Pagenumbers in italics indicate illustrations and photographs.
100-mile diet, 27
A
abortion, celery and, 104
absinthe, 168
Achard, Franz, 61
Acosta, José de, 239
Adams, John, 255
Aesop’s fables, 277
alcohol, 93, 113, 122–124, 282
Allen, Woody, 8
American Indians
Amflora potato, 267
Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), 25–26
Anderson, Mark, 102
anthocyanins, 24, 59, 87, 327, 348
antioxidants, 158–159, 189, 207, 327
anti-vitamins, 74–75
aphrodisiacs
asparagus as, 13–15
beans as, 37
carrots as, 87
celery as, 102
eggplant as, 152
lettuce as, 167
sweet potatoes as, 250
tomatoes as, 316
Apicius, 15, 39, 57, 67, 184, 198
Apicius, Marcus Gavius, 39
apiol, 104–105
Appert, Nicholas, 223
Arabidopsis thaliana, 80
Ashley, Anthony, 71
asparagine, 24
asparagus
as aphrodisiac, 13–15
growth of, 12–13
history of, 15–21
how to eat, 24
as luxury, 21–23
medicinal uses of, 15
nutrients in, 24
origin of, 19
Peru and, 25–26
taxonomy of, 14
urine and, 23–24
white, 24–25
Asparagus! (movie), 26
asphodel, 4
Audubon, John James, 323
azote, 37
B
Bach, Johann Sebastian, 81
Bacillus thuringiensis, 161
Bacon, Francis, 92
Bagnal, Richard, 121
Banister, John, 285
Barclay, Robert, 7
Barlow, Joel, 125
Barnum, P. T., 30
Barry, Dave, 287
Bat Cave corn, 116
Bauhin, Gaspard (Caspar), 347
Beal, William James, 130
beans
American, 41–42
American Indians and, 31, 43, 45
cassoulet and, 40–41
Dark Ages and, 34–36
dopamine and, 38
fava beans, 33–34
flowers of, 32
Pythagoras and, 33–34
scarlet runner, 47–48
string, shell, and dried, 44–45
superstitions about, 36–38
taxonomy of, 32
Beaver, Hugh, 274
Beecher, Catharine, 322
beets
benefits of, 59–60
Charlemagne and, 57–58
hatred of, 54–55
mangel-wurzel, 62–63
medicinal uses of, 57
sugar, 61–62
taxonomy of, 55–56
bell peppers, 228
Benton, Isabella, 324
bergapten, 104
Berkeley, Miles Joseph, 261–262
beta-carotene, 88–89, 90–91, 176, 238, 335
betalains, 59
Beverley, Robert, 249
Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), 49
biodiversity, 131, 262, 331–332
Birdseye, Clarence, 222
Block, Eric, 203
Bockenheim, Johannes, 40
Booth, William, 321
Borgel (Pinkwater), 150
Brillat-Savarin, Jean Anthelme, 21–22, 169–170
broccoli, 76–78
Brown, Samuel, 230
Brussels sprouts, 79–80
Buchanan, James, 76
Buist, Robert, 321–322
Burbank, Luther, 263
Burpee, W. Atlee, 62–63, 72–73, 79, 96, 101, 108–109, 145, 171, 186, 301, 325
Bush, George W., 77
butterfly people, 127
C
cabbages
Arabidopsis thaliana and, 80
broccoli and, 76–78
Brussels sprouts and, 79–80
cauliflower and, 78–79
chromosomes of, 347
cleanliness of leaves, 73
fruit of, 80
heading, 70
kale, 68
kohlrabi, 68–69
medicinal uses of, 67–68
odor of, 74
sauerkraut and, 75–76
sugar content of, 93
taxonomy of, 69
Calgene, 338
Campbell, Robert, 3
cannibal tomato, 157
cantaloupe, 182–183
Canterbury Tales (Chaucer), 200
