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POPSThe History of the Potato There apparently is a school of historians who ascribe all turning points of any historical significance to the potato. I am most amused by the section headings such as "Potatoes in Wartime" and "Fear of Potatoes" and "Potato Diaspora." Is it just me or are we starting to anthropomorphize our food?
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POPSThe (Confusing) History of Chinese Cabbage Depending on who you ask, it is not a cabbage at all. It seems to have been refined from selective cultivation of mustard plants, just like in the west, but in a totaly distinct process. Apparently, they are the same species of turnip. Whatever that means. Interesting that Gavin Menzies thinks it was introduced to America in Pre-Columbian times.
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POPSThe History of Cabbage This is interesting, but it doesn't talk about how it got to China. Mustard plants grow wild in China, so perhaps the Chinese cabbage was independently derived through a selective process similar to the one that produced the European cabbage. Otherwise, there is a big gap between East Asian Cabbage communities and the European Cabbage communities. (Since the cabbage doesn't seem to have any historical presence in the Middle East or Central Asia - I could be wrong...)
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POPSHistory of Coffee Austin's clipping brought to you by: COFFEE! It is my firm belief that coffee is at the root of all modern western scholarship.
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POPSNotes on Chinese Noodles There's also a great chart here on the different types of Chinese noodles and their names in different dialects, but it's too big to clip.
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POPSNotes on Pita Also suggests pita is the origin of pizza. Interesting. Next I've got to track down the connection between Pita and Naan.
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POPSHistory of Pasta Fuzzy, but that would explain some stuff. Noodles extend from China out as far as Central Asia, but we kinda lose track of them, since the Pakistanis, Arabs and Iranians don't seem to eat them. There are some noodles in Turkey and Eastern Europe, though. Magyars eat noodles. What about the Caucuses? Big gap, though, between Chinese noodles and italian pasta.
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POPSThe History of Rice Spready through wet monsoon asia through the "technology" of the rice paddy. Spread to Europe by the Moorish conquest of Spain. When did it reach Italy? How did it spread in Central Asia?
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POPSXinjiang Cuisine This website is missing some important dishes, is Sinocentric, and follows the hilarious Chinglish practice of literally translating the names of dishes directly from Chinese into English. Typical Chinese overstatement and exaggeration. Wish it had some Uygur names and history.
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POPSThe Silk Road Dining Exchange I'm begining to research for a project that will culminate with a series of 9 dinners around Beijing, at different restaurants from different cultures, spanning the length of the silk road. I'm going to track various foods and cuisines around the world, as the influence others and pick up foreign flavors. To organize this research, I'm going to use a special clipcast called Silk Road Cuisine. As the project develops, information will be posted on my various www.austinatlarge.org blogs.