African Pineapple Peanut Stew
Happy Thanksgiving!
Among other things we're having for Thanksgiving dinner today (because of various dietary restrictions of our guests) is a recipe called African Pineapple Peanut Stew. Karen and I were looking at the ingredients this morning and wondering, "How is this African? Aren't pineapple and peanuts New World plants?"
So, what continent is each of the ingredients from?
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 bunch kale or Swiss chard (4 cups sliced)
- 2 cups undrained canned crushed pineapple (20-ounce can)
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- salt to taste
- crushed skinless peanuts
- chopped scallions
- 1 cup chopped onions; Originally from Asia, first cultivated in Egypt.
- 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed: Origin unknown, though it was also cultivated in ancient Egypt.
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil: Obviously this depends upon the vegetables used. Karen uses canola oil, which is from Canada, as I've blogged about before.
- 1 bunch kale or Swiss chard (4 cups sliced): Both are apparently from Europe. We actually substitute bok choy and spinach, which are from Asia.
- 2 cups undrained canned crushed pineapple (20-ounce can): South America. Strangely enough, in the southern US, the pineapple is a symbol for hospitality. When we're in Florida we often see them carved or sculpted on gate posts.
- 1/2 cup peanut butter: South America: see peanuts, below.
- 1 tablespoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce: Capsicum peppers are New World plants, though they've become popular worldwide: the Wikipedia article mentions Ethiopia specifically. (I'm still fascinated by how the capsaicin only stimulates the pain receptors of mammals: birds are unaffected.)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro: Cilantro is the same plant as coriander, but typically cilantro refers to the leaves and coriander to the seeds. The plant is native to southwestern Asia west to north Africa. Karen omits this ingredient: apparently she (like myself) has the genetic trait that causes cilantro to have, as the Wikipedia article states, an "unpleasant 'soapy' taste and/or a rank smell." (She says the first time she put cilantro in a recipe she thought it had gone bad.)
- salt to taste: Found worldwide, of course.
- crushed skinless peanuts: Originally from South America, however: "The peanut gained Western popularity when it came to the United States from Africa. It had become popular in Africa after being brought there from Brazil by the Portuguese around 1800." This appears to be the primary African connection.
- chopped scallions: The word "scallion" can refer to any member of the onion genus Allium (which includes non-onion species chives, leeks, shallots, and garlic) that does not have a fully-developed bulb, but specifically tends to mean the Welsh onion. Karen substituted "green onions," which can be synonymous with scallions, but in the US often means immature specimens of Allium cepa, the onion referred to above.
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