Carlsson, Arvid, 38
carotenemia (carotenosis), 90
carotenoids, 88–89, 237–239, 335
carrots
alcohol and, 93
butter and, 90–91
in colonial America, 95–96
cooked vs. raw, 89
love of, 84–85
modern varieties of, 97
parsnips and, 92–93
sweetness of, 91–94
taproots of, 94–95
taxonomy of, 85–86
vision and, 89–90
Carson, Kit, 238
Carter, Landon, 20–21, 136, 282
Cartier, Jacques, 71, 142, 278, 346
Casal, Gaspar, 126–127
Casanova, Giacomo, 102
cassoulet, 40–41
Castellanos, Juan de, 246–247
Castelnaudary, France, 40–41
Castelvetro, Giacomo, 280
Cato the Elder, 67
cauliflower, 78–79
celery, 100–108
chaconine, 250
Champlain, Samuel de, 31, 170, 279
Charlemagne, 57–58, 69, 76, 139, 184, 200, 298
Chavasse, Pye Henry, 244
chicha, 122–123
chili, 238
chlorophyllin, 175
cholera, 5
chuño, 245–246
Cieza de Leon, Pedro, 246
climacteric rise, 334
Cobbett, William, 220–221, 245, 251, 258, 308, 346
Cobo, Bernabé, 230
Colorado potato beetle, 160–161
color-blindness, 89–90
Columbus, Christopher, 30, 114, 142, 170, 216, 226–227
Colwin, Laurie, 46
Combs, Raoul, 245
Contained Environmental Life
Support System (CLESS) program, 80
Cook, James, 75–76
Cooney, Barbara, 9
corn
American Indians and, 31
in breakfast cereals, 131–133
breeding of, 128–131
colonists and, 114–115
coloration of, 119–121
domestication of, 116–118
genetic diversity, diseases and, 131
hybrids of, 130–131
Irish potato famine and, 260
mythology of, 117–118
nomenclature of, 114–115
nutritional value of, 126–128
popcorn and, 118–119
processing of, 128
sweetness of, 121–122
taxonomy of, 117
uses of, 112–114
Yellow Dent, 129
Corn Laws, 260
Corn Palaces, 133
Cortés, Hernando, 315
crop rotation, 37
Crum, George, 266–267
cucubitene, 239
Cucumber King, 139
cucumbers
cultivation of, 138–140
dangers of, 137
flavor of, 146
medicinal uses of, 140
nutrients in, 137–138
origin of, 136–137
pickling of, 142–144
straightening of, 145–146
superstitions about, 140–141
cucurbitaceans, 272
cucurbitacins, 146
Cunningham, John, 90
cyanogens, 49–51
D
Dalechamp, Jacques, 153
Dampier, William, 228
Dana, Richard Henry, 256
Darwin, Charles, 129–130
Day, Charles, 126
Delmonico’s, 155–156
de Mare, Anne, 26
de Medici, Catherine, 41, 77, 216, 307
dent corn, 120–121
De Re Coquinaria. See Apicius
De Re Rustica, 280
de Soto, Hernando, 278
desserts, carrots in, 91–92
deterrence, directed, 235
Deyeux, Nicolas, 62
Dick, Herbert W., 116
Diderot, Denis, 244–245
Dill, Howard, 276–277
Dillinger, John, 267
Diogenes, 67
Divers, George, 217
D. Landreth Seed Company, 308–309, 321
Dodoens, Rembert, 117, 152–153, 231
L-dopa, 37–38
Drake, Francis, 247
Dudley, Paul, 272
Durand, Peter, 223
E
Easter Island, 249
Eco, Umberto, 34–35
Edgar, Marriott, 22
eggplant
antioxidants in, 158–159
as aphrodisiac, 152
cannibal, 157
coloration of, 157–158
dangerous reputation of, 151, 153–154
