rather low on charts, but I’d take a yard full of prickly pear cactus over the exotic blue ribbon winners any day. The trick is that Nopales, in addition to their landscaping talents, showy flowers and and off-beat weirdness, taste great, both as a vegetable and as a fruit.

A salad with black beans and nopalitos. Rancho Gordo.

The paddles are the vegetables. You want them when they are young and still flexible. You see them pre-cut in plastic bags in the cold section of many Mexican markets and you’ll find them in jars with vinegar as well. These are fair products but the real fun is preparing the paddles yourself. I’d suggest wearing gloves at first. With a sharp knife, cut along the outside rim of the paddle. Next, holding the fat base with a towel, gentley remove all the little glochids (spines) off. Don’t worry about removing the skin. It’s fine to eat. You can rinse as you go along and you can change direction to get every last little irritant. At this point the paddle is good for grilling, perhaps with a quick bath in olive oil. You can also cut the paddle in to squares (now making them nopalitos) and then simmer in water for about 15 minutes. Add a few onion slices for flavor and some tomatillo husks (or corn husks) in the water to absorb the okra-like mucilage that can be a little off-putting for some. When they’re cooked, drain them in a colander and pick out the husks, if you used them. Now you can add them to scrambled eggs and salsa, to some cotija cheese and hot sauce for a taco filling or simply as an ingredient in a tossed salad. The flavor is somewhere between asparagus and a green bean and yet totally unique.

At the end of the summer, something magical happens. The bumps that had been growing on the paddles turn color, often red, and they start to look swollen and sore. You can test one with a pair of tongs; if they come off easily, it’s time to eat! The prickly pears, or tunas (pronounced two-nahs) have invisible little glochids, just to make nature’s little joke is complete, so you’ll have to take extra care when collecting the fruit. I’ve found the best way to remove the spines is to hold the tuna with tongs and then run them through a flame. A gas burner on your stove works but a dedicated torch is even better if you’re like me and love your culinary toys. Once safe, you can cut the prickly pear in half and scoop out the glorious flesh. It tastes distinctly tropical and yet this is a decidedly desert plant. You can spit the hard stones out but real tunas lovers eat them. Once you’ve had your fill, you can use them in agua frescas, sherbets or simply pour a little Sambuca Romana over some sliced, peeled tunas, which ends up being my favorite dessert.

This huge plant started from four paddles! Rancho Gordo.

A lot of people are interested in sustainable, organic, local food and yet they wouldn’t even dream of trying cactus. This is a shame! Citizens of the Americas have been enjoying this plant long before Columbus landed and the clever ones continue the tradition. This is a key part of our collective culinary heritage and yet it remains more exotic than arugula. I’m not qualified to expand on the health benefits (of which there are many, especially for diabetics) and I don’t want to lecture on water consumption, labor practices or land use in order to get you to try nopales. I maintain that you should be eating them for the flavor. All the other benefits are just icing on the cake.

Nopal Tacos

1 cup of fresh tomato salsa
1/2 cup cooked cactus paddles (nopalitos)
1/4 cup crumbled cotija cheese
key limes, quartered.
corn tortillas

Gently toss the the first three ingredients in a bowl. Heat the tortillas on a hot, dry skillet. Add a small portion of the filling to each tortilla and fold in half. Top off with a squeeze of lime.

Vallarta Beans Are Back

Vallarta is a strange bean. Raw, it is green. Cooked, it looks like Yellow Indian Woman and even tastes a little like it but it’s denser, almost fudge-like. I love it but I think it works best with some sauteed greens like spinach or chard.

For breakfast, I had them with some scrambled eggs and then topped them with some raw white onion and cubed avocado. I was in a good mood after that.

Vallartas hold their shape and won’t fall apart but they have a very good pot liquor.

Pepitas

This is an easy snack. Once cooked, I
also grind them in the molcajete just a bit and add them to a salad. It
makes the salad more substantial.

Heat a skillet or comal. The one pictured is a clay comal from San Marcos
(Oaxaca). Add a little olive oil and a crushed garlic clove. Saute
until the oil is flavored and then push aside the garlic. Add some
pumpkin seeds and toss them in the hot oil. Continue cooking and
pushing them around until they start popping and most of the seeds turn
golden brown. Salt, toss again and then let them cool on a paper towel.

Something Good Is Coming

Here’s a hint and it’s not the corn:

My favorite way to eat corn was to squeeze it with lime and then add a little salt. Now, this chile mixture, from the indigenous Mapuche  of Chile, is a key ingredient.

Squash Blossoms for Breakfast

Everyone knows about goat cheese-stuffed squash blossoms. But don’t let your blossom repertoire end there! In Mexico City, I had this lovely omelet type thing and the blossom was embedded in the first egg itself. Topped with panela cheese and served with a side of refried beans made it perfect.

You can also chop them and gently saute them with onions and garlic for a taco or enchilada filling, use in soups and of course stuff them. They are insanely expensive at farmers markets so I suggest you plant a zucchini or some other kind of squash this summer.

Chicken in Jamaica

There were so many great things to remember about my trip to Guanajuato last Fall that I’ve started to forget. How could I?

Other than being one of the most beautiful colonial cities in Mexico, it has lots of good food, but it’s hidden to your average Joe. As I’ve written before, I was lucky enough to be hosted by food historian Rachel Laudan and she was kind enough to really show me the ropes.

One of the nicest things I ate was this chicken sauteed in a jamaica (hibiscus flower) sauce. It wasn’t sweet but it was clever and memorable and I wish I had the recipe. Our jamaica source is drying up so if you want to try ours, do it sooner than later.