Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
Interestingly, from my part of England nowadays corn is always used to mean maize - but there are plenty of examples showing its past use for grain crops - e.g. corn dollies.
Cheers
Cheers
Be careful of what's on the menu.
- Thread starter Kuld
- Start date
Mercule
Adventurer
Something that has periodically befuddled me -- but not enough to actually Google an answer -- is what Italians ate before tomatoes (and pasta, for that matter) were introduced. Now, I understand that as an American, and a Midwesterner at that, I've not exactly been exposed to a broad range of Italian food. Still, there doesn't seem to be much selection that doesn't include red sauce.
And, since I love thin spagetti with tomato sauce and roasted red peppers, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't recognize "real" Italian food if I was slapped with it.
And, since I love thin spagetti with tomato sauce and roasted red peppers, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't recognize "real" Italian food if I was slapped with it.
Last edited:
Oh, and lets not forget about cheese, lots of different animals for different cheeses! In a fantasy game this could be really really interesting. 
francisca
I got dice older than you.
Where I grew up in the midwest (NW Indiana), there were still ethnic neighborhoods in some areas, with plenty of grandmas from the "old country", so I was fortunate enough to experience many types of ethnic foods: italian, polish, greek, and german. Of course, where I am at now in the midwest, I get some good indian, korean, and mexican (yes, some real authentic stuff, not americanized, and from a few different regions to boot), but I can't find a decent Kielbasa to save my life, so I've started to make my own from my great uncle's recipe.Mercule said:
And to further muddy our palettes, since corn is traditionally a term for whatever grain is ubiquitous in an area, what is "corned beef"? Guess what? Has nothing to do with grain: http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/CornedBeef.htm
Kid Charlemagne
I am the Very Model of a Modern Moderator
I think "corn" was more of a generic term for "grain" than specifically wheat - though certain areas probably used it to describe what they grew. So sayeth The Straight Dope.
Another interesting thing: This may no longer be the case, but when I lived in France (1974-79) corn/maize was not generally used as a "people" food. There were maize fields all around where I lived, but it was all for animal feed. At the time, no one but us wacky Americans ate corn - and we had to import sweet corn seeds from the US and grow it ourselves.
Another interesting thing: This may no longer be the case, but when I lived in France (1974-79) corn/maize was not generally used as a "people" food. There were maize fields all around where I lived, but it was all for animal feed. At the time, no one but us wacky Americans ate corn - and we had to import sweet corn seeds from the US and grow it ourselves.
Committed Hero
Hero
Hand of Evil said:Oh, and lets not forget about cheese, lots of different animals for different cheeses! In a fantasy game this could be really really interesting.
They'd still have to be mammals in the strictest sense of the word, however.
My understanding is that in British English, "corn" means any grain. For instance, the Corn Laws of the 19th century applied to all grains traded between England and its colonies. In the Americas, corn means sweet corn. You'll find the British usage of corn in all kinds of quite common places, most notably in the King James Bible.
It is funny how we assume a certain eternity to the way food is made. Italians didn't do tomato sauce until 1830 and, of course, didn't have noodles until the 13th century. Indian food wasn't spicy hot (it was spicy in all other ways though) until hot peppers arrived there from the Americas in the 16th century.
Because we like to maintain this myth that Europeans were the ones who brought technology and civilization to the Americas, we spend very little time imagining how Europe could have become what it is without its gold supply doubling in the 16th century through plundering Inca and Aztec gold and the introduction of potatoes, tomatoes, sweet corn/maize, etc.
It is funny how we assume a certain eternity to the way food is made. Italians didn't do tomato sauce until 1830 and, of course, didn't have noodles until the 13th century. Indian food wasn't spicy hot (it was spicy in all other ways though) until hot peppers arrived there from the Americas in the 16th century.
Because we like to maintain this myth that Europeans were the ones who brought technology and civilization to the Americas, we spend very little time imagining how Europe could have become what it is without its gold supply doubling in the 16th century through plundering Inca and Aztec gold and the introduction of potatoes, tomatoes, sweet corn/maize, etc.
Desdichado
Hero
As much as the linguistic drift of the word corn fascinates me, I'll have to add my support to reanjr's hypothesis; since the Forgotten Realms, or whatever other D&D setting you're using is not actually medieval Europe, I'm not sure I understand exactly what the question is.
yes, but I may not say strictest sense for fantasy...how much fun to milk a drider!Committed Hero said:
It is sticky too. 
Mozzarella cheeze is made from buffalo milk
Desdichado
Hero
No it's not. And even if it was, buffalo are just a variety of cattle anyway, so it's not really that exotic.Hand of Evil said:
