A HARTE APPETITE: COLUMBUS WAS AMERICA'S FIRST FOOD COLUMNIST

"These islands are very green and fertile and the breezes are very soft, and it is possible that there are in them many things, of which I do not know," Christopher Columbus wrote in his diary exactly 505 years ago today. He was spending his first week in the New World, an occasion which was observed, though not necessarily celebrated, this week, as it is every year around this time, on Columbus Day.

Columbus, who has always been something of a mysterious figure, has of late become a rather controversial one as well. To some he is a hero who should be honored for if not quite "discovering" America (there had been people here for some 10,000 years before he landed) then for precipitating a great cultural encounter between two worlds. To others he is a ruthless imperialist who launched the Atlantic slave trade, spawned genocide, and was too naive to realize that he had stumbled upon a new continent and not traveled full circle around the globe.

Whatever the merits of these competing viewpoints, however, the Genoese admiral deserves some recognition, it seems to me, for his role in the history of food. His explorations literally transformed the cuisines of the world, both the old and the new. Moreover, in writing down in his journal the directions for Caribbean cassava bread he became, in effect, America's first food writer.

Had it not been for Columbus, Europeans would have had to wait who knows how much longer to taste New World foods.

Can you imagine Italian cuisine without tomatoes or German cuisine without potatoes, or, for that matter, Chinese cuisine without chilies? Tomatoes, potatoes, and chilies, and over a hundred other foodstuffs, including chocolate, a substance which Columbus was the first European to taste, are all indigenous to the New World.

Similarly, had it not been for Columbus, the people of the Americas would not have been treated quite so early to Old World foods such as apples, sugar, onions, wheat, and dozens of others. And the meeting of these two culinary worlds has changed the eating habits of everyone on the planet.

Whether you think Columbus should be honored or reviled, whether you believe this week should be celebrated or lamented, I think you will enjoy the following recipes. All are amalgams of Old and New World foods and all highlight ingredients originally from the Americas, where the Admiral of the Ocean Sea wandered over five centuries ago.

Cranberry Pecan Cornbread

This wonderful bread has become obligatory at our Thanksgiving table. It features two foods gifts from Native Americans: corn, called Indian corn by colonists, and cranberries, one of only three major fruits indigenous to this continent. I always substitute non-fat yogurt for the sour cream called for in this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine, thereby reducing the fat content considerably with no discernible impact on taste.

Ingredients:

1 cup (packed) dried cranberries

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1 cup flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

6 tablespoons melted butter, slightly cooled

2 teaspoons (packed) grated orange peel

1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

Directions:

Combine cranberries and orange juice and let stand, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes until cranberries are softened. Drain and discard juice. Mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, cardamom and baking soda. Whisk eggs to blend. Add sour cream, syrup, butter, and orange peel to eggs and blend well. Add sour cream mixture to dry ingredients, stirring just until blended. Mix in pecans and cranberries and transfer batter to a buttered 10-inch springform pan. (Wrap outside of pan with foil to prevent leaking.) Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool, release from pan, and cut into 12 wedges.

~~

Cheddar and Blue Cheese Potato Chowder

Potatoes were first cultivated by the ancient Incas around 3000 B.C. They would doubtless scorn today's instant potato flakes and, I must admit, I don't have much use for them either. But they work fine and make preparation a snap in this recipe from the National Dairy Board.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

3/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

3 cups low-fat milk

1 cup chicken broth

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups instant mashed potato flakes (not granules)

1/3 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

3 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese, divided

Directions:

In medium saucepan melt butter. Add onion and green pepper. Cook and stir until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in milk, broth, and black pepper and bring to a boil. Stir in potato flakes. Cook and stir until thickened, about 1 minute. Set aside 1 tablespoon of each cheese. Stir in remaining cheeses and heat until melted. Sprinkle with reserved cheeses just before serving. Serves 4.

Chocolate Indulgence

The chocolate which Columbus tasted was not at all like this concoction from Chocolatier magazine. Introduced in the 1970's and sometimes referred to as Chocolate Decadence, this dense, practically flourless cake is aptly named, for it contains an entire pound of chocolate.

Ingredients:

1 pound coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate

10 tablespoons butter

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon flour

Directions:

Butter bottom and sides of springform pan, line bottom with circle of waxed paper, and dust sides with flour. Melt butter and chocolate together until smooth. Let cool 15 minutes. In large heatproof bowl whisk eggs and sugar until frothy. Set bowl over hot water and whisk egg mixture for 2-3 minutes until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and beat mixture at medium-high speed of electric mixer until it triples in volume and soft peaks form. Gently fold in flour. Fold one fourth of batter into chocolate mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining batter. Pour into pan and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until tester inserted into center comes out slightly moist. Cool, cut into wedges, and serve with raspberry sauce and whipped cream. Serves 8.

Got a recipe you'd like to share with our readers? Are you looking for a recipe for something in particular? Send your recipes and requests to The Harte Appetite, c/o Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699 or by e-mail to tharte@semovm.semo.edu.

~Tom Harte is a professor at Southeast Missouri State University and writes a food column every other week for the Southeast Missourian.