Popular Science - USA (2020 - Spring)

14

Kung Pao chicken/chilis

Tien tsin, or Chinese red pep-

per, is named for the port city

of Tianjin. But chilis don’t orig-

inate in the People’s Republic.

Though they’re a key ingre-

dient in many classic dishes,

such as the Sichuan staple

known as Kung Pao chicken, the

spicy plant is native to Mexico.

Columbus introduced it to Eu-

ropeans during the Columbian

exchange, who traded it east

throughout the 16th century.

Tempura/wheat batter

Tempura is a cornerstone of

Japa nese cuisine; chefs batter

and deep-fry everything from

shrimp to shiitake mushrooms.

But the practice originated

with the Portuguese, who ate

battered green beans called

peixinhos da horta—“little fish of

the garden”—on holy days when

Catholics abstained from meat.

Traders brought their method

to Japan in the 1540s, and they

left their recipes behind.

Chocolate/cocoa beans

The cocoa bean emerged in

Meso america, where indigenous

people used it in religious cere-

monies, traded it as a currency,

and fermented it into alcohol.

Europeans didn’t like the bitter

taste, so they mixed cocoa with

sugar, honey, and vanilla (another

New World contribution). In the

early 1800s, Swiss chocolatiers

made it smoother and mixed in

condensed milk, creating their

singularly creamy chocolate.

Key Kung Pao chicken/

chilis

Tempura/

wheat batter

Chocolate/

cocoa beans

Banana split/

bananas

Lasagna/

tomatoes

Fufu/

cassava

SPRING 2020 / POPSCI.COM

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