K EY PLANTS PRESERVE ELEMENTS OF CULTURE: A STUDY

Transcription

1 American Journal of Botany 101(4): K EY PLANTS PRESERVE ELEMENTS OF CULTURE: A STUDY OVER DISTANCE AND TIME OF FRESH CROPS IN PUERTO RICAN MARKETS IN HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A MOVEABLE FEAST 1,2 D AVID W. T AYLOR 3,5 A ND G REGORY J. A NDERSON 4 3 Department of Biology, University of Portland, Portland, Oregon USA; and 4 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut USA Premise of the study: People retain culinary customs when they migrate. We tested this commitment via the study of Puerto Rican fresh produce markets in the continental United States over time, 18 yr, and space, by comparisons with source markets in Puerto Rico (PR). Methods: A survey of Puerto Rican markets in Hartford (HT), Connecticut in was repeated in A comparative study was made at open-air markets in PR in Surveys recorded fresh crops, and interviews with vendors and Hartford Puerto Rican residents provided context. Key results: We recorded 84 plant crops (64 species; 32 families) for seven categories. The largest category was viandas (fresh, starchy root crops and immature fruits), followed by saborizantes (flavorings). In the second HT survey, 80% of the crops were still present. And ~90% of the HT crops and ~75% of the HT crops were shared with markets in PR. Conclusions: On the basis of our results, we suggest two new concepts. The persistence of these largely tropical foods in a temperate market far removed from tropical PR shows the importance of basic foods as an element of cultural identification. We recognize this stability as an example of culinary cultural conservation. Second, analysis of these fresh produce markets leads to the conclusion that viandas are the most prominent in diversity, persistence over time and distance, volume, and in terms of consumers willingness to pay. Accordingly, we consider the viandas a good example of a cultural keystone food group, a food group that is emblematic of a community s culinary conservation. Key words: culinary cultural conservation; cultural keystone food group; economic botany; ethnobotany; Hartford; keystone species; market crops; migrant cuisine conservation; Puerto Rico; viandas. People have been bringing their crops with them as they travel to new locations at least as far back as we have historical records (Sauer, 1952 ; Heiser, 1965, 1979, 1990 ; Crosby, 2003 ). 1 Manuscript received 9 August 2013; revision accepted 10 February The authors thank the University of Connecticut and the University of Portland for support of this work. A number of the teachers, staff, administrators, and students from the former Bulkeley High School, as well as staff and residents at La Casa Elderly, helped promote aspects of the study and facilitated connections with knowledgeable members of the Hartford Puerto Rican community. Similarly, Dr. Fernández Van Cleve and Dr. González Soto (both from the Colegio de Ciencias Agrícolas, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Mayagüez) were helpful with the commodities from markets in Puerto Rico, as were the vendors in the Frog Hollow/Park Street neighborhood, especially at El Mercado, La Plaza del Mercado and the Beanpot Restaurant in Hartford, and in the markets of Caguas, Ponce, and Río Piedras. Thanks to Mona Anderson and Aria Marco for helpful discussions. Aria also helped with fieldwork, library work, and the development of the manuscript. David Taylor especially acknowledges the unwaivering support of and countless loving contributions to his work by Joyce C. Taylor and Michael J. Taylor. 2 Part of the title is taken from a remark made by Ernest Hemingway to his friend and biographer Aaron Hotchner, If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast. ( Hemingway, 2009 ). The phrase became the title of a book of collected essays on Hemingway s life in Paris, published posthumously by his widow. 5 Author for correspondence ( taylorda@up.edu), phone: , fax: doi: /ajb Of course, prehistorically and historically much of this transfer of food crops to new locations was simply to assure physical survival, to provide nutrition in an unknown environment. We suggest that bringing crops along in recent historical times is more likely to help migrants in a different way as well. That is, it provides fundamental elements of home, some key links to who the people are, and a source of comfort and familiarity in a stressful new environment. We have looked at this phenomenon using markets for fresh crops that serve the Puerto Rican population of Hartford, Connecticut in studies that span time and space. The overall questions guiding the present study relate to the extent the Puerto Rican community of Hartford continues to use the foodstuffs typical of their native Puerto Rico (vs. the adoption of the more commonly available and less costly temperate alternatives), and what the essential components of these Puerto Rican foods are. We measured this conservation of cuisine by focusing on availability of fresh market crops, over nearly two decades. The fresh crops (vs. canned or dried) are particularly useful indicators given that many are imported from the tropics or subtropics and are perishable, and thus as a consequence, they are relatively expensive. Because of these factors, the fresh food products would not be sold consistently by vendors if there were not a strong and continuous demand. Of course, other Puerto Rican culturally important plant-based foods are obtained as canned or dried products, both in Hartford and Puerto Rico. For instance, rice and beans (including pigeon peas) obviously form an integral part of Puerto Rican cuisine ( Pérez y American Journal of Botany 101(4): , 2014 ; Botanical Society of America 624