domestication of, 150–151
origins of name, 154
potato beetles and, 160–161
varieties of, 159–160
Egyptian onions, 208
Elizabeth I (Queen of England), 42–43, 139, 250–251
Elysium Britannicum (Evelyn), 106–107
endozoochory, 339
Engield, Edward, 124
Erikson, Leif, 31–32
Evelyn, John, 91–92, 106–107, 166, 169, 184, 201, 307–308
F
famines, 259–261
favism, 34
Ferenczi, Alexander, 59–60
fermentation, 93
Feuerbohne, 48
Fisher, M. F. K., 73–74
flatulence, 48–49
Flexner, Stuart Berg, 70
Florentine Codex, 229
Fontanelle, Bernard le Bovier de, 22–23
Ford, Henry, 85
Forster, John, 256
Francis, Richard, 95
Franklin, Benjamin, 4, 23, 125, 144, 254
free radicals, 50
Fremont, John C., 124
French fries, 265–266
Friedman, Mendel, 317
fruits, vegetables vs., 180–181, 323
Fuchs, Leonhart, 114, 140, 152, 227
G
Galinat, Walton, 125
Gaman, Judith and Walter, 102
gardening, reasons for, 1–2
genetic engineering, 91, 128, 264, 267, 337–338
geosmin, 55
Gerard, John, 43, 48, 70, 78, 86, 92, 140, 153, 200, 227, 247, 249, 285, 299, 306–307, 317–318, 343, 348
Gibbons, Euell, 19
Glasse, Hannah, 218
Goddard, Benjamin, 47
Goldberger, Joseph, 127
Goldman, Amy, 275
Goodrich, Chauncey, 262
Gosnold, Bartholomew, 216–217
Gould, John, 287
Graham, Gordon, 328
Graham, Sylvester, 5–6
Grant, Ulysses, 142
Gray, Horace, 323
Grimod de la Renière, Alexandre, 17
Grizzard, Louis, 314
Grove, Hugh, 188
Gruskin, Benjamin, 175
Guggenheim, Marcus, 38
Guinness Book of World Records, 274
Gutenberg, Johann, 252
H
Hamilton, Alexander, 123
Hampl, Jeffrey and William, 127
Hancock, Thomas, 19
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 279–280
Hanna, Gordie “Jack,” 329
haricot (hericoq), 41–42
Hariot, Thomas, 31
Harris, John, 47
Hasbro, Inc., 265
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 9
Heinz, Henry J., 144–145
Hempstead, Joshua, 274
Henderson, Mary, 219
Henderson, Peter, 290
Henry VIII (King of England), 139, 250
Herodotus, 198
Herrick, Robert, 103
Hesiod, 4
heterosis, 130
Heyerdahl, Thor, 249
Hickey, Thomas, 218
Hole, Samuel Reynolds, 1
Horry, Harriott Pinckney, 143, 205–206, 319
hot sauces, 232
Hovey & Co., 321
Howden, James, 291
hybrid vigor, 130
I
Ingram, John, 107
inulin, 207
Irish potato famine, 259–261
iron, spinach and, 303–304
J
jack-o-lanterns, 290
James, Jesse, 238
Japanese radishes, 297–298, 301
Jefferson, Thomas, 4–5, 21, 44, 60, 72, 95, 108, 121, 124, 143–144, 155, 170, 185, 209, 217, 230–231, 256, 265–266, 275, 285, 300, 319, 347
Johnson, Edward, 281
Johnson, Robert Gibbon, 320
Josselyn, John, 19, 188, 281–282
K
kaempferol, 327
kale, 68
Katz, Solomon H., 36
Keeney, Calvin, 44
Keimer, Samuel, 4
Kellogg, John H. and Will K., 131–133
Kelly, Kirsten, 26
Kelly, Leonard J., 109
Knight, Thomas Andrew, 219–220
kohlrabi, 68–69
Kushajim, 16
L
Lamborn, Calvin, 222
Landreth Seed Company, 308–309, 321
