South American Foodways
Courtesy of State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory Project
Today we share this story in celebration of National Seafood Month.
Speaking of South American foodways in early 1700s, Captain Jorge Juan Antonio De Ulloaof the Spanish Navy writes, The coasts and neighboring ports abound in very delicious fish, [which] . . . constitute a considerable part of the food of the inhabitants of Guayaquil.” One finds “very large and fine lobsters, of which they make delicious ragouts,” which they season . . . with Guinea pepper, which, though small, is so very strong” says the Captain. He adds, the “person, not accustomed to it, suffers either way. If they eat, their mouths seem in a flame; if they forbear, they must endure hunger, they have to overcome their aversion to this seasoning; after which they think the Guinea pepper the finest ingredient in the world for [seasoning] their food.