2 April 2014] TAYLOR AND ANDERSON CONSERVATION OF CUISINE 625 González, 2000 ), but these are foodstuffs that in dried form can be purchased wholesale by vendors in huge quantities and stored for long periods. We consider the fresh crops in the Hartford Puerto Rican community s markets a good measure of their effective, if not conscious, commitment to conserving the cultural cuisine of Puerto Rico. The additional difficulty and cost of procuring largely tropical, and thus less common, crops and of maintaining perishable items demonstrates a level of investment that is not associated with dry or canned products. We concentrated on the Park Street area (Frog Hollow neighborhood) in Hartford. This is the main commercial hub for the Puerto Rican community, where Spanish is the most commonly spoken language and where the greatest concentration of food and other markets catering to this cultural group are found. This neighborhood is home predominantly to Puerto Ricans that have moved directly to the continental United States from Puerto Rico. Many residents do not own vehicles and thus shop for goods in their neighborhood. The products available at these neighborhood markets therefore can be used as an indication of what foodstuffs are valued by the local community. Puerto Rican migration Puerto Ricans have migrated to Hartford over the last 70 yr ( Cruz, 1998 ), forming a large and thriving community. The 2010 Census figures show that Puerto Ricans constitute more than 33% of the city s person population ( U. S. Census Bureau, 2010 ). The large-scale migration of Puerto Ricans to Hartford, as well as other U. S. mainland cities, started as the result of changes in the agricultural sector of Puerto Rico. Under Spanish rule, and then as a part of the United States, Puerto Rico s economy was based on agriculture through the first part of the 20th century, mostly on the export crops coffee, sugar, and tobacco ( Picó, 2011 ). Starting in the 1940s, Puerto Rico s Operation Bootstrap policy attempted to address large-scale poverty and unemployment by shifting the base of the insular economy to industry and tourism ( Maldonado, 1997 ). Operation Bootstrap also promoted migration to the labor markets in the U. S. mainland, with large numbers of Puerto Ricans, including those formerly involved in Puerto Rico s agricultural sector ( Rudel et al., 2000 ), migrating, especially to New York City ( Maldonado, 1997 ). From New York City, Puerto Ricans migrated in search of employment to other cities in the Northeast, including Hartford ( Pérez y González, 2000 ) and then established communities in these areas ( Gonzalez, 2000 ). Puerto Rican migration to Hartford has continued over decades, as part of a larger trend, resulting in more Puerto Ricans on the mainland United States than in Puerto Rico ( PEW Hispanic Center, 2013 ). Puerto Ricans are citizens of the United States, and many regularly migrate back and forth between Puerto Rico and cities such as Hartford as part of a two-way, circular, migration pattern ( Maldonado, 1997 ; Duany, 2002 ). This migration pattern between these two regions helps maintain the exposure of migrants to the fresh products available in Puerto Rico, buffering erosion of the Puerto Rican cuisine in Hartford. Of course, the circular migration could also lead to reciprocal changes in the markets in Puerto Rico, promoted by additions and replacements from North America. Objectives Every culture s cuisine is complex, and most have multiple components that play fundamental and distinct, and at times complementary, roles nutritionally and/or through their cultural importance. For our study, we considered any fresh crop to be of cultural importance if the absence of that component would induce a sense that the cuisine was incomplete and perhaps that the migrant community was less connected to their culture. Given the modern, increasingly homogenized world where groceries, even ice cream, can be bought on the web, cultural connections transmitted through food are especially easy to lose, and thus, perhaps such connections are all the more precious in migrant communities, and the retention of crops all the more meaningful. We measure the prominence of a cuisine component in the market by the relative diversity of crops that it comprises, the frequency of