Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Today’s Historical Item



Today’s Historical Item--In celebration of the garlic smell in my kitchen due to the pesto
From American Heritage Vegetables
http://lichen.csd.sc.edu/vegetable/index.php
Garlic
Native to the Caucasus region, garlic (Allium sativum) came to North America with European settlers in the colonial period. Of the ten recognized landraces, the varieties traditionally cultivated in the United States were Rocambole (whose stems undulated like snake trails), Soft necked (artichoke garlic), Silverskin, and Creole (a variety that was suited to southern climates). Those portions of the United States where Spanish influence was greatest—the south and southwest—showed greatest respect for the plant as a condiment. In 19th-century New England it was esteemed for medical rather than culinary reasons.


American Heritage Vegetables documents the cultivation practices, popular varieties, and cookery of vegetables found in American kitchen and market gardens before the twentieth century.

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