Lane, Nick, 50
Laughman, J. R., 121
Leclerc, Georges-Louis, 275
lectins, 51
leeks, 208–209
Lemery, Louis, 23
Lenoir, Bill, 240
Lerner, George, 265
Leslie, Eliza, 6, 47, 142, 156
lettuce
as aphrodisiac, 167
chlorophyll in, 174–176
nutritional value of, 176–177
as soporific, 165–166
taxonomy of, 167–168
varieties of, 171–174
lettuce opium, 166
Liébalt, Charles Estienne and Jean, 137, 141
Lily family, 14
Lincoln, Abraham, 73
Lindley, John, 261
Lippman, Zach, 336
Little, John, 95
Lobrano, Alexander, 41
local eating, 26–27
loofah sponges, 273
Louis XIV (King of France), 17–18, 105, 155, 169, 216, 307
Louis XV (King of France), 17, 18, 102
Lovelock, Yann, 86
Lumière, Auguste and Louis, 268
Lycurgus, 66–67
Lynde, Isaac, 124
M
Machaiah, Jammala, 49
MacKinnon, J. B., 27
MacNeish, Richard, 116
mallow, 4
Mandeville, John, 153
mangel-wurzel, 62–63
mango melons, 193
Marggraf, Andreas, 61
Marquis, Frederick, 349
Martial, 39
Martineau, Harriet, 125
Martyr, Peter, 231
Mather, Cotton, 128–129
Mattioli, Pietro Andrea, 315
McNeill, William, 258
McWilliams, James, 291
melons, 181–183, 186–187, 192–193. See also Watermelons
Mendel, Gregor, 220
Miller, Phillip, 77
mint, peas and, 218–219
miomimetics, 73
M’Mahon, Bernard, 108, 142, 171, 256, 308, 321
Monroe, Marilyn, 268
Moore, Michael, 26
Moriyama, Naomi, 298
Morse, Samuel F. B., 156
Morton, J. B., 6–7
mustard oils, 74
N
NASA, 80
National Plant Germplasm Center, 159
Native Americans. See American Indians
niacin, 126–128
night blindness, 89
Nix, John, 323
nixtamalization, 128
Nobel Prizes, 238
Nottingham, Stephen, 56
nutraceuticals, 207
O
Obama, Barack and Michelle, 54
O. Henry, 204
Olympic athletes, 7
onions, 197–209
ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) analysis, 50
P
Paris green, 161
Parkinson, John, 86–87, 105–106, 140, 153, 187, 343
Parkinson’s disease, 38
Parmentier, Antoine-Augustin, 253–254
peas
breeding of, 219–221
mythology of, 212–213
origin of, 213
preservation of, 222–223
sugar in, 220–221
sugar snap, 222
taxonomy of, 213–214
varieties of, 215–218, 219, 221–222
pectins, 335
Pednekar, Mrinal, 49
Peel Robert, 259–260
pellagra, 126–128
Penn, Robert, 203
peppers
Aztecs and, 229–230
black, 226–227
chili and, 238
coloration of, 237–239
heat of, 231–235
hot sauces and, 232
medicinal uses of, 240–241
nutrients in, 239–240
origin of, 228–229
taxonomy of, 227–228
varieties of, 230–231
Pepsi, cucumber-flavored, 147
Perrault, Charles, 277
Perry, Matthew C., 297
Peru, 25–26
petioles, 107
phenolics, 158–159
pheromones, 102–103
Phillips, Henry, 239
photosensitizers, 103
Phytophthora infestans, 261–264
pickles, 142–144
Pinkwater, Daniel, 150
pirates, 228
Pisanelli, Baldassare, 36
Pleiades, 201
Pliny the Elder, 13, 15, 38–39, 57, 67–68, 93, 102, 138, 164, 165, 181–182, 199–200, 203, 279, 296–297
Plutarch, 34
Poisson, Jeanne Antoinette, 17
