Gardens of New Spain: How Mediterranean Plants and Foods Changed America

by William W. Dunmire, Evangeline L. Dunmire (Illustrator)

When the Spanish began colonizing the Americas in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, they brought with them the plants and foods of their homeland--wheat, melons, grapes, vegetables, and every kind of Mediterranean fruit. Missionaries and colonists introduced these plants to the native peoples of Mexico and the American Southwest, where they became staple crops alongside the corn, beans, and squash that had traditionally sustained the original Americans. This intermingling of Old and New World plants and foods was one of the most significant fusions in the history of international cuisine and gave rise to many of the foods that we so enjoy today.

Gardens of New Spain tells the fascinating story of the diffusion of plants, gardens, agriculture, and cuisine from late medieval Spain to the colonial frontier of Hispanic America. Beginning in the Old World, William Dunmire describes how Spain came to adopt plants and their foods from the Fertile Crescent, Asia, and Africa. Crossing the Atlantic, he first examines the agricultural scene of Pre-Columbian Mexico and the Southwest. Then he traces the spread of plants and foods introduced from the Mediterranean to Spain's settlements in Mexico, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California. In lively prose, Dunmire tells stories of the settlers, missionaries, and natives who blended their growing and eating practices into regional plantways and cuisines that live on today in every corner of America.

Genres: History, Food

375 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

Reviews

[Judith]

Fascinating history of plants and animals brought from the "Old World" tp the new, and from the "New" back.

For longer review: https://www.academia.edu/238295/Garde...

[Abby]

I've become a cautious fan of Dunmire as both a historian and a writer. Our interests dovetail perfectly, and he seems to have a fine command of the primary source documents, the archaeological research, and the botany. As usual, he put everything interesting in one place, well organized with handy-dandy lists and pretty pictures. As usual, his style is clean and informative. The historic trends are somewhat oversimplified, which is why I hesitate to go fangirl. Overall, though, this is the book I am always looking for and so very seldom find. Hats off.

How am I the only written review on the Goodreads page? You know what, forget it--I'll go fangirl. This guy writes very nice books for the general public, and this one ought to be in every National Park giftshop and Local Interest bookshelf in the Southwest. Come on, academic presses. Get your marketing together.

[Kelsey]

I think this book does a good job of doing exactly what it sets out to do in the prologue - demonstrate the blending of two separate cultures (if you find yourself referring to all Native Americas as "one culture) and the different sorts of intermingling that happened with different environment, different time periods, and different people.

A little outdated in referring to Native Americans of North America as Indians, but still respectful. At the end of every chapter, there are several fruits and vegetable crops that are listed along with their background and dispersal.

Not the best history or best science book, but a decent combination of the two.