availability of those crops throughout the year, the proportion of the market space dedicated to those crops (their volume ), and the willingness of consumers to pay more for the culturally connected crops than for other products that might be equivalent nutritionally. The specific objectives of this study were to (1) determine which fresh plant crops were being sold in markets catering to the Puerto Rican community of Hartford, (2) determine the consistency of availability of these crops in Hartford throughout the calendar year, (3) determine the persistence of these preferred produce crops in Hartford over a long time span (nearly two decades), (4) compare the diversity of fresh food crops in Hartford Puerto Rican markets (the sink in an ecological context) with that of markets in Puerto Rico (the source ), (5) interview vendors and other members of the Puerto Rican community to determine how crops are used as components of the Puerto Rican cuisine, and (6) use the market and interview data to determine the most prominent fresh crops in the Puerto Rican diaspora. MATERIALS AND METHODS Hartford In the first part of this study, the fresh produce of Park Street area markets was inventoried for 13 consecutive months from January 1993 through January 1994, to record the fresh plant products. Inventories were carried out on one to three market visits per month. Markets were inventoried once per month in January, April, May, August, September, and October of 1993, twice per month in February, March, July, November, and December of 1993, and three times per month in June 1993 and January Eight Park Street area markets were initially inventoried, but after the first 3 mo of this study, it became clear that the smaller markets all were selling subsets of products available in the largest single market, El Mercado, on Park Street. The focus of the 13-mo inventory was subsequently on El Mercado, with occasional visits to other markets to ensure that any additional crops present at other sites in this neighborhood were included in the study. During this 13-mo study, we interviewed market vendors and 65 other members of the Hartford Puerto Rican community to obtain qualitative information on the role of these crops in Puerto Rican cuisine and on background preferences for various commodities. We carried out both structured and unstructured interviews about crop utilization, using open-ended question and free-listing techniques. The information provided in these interviews was the basis for the crop usage categories employed in this paper. The process of locating interviewees and carrying out interviews was continuous throughout the year. Interviewees were selected by snowball sampling, initiated with acquaintances of one of the authors (D. Taylor) via previous experience. The author s personal connection with Puerto Rican teachers, staff, administration, and students from the former Bulkeley High School in Hartford (a public high school that at that time had more than 2000 students, approximately 80% of whom were Puerto Rican) was extremely valuable for this study because it allowed for comfortable, multiple interviews in the homes of interviewees and networking with the elders of this community. Through this networking, contacts were made with social workers from elderly housing complexes in the Park Street neighborhood, leading to interviews with groups of elderly residents. Interviewees were female and male and constituted a wide range of ages, occupations, and residence times outside of Puerto Rico. Interviews were held individually or with family groups, sometimes with three generations present. Sometimes larger groups of elderly citizens were interviewed with a social worker also present. Older interviewees were especially valuable in this study, given that in general they had a greater knowledge of crops and had spent more of their adult lives in Puerto

3 626 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY [Vol. 101 Rico. More time was spent with women interviewees than men because they typically had much more information about crop availability in markets and their preparation in Puerto Rican cuisine. All interviewees self-identified as being Puerto Rican except for the main produce manager at El Mercado, who self-identified as being Dominican (a point of some significance as noted in the text following). This manager s responses to questions regarding personal crop preferences and views of Puerto Rican cuisine were treated separately from those of other interviewees. Hartford The second part of this study took place in October (two surveys) and November (one survey) of 2009 and July (one survey) of 2010, when El Mercado (renamed La Plaza del Mercado) was resurveyed to determine the comparative diversity of fresh crops available in the Hartford market nearly two decades later. La Plaza del Mercado remained the largest and most diverse market for fresh produce in the Hartford Puerto Rican community in , and therefore was used, once again, as the main source for comparison. We