New World Produce - Squash and Peanuts

Origin

Peanuts are from Brazil - NOT West Africa. They were brought to Africa by the Portuguese.

Number of Species

There are 15 species of wild peanut in South America and ONLY in South America. They do not exist naturally anywhere else.

Importance

From Brazil, they spread north to Mexico. However, peanuts did not become very popular in Mexico. In Peru, they seemed to be very important. Many archeological sites in Peru are littered with peanut shells. The shells in these sites suggest that peanuts were eaten in the same way that we eat them today - toasted in the shell.

European Response

Europeans thought of peanuts as being harmful, like many foods of the New World. They were thought to cause headaches. Nevertheless, Europeans still ate them and incorporated them into many Old World dishes.

Oils

Fat was rare in American diets, and oil was not used in cooking. On the other hand, European diets were rich in oil. In fact, large-scale peanut oil extraction began in 1840s France. The only use for oil that Indigenous Americans could see was for light.

First Question

What could squash be used for besides for eating? (Containers)

Domestication

Squash was first domesticated for use as containers and cups, long before pottery was commonplace. The seeds of the squash were removed so that the hard, empty shell could be used for storage.

Maize and Squash Theory

It has been suggested that one species of squash was used to carry maize kernels south from Mexico.

Other Uses

Squashes were not just used for storage. Many parts of the plant were eaten at various stages in its development. The flowers, oil and protein rich seeds, shoots, and flesh were all eaten.

Preservation Method

In the Old World, a popular method of keeping fruits was by cooking and preserving them in a sugar syrup. This became a popular method of preserving squash in both the New and Old Worlds, and this squash preservation method may have been independently invented in both regions.