810-Lancasttr Farming, Saturday, November 8,1986
All-Amerieon Food Bosket
Filled WHh Internationa Items
WASHINGTON - Come and
share a dinner of all-American
foods.
We’ll start with a salad featuring
fresh spinach, a native of Persia
introduced in Europe in the 16th
century; cucumbers, a product of
India brought by the Romans to
Britain; and tomatoes, originally
known as “love apples” and not
eaten in the United States until 1835
because they were thought to be
poisonous. And we’ll have hearts of
artichoke, first grown in Africa’s
Barbary Coast.
For a mam course, we’ll have an
all-American steak, probably from
Hereford cattle, developed in
England in the 19th century. We’ll
zing up its taste with ketchup, the
name of which comes from the
Chinese word for the brine of
pickled fish, and smother it in
onions, native to central Asia and
worshipped in ancient Egypt. Or
we’ll serve carp, which Europeans
brought here in 1876, and top it with
lemon, a native of India.
Okra From Slaves
We’ll have potatoes, introduced
to the western diet by Spanish
colonists who found them in 16th
century Peru; broccoli, an Italian
vegetable rarely seen in the United
States until after World War I; and
okra, brought here by African
slaves. We’ll have bread, baked
from a variety of wheat brought to
Kansas by 19th-century German
Mennonites.
Dessert? Perhaps pie, baked
with apples, a European native; or
cherries, originally from Persia;
or peaches, a Chinese fruit in
troduced to Europeans 2,000 years
ago; or watermelon, originally
from Africa. Or maybe that
American favorite, ice cream, an
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Italian concoction that Catherine
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All-American foods? What
Americans eat is about as diverse
as where Americans come from.
And, partly because many new
Americans are coming from parts
of the world that are new sources
of population, the variety of the
foods we eat is undergoing a
tremendous spurt. Immigrants
from Mexico and Central America
have brought many of their foods
with them, as southern Europeans
once brought garlic and olives.
Vietnamese, Chinese, Laotians,
Ethiopians, Afghans, and Iranians,
among others, have imported their
specialties.
“Once again, America is
restocking the melting pot to suit
her newest unmigrants, who are
increasing in diversity and
number,” writes Elizabeth
Schneider in “Uncommon Fruits
and Vegetables; A Commonsense
Guide.” “Mexicans bring jicama,
Thais want lemon grass, Japanese
ask for daikon, and Cubans love
calabaza. Every day the larder
grows. Foods that look strange
now (as ginger, shallots, bean
sprouts and even avocados did not
so long ago) may soon be common
in our culinary vocabulary.”
Cosmopolitan Taste Buds
Americans traveling abroad are
finding more foods that pique their
taste buds and excite their
culinary imaginations. High-speed
transportation and modern
refrigeration processes bring food
from abroad here easily, still
fresh. Increased interest in
healthful eating has inspired a
taste for fresh fruits and
vegetables, low in cholesterol and
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A few years ago, these strange-looking foods would never have been found in
American supermarkets. Today, they and many other delicacies from foreign lands have
found space in the Stores' gourmet sections and some are crossing over onto regular
grocery shelves. From left, they are; white cactus, kiwi fruit, yellow cauliflower (center
top), shiitake mushrooms (center bottom), starfruit (both sliced and whole), and ginger
root.
calories, high in vitamins and
fiber, and many of them new to
American menus.
But perhaps the greatest change
has come in the way Americans
look at food and its preparation.
Experts agree that we no longer
are interested in simply stocking
up with enough fuel to get us
through the day.
“We’re growing up as a country,
and food is becoming a more
important part of our lives,” says
Jeff Cohen, owner of Washington’s
Sutton Place Gourmet, a super
market cornucopia of exotic foods,
from Hawaiian mahi-mahi fish to
California black figs, from a
respectable Tennessee caviar to
goat cheeses from New York state.
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“American cuisine is a melting
pot in itself,” Cohen says. “There’s
American cuisine from New
Mexico, from Maine, from
Louisiana, and a little bit of
everything from all over the
country. But put it all together, and
you have something new.”
“There are so many more ad
ventures we can increase to add
variety and excitement to our
meals,” says Judi Greening,
director of consumer and in
formational services for Frieda’s
Finest/Produce Specialties of Los
Angeles.
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Frieda Caplan, the company’s
founder, is credited with bringing
to this country a hairy brown fruit
with green flesh, known as the
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Chinese gooseberry, widely grown
only in New Zealand after it was
introduced there in 1906. Ms.
Caplan imported some for a
customer, then nurtured a market
for them under a new name: kiwi
fruit.
Ms. Caplan’s success has been
copied to various degrees with
such other exotic foods as
Jerusalem artichokes, spaghetti
squash, jicama, cherunoyas, and
passion fruit. Once such foods take
hold, it’s only a matter of time
before Americans try to grow
them.
Relocated Delicacies
A Santa Rosa, Calif., firm is
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