Polynesia, 249–250
pomegranate melons, 193
Pompadour, Madame de, 17, 18, 102
Pons, Jacques, 184
Popeye, 303
Post, C. W., 132–133
Post, Emily, 126
postage stamps, 267–268
Potage Parmentier, 254
Potager du Roi, 17–18
potatoes
alkaloids in, 250–251
in colonial America, 254–255
cultivars of, 255–256, 262–264
dehydrated, 266–267
domestication of, 245–246
fried, 265–267
Ireland and, 258–261
Mr. Potato Head toy and, 265
nutrients in, 256
Parmentier and, 253–254
Phytophthora infestans and, 261–264
propagation of, 257–258
Prussia and, 252
Quechua names for, 246
starch in, 267–268
sweet, 248–250
taxonomy of, 247–248
potato famine, 258–261
Potato War, 252
Prentice, Jessica, 27
Proust, Marcel, 23
psoralens, 103–104
psoriasis, 103
pumperkin, 282
pumpkins. See also Squashes
alcohol and, 282
bush cultivars of, 289
in colonial America, 281–283
cooking of, 283
four main species of, 274
giants, 275–278
jack-o-lanterns and, 290
medicinal uses of, 283–284
origins of, 278–279
taxonomy of, 272–274
uses of, 280
pungency, 232–234
Puritans, 43
Q
Queen Anne’s lace, 86, 94, 95, 96
Queen Anne’s pocket melons, 193
Quintinie, Jean-Baptiste de la, 18, 105
R
Rabelais, Francois, 344
radishes, 294–301
Rafald, Elizabeth, 141–142
Raleigh, Walter, 245, 247, 250, 258
ramification, degree of, 86
Randolph, Mary, 21, 60, 95, 156, 170, 218, 308, 317, 319
rapeseed, 342–343
Rapunzel, 299
Reid, Robert, 129
restaurants, 204
Rhizobia bacteria, 37
Rhodes, A. M., 122
Rick, Charles, 332–333
Riley, James Whitcomb, 277
Riley, Nancy, 180
Rister James, 276
Robiquet, Pierre Jean, 24
rocambole, 209
Roosevelt, Alice, 306
Rorer, Sarah, 156
Ross, Betsy, 60
Rozin, Paul, 236
rutabaga, 347–348
Ryan, O’Neill Jr., 175
S
Sahagún, Bernardino de, 288, 315
Samorini, Giorgio, 167
Sandburg, Carl, 347
sauerkraut, 75–76
Savoy spinach, 309–310
Say, Thomas, 160
Schrager, Victor, 275
Schultz, Charles, 277
Scoville Organoleptic Test, 233
seed corn, 116
seedless melons, 189–190
seed potatoes, 257
semi-savoy spinach, 310
Sewall, Richard, 251
shallots, 208
Shaw, George Bernard, 6
shrunken 2 gene, 121
Shull, George Harrison, 130–131
Shulman, Martha Rose, 46
Simmons, Amelia, 44, 45, 60, 95, 143, 189, 209, 218, 255, 283, 300, 319
“The Simpsons,” 232
Sleeper (movie), 8
smart breeding, 338
Smith, Alisa, 27
Smith, Andrew, 318
Smith, Bruce D., 31
Smith, John, 31, 170, 217, 281, 320–321
snap beans, 44–45
snow peas, 221–222
Socrates, 86
solanine, 250
Son-of-a-Bitch Stew, 238
spaghetti squash, 287–288
Spargelzeit, 25
spinach, 303–311
squashes, 31, 273, 283–289. See also Pumpkins; Zucchini
squmpkins, 273
stamps, 267–268
Standish, Miles, 114–115
starch, 120–121, 221, 229, 253, 267–268
Stoker, Bram, 202
Stommel, John, 159
Strabo, Walafrid, 298
Stradivari, Antonio, 14
strawberries, 23
Sturtevant, Edward, 157–158
sucrose, 61
sugar beets, 61–62