also interviewed this market s new produce manager, who, like his colleague in 1993, self-identified as being Dominican. Puerto Rico 2009 In the third part of this study, markets were surveyed in Puerto Rico to compare the array of produce to that of Hartford. In November 2009, the fresh produce available in the main open-air markets, the plazas de mercado, in the cities of Caguas, Ponce, and San Juan (Río Piedras) was documented. The plazas de mercado were used for this study because they are considered to have the best representation of the crops used in the typical Puerto Rican diet (personal communication, Dr. Fernández Van Cleve, Colegio de Ciencias Agrícolas, UPR Mayagüez). Many members of the Hartford Puerto Rican community come either from these three cities in Puerto Rico or nearby areas, with an especially large representation of people from Caguas, the named sister city to Hartford. The choice of the specific market of Río Piedras in San Juan was based on the recommendation of Dr. Fernández Van Cleve and Dr. González Soto (also of the Colegio de Ciencias Agrícolas, UPR Mayagüez), who indicated that this would be the largest plaza de mercado on the island. It appeared that this market might constitute all of the market diversity in Puerto Rico, especially because many crops sold in markets throughout Puerto Rico are imported from the Dominican Republic, and pass through San Juan before being distributed throughout the island. Thirty-eight vendors were interviewed in Puerto Rico, 80% of whom were in the plaza del mercado of Río Piedras, San Juan. Unstructured interviews were carried out, using open-ended questions, and focusing on the names, area of cultivation, and utilization of the different crops. Vendors were female and male, and approximately three-quarters of them self-identified as being from the Dominican Republic. Hartford and Puerto Rico In all three parts of this study, interviews were carried out in Spanish, except in the very few cases in which interviewees preferred to use English. In both Hartford and Puerto Rico, photographic vouchers were made of vendors stalls, and then plant products were purchased and photographed off-site. The species, variety, and cultivar names, as well as English common names used for the crops in this study are from Morton (1972) and Wiersema and León (1999). The common names in Spanish are those that were used by interviewees in Puerto Rico and the Hartford Puerto Rican community. The identification of market crops, perforce, typically relies on incomplete data regarding the plants from which they came; virtually all products sold lack diagnostic features, such as reproductive parts, that would be important for species identification through taxonomic keys. Despite this, most crops in the Hartford and Puerto Rican markets were readily identifiable because the species and cultivars are well known, literature sources provide good descriptions, and the common names for these crops are quite standardized among vendors and other interviewees. There were more challenges with the yam crops encountered in this study; names for yam crops differed between Hartford and Puerto Rican markets and among different vendors in Puerto Rico. The yam common names used in the Hartford market were not cultivar names, instead they usually only described the source of the imported materials. Given that a country such as Brazil or Costa Rica can export more than one type of yam, and, of course, that the same cultivar can be exported by more than one country, these names are of limited usefulness for determining species and cultivar identities. However, in the markets of Puerto Rico 2009, yam common names did not refer to the exporting country, but rather were unique identifiers of particular species or cultivars. This made the common names in Puerto Rico useful for determining yam identity. For example, what was called ñame de Costa Rica in Hartford was called both ñame florido and ñame de agua in Puerto Rico. Given that Florido is a known name for a yam cultivar in Dioscorea alata grown in Puerto Rico and that ñame de agua (or its equivalent in English, water yam ) is a widely used common name for D. alata, we deduced that the most likely identity of this yam in both Puerto Rico and Hartford 2009 markets was D. alata cv. Florido. Yam crops of the Hartford market were largely identified through use of common names that were conserved from 1993 to 2010, supplemented by photographic vouchers of most of the crops taken in Ñame de Colombia/Puerto Rico from the Hartford market is tentatively identified here as D. rotundata cv. Guinea based on its prevalence in the Hartford market ( D. rotundata was also prevalent in Puerto Rico 2009), and that all the other yam crops were assignable to the other species of yam known from the 2009 Hartford and Puerto Rico markets. RESULTS Crops of Hartford and Puerto Rico Table 1 is comprehensive, with all of the plant products recorded at least once in markets of Hartford , Hartford , or Puerto Rico In this transmillennial