Thank You Columbus
We, the Indians, owe a lot to Christopher Columbus for discovering the Americas. If not for him, we would still be eating brinjals, okra, drumsticks, bananas, lemons, snake gourds, bottle gourds, bitter melons, etc. He is not the first to reach the Americas, few had done this before him—not knowing what that was, but his miscalculation that he could reach the eastern side of Asian continent through the Atlantic reaped him rewards. Before finding out what vegetables reached India from the Americas, listen to his story.
Why and how Columbus took the journey through the Atlantic?
Since the ancient times, trade flourished between Europe and Asia through the Silk Route. But, in 1453, when the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople (Turkey), the land route to Asia became very difficult and dangerous. This prompted the Portuguese and other European navigators and explorers to find a sea route to Asia.
Before the discovery of Americas by Columbus, nobody knew exactly what existed beyond the Atlantic Ocean. Two routes were proposed to reach Asia—travelling west through the Atlantic or travelling around Africa—both routes unknown to the navigators. Columbus believed that by travelling west through the Atlantic he could reach the spice islands of Asia. Very few supported this idea. It became less popular when Bortolomeu Dias reached the Cape of Good Hope of South Africa in 1488.
Even before Dias’ discovery of Cape of Good Hope, Columbus found it difficult to finance his expedition. He repeatedly presented his plans to King John II of Portugal but got rejected every time. He even approached the then kingdoms of Genoa and Venice of Italy, dispatched his brother to the king Henry VII of England but he received encouragement from neither.
In 1486, monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon (Spain) and Isabella of Castille (Spain) agreed to listen to his plans. But, they rejected it when the expert committee declared the idea impractical and he underestimated the distance across Atlantic. Instead, they offered him an annual allowance of 12,000 maravedis to encourage Columbus to come up with a viable plan. This was when Dias discovered Cape of Good Hope.
But Columbus was unrelenting. After few years of negotiations and lobbying at the Spanish court, he finally had success in January 1492. Isabella and Ferdinand II agreed to meet him again in Cordoba (Spain) but Isabella turned his plan down. While Columbus was leaving the town on his mule, despaired, Ferdinand II intervened and asked Isabella to call him back. They mutually discussed the terms and conditions. Columbus would be appointed Viceroy and Governor of all the new lands he could claim for Spain and given the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea (Atlantic). This is how he started his adventure and the rest is history.
What happened later?
When Columbus reached the Caribbean islands and successfully returned, his story garnered huge attraction in the European circles. Through three more voyages, he discovered many new islands and civilizations of Central and South America and carried on commercial trade with the indigenous people residing there. With this, the other European nationsstarted setting up colonies to procure raw materials for their needs. This is how the Columbian Exchange kicked off—the transfer of plants, animals, technology, ideas and culture between the New World (Americas) and the Old World (Europe, West Africa and Asia).Travellers and traders returned to Europe with all treasures you could imagine and importantly, the native American food crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, etc. which were later introduced in the European colonies of the East.
Though Columbus was brave and intelligent, his top most priority was to acquire gold for Spain. He was accused of tyranny. He encouraged the practice of slavery and the criminal practices he executed on the natives were beyond sanity. He was found guilty of his crimes and was relieved from his posts. He also believed and debated, till his death, that the newly discovered lands were part of Asia.
Imagine the Indian diet before Columbus?
Can we ever imagine our diet without chilli pepper (lal mirch)? It became such an integral part of our cuisine that we probably cannot exclude in our dishes. Before its advent, we used black pepper and long pepper to spice up our food. Ban the potatoes (aloo) in India and the north Indians will go on strike right now. They have embraced potatoes so much that they practically cook every dish with potatoes in it. Aloomatar, aloogobi, alootikki, aloomethi, aloo beans, aloobrinjal, alookurma, alootamatar, etc. can be found on the north Indian dining tables frequently. Rajmachaval (red kidney beans) is equally important for them.
Coming to the south, sambar without pumpkin is not sambar at all. If not for groundnut chutney, idlies, dosas, vadas will be like husbands divorced from their wives. Tomatoes play the role of a sidekick in south Indian dishes, but it’s a crucial sidekick, more like a friend in need. What about the Indian snacks without sunflower or groundnut oil? I cannot imagine.Thank Columbus for all these!
Let’s look at some of the food crops that travelled all the way from the Americas to India via Europe:
Name
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Place of Origin
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Description
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Chili Pepper
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Mexico
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They have been a part of the human diet in the Americas since at least 7500 BCE. Christopher Columbus was one of the first Europeans to encounter them (in the Caribbean), and called them "peppers" because they, like black pepper of the genus Piper known in Europe, have a spicy, hot taste unlike other foodstuffs.
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Maize
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Southern Mexico
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Domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico about 10,000 years ago.
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Potato
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Peru, Bolivia, Andes
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Domesticated approximately 7,000–10,000 years ago. It was introduced to Europe in the second half of the 16th century by the Spanish.
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Tomato
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Western South America
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Its use as a cultivated food may have originated with the indigenous peoples of Mexico. The Spanish discovered the tomato from their contact with the Aztec during the Spanish colonization of the Americas and brought it to Europe.
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Sunflower
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North America and South America (3 species)
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The common name, "sunflower", typically refers to the popular annual species Helianthus annuus, or the common sunflower, whose round flower heads in combination with the ligules look like the sun.
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Common Bean/ Green Bean/ French Bean
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North America and South America
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Domesticated in Mesoamerica first, and traveled south, probably along with squash and maize (corn).
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Squash (Pumpkin)
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Andes and Mesoamerica
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Peanut/ Groundnut
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Northwestern Argentina or southeastern Bolivia
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From its primary center of origin, cultivation spread and formed secondary and tertiary centers of diversity in Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
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Sweet Potato
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Central or South America
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In Central America, domesticated sweet potatoes were present at least 5,000 years ago. It was most likely spread by local people to the Caribbean and South America by 2500 BC.
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Tobacco
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North America and South America, especially Mexico
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Some cultivation sites in Mexico date back to 1400–1000 BC.Eastern North American tribes historically carried tobacco in pouches as a readily accepted trade item, as well as smoking it, both socially and ceremonially, such as to seal a peace treaty or trade agreement.
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Cocoa/ Cacao (Chocolate)
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Amazon Basin
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It was domesticated by the Olmecs and Mocayas (Mexico and Central America).More than 4,000 years ago,it was consumed by pre-Columbian culturesin spiritual ceremonies.
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