Sullivan, John, 121
super carrots, 91
supersweet corn, 121
Swain, Roger, 93
sweet corn, 121
sweetness of carrots, 91–92
of corn, 121–122
of fruits, 181
of melons, 192–193
peas and, 220–221
sugar beets and, 61–62
temperature and, 93–94
tomatoes and, 336
sweet potatoes, 248–250
Swift, Jonathan, 146–147
Switzer, Stephen, 107–108
Szent-Gyorgi, Albert, 238
T
Tacitus (Roman Emperor), 164–165
Tacuinum Sanitatis, 152, 168–169, 306
tarantula bites, 237
Tariff Act of 1883, 323
Taylor, George, 108
temperature, sweetness and, 93–94
Tewksbury, Joshua, 235
Thomas, Dylan, 93
Thorburn, Grant, 45, 171, 208, 321
Thoreau, Henry David, 275–276, 277
Thorpe, George, 123
Thresh, John Clough, 232
thyroid glands, 74–75
tigers, 202
Titian, 85
Toklas, Alice B., 69
Tolstoy, Leo, 6
tomatine, 317
tomatoes
alkaloids and, 317
as aphrodisiac, 316
in colonial America, 318–322
coloration of, 334–335
as dangerous, 316–317
disease-resistance in, 332–333
diversity of, 331–333
flavor of, 335–336
hybrids of, 332–333
medicinal uses of, 322
nutrients in, 326–328
origin of, 314–315
popularity of, 314
pronunciation of, 339
propagation of, 330–332
ripening of, 333–338
seed dispersal and, 338–339
Trophy, 324–325
varieties of, 324–325, 328–330
winter, 336–337
Tomato Genetics Resource Center, 332
tombs, 103
Tournefort, Joseph Pitton de, 228
transmigration, 34
trenches, 12
Trevelyan, Charles, 261
Trithemius, Johannes, 344
Trojan Horse, 87
Trollope, Frances, 5, 47, 125, 190–191
Tshabalala-Msimang, Manto, 60
tubers, 248
tulip bulbs, 206
Turner, William, 105
turnip-pate, 348
turnips, 343–349
Tusser, Thomas, 215
Twain, Mark, 78, 122, 192, 349
U
umbels, 94–95
V
vampires, 127
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 266
Van der Donck, Adrien, 185, 188, 280
vanillyl amides, 232
Van Meeter, James, 320
Vatsyayana, Mallanega, 13
Vauquelin, Louis Nicolas, 24
vegetables
consumption of, 7–8
nutrients in, 2
velvet beans, 38
Verrazano, Giovanni da, 30–31
Vespucci, Amerigo, 144
Vienna Vegetable Orchestra, 87
Vilmorin-Andrieux, 86, 96, 145, 157, 171, 221, 264, 273–274, 301, 325, 347
vinegar, 143
Viorst, Judith, 46
vision, 89–90
vitiligo, 103
von Arnim, Elizabeth, 9
von Jacquin, Nikolaus, 231
W
Wagner, Richard, 6
Waring, George E., 324–325
Warner, Charles Dudley, 197
Warnock, William, 276
War of Bavarian Succession, 252
War on Drugs, 25
Warren, Susan, 278
Washington, George, 21, 123–124, 171, 205, 217–218, 282, 285
watermelons, 180, 181, 187–192
Waters, Alice, 27
Watson, Ebbie, 127
Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, 123
Whitaker, Bruce, 159
White, E. B., 77
White, Gilbert, 191
Wilson, E. O., 262
Winckler, John, 77
Winthrop, John Jr., 71–72, 95, 300, 308
Wolff, Emil von, 303
Woolton Pie, 349
World Carrot Museum, 97
Wtewael, Joachim, 88
X
Ximénez, Francisco, 232
Y
yams, 248
Z
Ziolkowski, Jan, 345
Ziryab, 16–17