Focus: You decide…. “….the culinary life we owe Columbus is a progressive dinner in which the whole human race takes a part but no one need leave home to sample all the courses.”
Why is this ironic? “If I should eat this fruit (a tomato),” explained an Italian man, “it would be injurious and harmful to me.” In France, officials banned the potato, explaining that “too frequent use of them caused leprosy.”
Who got the better deal in the Columbian Exchange?
ACTIVITY ACTIVITY: You are a Pan-Hemispheric chef. Design a menu with recipes that could only exist as a result of the Columbian Exchange. The menu can consist of breakfast, lunch and dinner items and should also have beverages. OR Write a letter to Columbus from the viewpoint of either a Native American or a European in 1500’s that either thanks or condemns him for establishing a lasting link between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.