Pre-Red Pepper Asian Cuisine?
October 5, 2009 8:13 PM Subscribe
Help me find Asian food before the Columbian Exchange?
This article mentions ancient Indian curries before the Portuguese brought red peppers to the subcontinent
Much of the food is worth the wait. Take the chicken pepper roast ($9.95), a splendid heap of irregular poultry tidbits thickly coated with black mustard seeds, coconut shreds, and crushed black peppercorns. Recipes such as this are ancient: They date from before the Portuguese introduced chilies to the subcontinent, sometime in the late 16th century. Indeed, the Sanskrit term for black pepper is "kari"—a word that evolved in succeeding centuries into the colonial catch-all expression for spice combinations: "curry."
Reminded me of this absolutely delicious black pepper tempeh I once had cooked for me by an Indonesian friend. Does anyone know of any good recipes for Korean/Indonesian/Indian food before the arrival of the red pepper? What would the major flavors have been besides black pepper, coconut, and mustard? Would kimchee have tasted like German sauerkraut?
This article mentions ancient Indian curries before the Portuguese brought red peppers to the subcontinent
Much of the food is worth the wait. Take the chicken pepper roast ($9.95), a splendid heap of irregular poultry tidbits thickly coated with black mustard seeds, coconut shreds, and crushed black peppercorns. Recipes such as this are ancient: They date from before the Portuguese introduced chilies to the subcontinent, sometime in the late 16th century. Indeed, the Sanskrit term for black pepper is "kari"—a word that evolved in succeeding centuries into the colonial catch-all expression for spice combinations: "curry."
Reminded me of this absolutely delicious black pepper tempeh I once had cooked for me by an Indonesian friend. Does anyone know of any good recipes for Korean/Indonesian/Indian food before the arrival of the red pepper? What would the major flavors have been besides black pepper, coconut, and mustard? Would kimchee have tasted like German sauerkraut?
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by suedehead at 11:44 PM on October 5, 2009