study, 84 fresh crops representing 64 species in 32 families were recorded (see cover image for representative crops in a Puerto Rican market: ). Some crops merit further explanation. For instance, the green and mature forms of Cavendish bananas are treated as separate crops, as are green and mature forms of plantains. The green and ripe stages are treated as separate commodities because they have different culinary uses, and because vendors distinguished them and may sell either the green or ripe stage without selling the other. On the other hand, up to five potential cultivars of mangos (that we learned were transported to Hartford from Colombia, Florida, Haiti, Mexico, and Puerto Rico) were recorded in the inventory, but were indistinguishable as separate cultivars; thus, mangos are treated under one name only. Sources of domestication of listed crops The information on proposed original source of domestication in Table 1 was derived from Purseglove (1968a, 1968b, 1975 ), Vaughan and Geissler (1998), and Wiersema and León (1999). Thirty-five of the crops (42%) have New World origins, but notably, none are likely to have been first domesticated in Puerto Rico. Five of the crops (6%) have a known origin in Africa, four (5%) are from the Pacific, and the remaining 39 crops (46%) with known origins are from Europe or Asia. Coconut is pantropical. It is interesting to note that there are three instances in Table 1 of families that have both Old World (OW) and New World (NW) crops of considerable significance to the Puerto Rican cuisine: Apiaceae (e.g., OW: Coriandrum sativum, NW: Eryngium foetidum ), Araceae (OW: Colocasia esculenta, NW: Xanthosoma spp.), and Dioscoreaceae ( Dioscorea species from Africa, Asia, and the neotropics). Crops in Hartford: Usage categories Table 2 shows the details of the intensive 13-mo survey. Interviewees generally agreed on the following usage categories (with further explanation below): azúcar (AZ, sugar), frutas (FR, fruit), legumbres (LE, legumes), saborizantes (SA, flavoring or seasoning agents in food), vegetales (VE, vegetables), and viandas (VI, fresh, starchy crops). These categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, tomatoes could be placed in both vegetales and saborizantes categories, but here they are put in the saborizantes category due to their relatively more important role in concoction of sauces. The azúcar category is

4 April 2014] TAYLOR AND ANDERSON CONSERVATION OF CUISINE 627 used here only for fresh sugarcane, whose stem is chewed for its refreshing juice. Members of frutas are used for their often sweet, but sometimes acidic or tart, flavors and are typically eaten directly raw or are used to flavor cold beverages. While all crops in the frutas category are true fruiting structures, some crops in other categories are also, botanically speaking, fruits. The legumbres category consists of the single type of legume seed, gandules ( Cajanus cajan; pigeon peas), that was sold fresh both in Hartford in and Puerto Rico The vegetales category includes mostly temperate vegetable crops that are often used as cold salad items. The saborizantes category includes crops such as tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions, that are ingredients in many dishes including salads, but are categorized here as saborizantes because of the pivotal role that they play in sauces, together with other crops such as cilantro and recao (false coriander). These sauces, such as the iconic sofrito, add vibrant colors and tastes to many Puerto Rican rice, bean, soup, and meat dishes. The viandas category includes fresh, starchy crops that are often served baked, boiled, fried, or stewed. In the context of Puerto Rican cuisine, the term viandas does not refer to nonfresh, starchy crops like rice, other grains, or grain products such as pasta or bread. There are essentially two types of viandas in Puerto Rico: immature fruits whose starches have not yet converted to sugars, and underground storage units, that can be either roots or stems. Ripe plantains, despite having a higher sugar content, were included in this category by interviewees, apparently because they are always prepared cooked. Members of the Cucurbitaceae that are prepared cooked in Puerto Rican cuisine, i.e., kabocha squash ( Cucurbita maxima ) and chayote ( Sechium edule ), were also typically included in this category by interviewees. The prominence of viandas throughout the year In total, 74 fresh crops representing 57 species in 28 families were recorded in the inventory of the Hartford market ( Table 2 ). Viandas, with 24 crops (32%), was the category with the most representatives, followed by saborizantes (20 crops; 27%), frutas (18 crops; 24%), and vegetales (10 crops; 14%). The azúcar and legumbres categories each had only a single fresh representative. As shown in Table 2, 49 crops (66% of total) were present in at least half of the inventoried months (7 or more months), 38 crops (51% of total) were present in at least 10 of the inventoried months, and only 22 (30% of total) were present in at least 12 of the 13 inventoried months. Of the 22 crops present at least 12 mo, 15 (68%) were viandas, demonstrating dramatically the prominence of viandas for the entire year ( Fig. 1 ). Availability of genera of viandas The prominence of the viandas is also demonstrated by the conservation of their generic diversity throughout the year. Of the 11 genera of viandas in the market, all but two had representatives present for at least 12 months. The specific crops within some of these nine omnipresent genera had very different availabilities, due to various factors. For example, in Musa, green Cavendish bananas and green plantains were each present 12 of 13 months, but green guineo rulos appeared to be limited to a specific 3-mo season. In Xanthosoma, it is not seasonality, but rather a difference in which part of the plant is harvested that accounts for the different availabilities of yautía species. In yautía amarilla, the primary underground corm (termed la madre, the mother ) is usually harvested because it is more tender than the side cormels ( Morton, 1972 ). However, in yautía blanca and lila, it is the side cormels that are eaten, and multiple harvestable side cormels are produced. This apparently leads to a greater supply of yautía blanca and lila throughout the year, and also a correspondingly lower cost for these. A market vendor (Hartford 2009) explained that most people buy yautía lila instead of yautía amarilla because of the lower price. However, vendors queried in both Puerto Rico and Hartford consistently said that yautía amarilla is the best tasting of the three yautía cultivars. Morton (1972) and Purseglove (1975) also noted this preference for yautía amarilla in Puerto Rico. Crops in Hartford Continued prominence of viandas In October and November of 2009 and July of 2010, there were a total of 62 fresh crops in the Hartford market ( Table 3 ). Once again, it was the viandas, with 19 crops (31% of the market diversity), that constituted the category with the greatest number of representatives. The order of prominence of other groups followed that of Hartford from nearly two decades earlier: saborizantes (18 crops; 29%), frutas (13 crops; 21%), and vegetales (11 crops; 18%). Sugarcane was present, but there were no fresh legumes. Many viandas are relatively expensive starch sources Table 4 shows the prices for viandas, pasta, and rice in the Hartford market. Of course, the price for pasta and rice is for dry product, thus effectively increasing the relative cost per calorie of all the other products listed, which are priced for wet weight. Surprisingly, green plantains (imported from Ecuador) were by far the cheapest, even less costly than U.S.-grown potatoes. But the point is this: the Hartford market had 10 viandas crops that were more expensive than any potatoes or rice, and six viandas that were more costly than the highest priced pasta. Hartford compared with Hartford Three crops (2FR, 1VI) of the 62 in the Hartford market in were new, i.e., not also present in ( Table 3 ). Fifty-nine (80%) of the 74 crops present in the Hartford market in were still present in ( Table 3 ). The crops no longer sold in included one legumbre, two saborizantes, five viandas, and seven frutas. Put another way, 61% of the frutas, 79% of the viandas, 90% of the saborizantes, and 100% of vegetales crops, as well sugarcane, were persistent in the Hartford market over nearly a two-decade period. Of the 15 crops not found in , nine had been present minimally (for 4 mo or less) in , and 10 were from genera that were still represented in the market by other crops. Crops in Puerto Rico 2009 As shown in Table 3, 74 fresh crops were found in the markets in Puerto Rico, in the categories of viandas (22 crops; 30% of the diversity), saborizantes (22 crops; 30%), frutas (18 crops; 24%), vegetales (9 crops; 12%), azúcar (1 crop), and legumbres (1 crop). The additional usage category of semillas (SE, seeds) was created to accommodate breadnut ( Artocarpus camansi ), the single nonlegume seed crop present in Puerto Rico markets but not Hartford. Puerto Rico 2009 compared with Hartford and Fifty-four crops (73%) that were present in the 2009 Puerto Rico markets were also present in Hartford Of the 20 crops (8FR, 4SA, 6VI, 1SE, 1LE) not in Hartford

5 628 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY [Vol. 101 T ABLE 1. All fresh crops in Hartford , Hartford , and Puerto Rico 2009 markets. Family Species Common names (Spanish/ English) Origin Anacardiaceae Mangifera indica mango/ mango Asia Anacardiaceae Spondias dulcis jobo/ golden-apple Pacific Annonaceae Annona muricata guanábana/ soursop Neotropics Annonaceae Annona reticulata corazón/ custard-apple Neotropics Apiaceae Apium graveolens var. rapaceum apio/ celeriac Eurasia Apiaceae Coriandrum sativum cilantro, cilantrillo/ coriander Mediterranean Apiaceae Daucus carota zanahoria/ carrot Mediterranean Apiaceae Eryngium foetidum recao, culantro/ false coriander Neotropics Araceae Colocasia esculenta malanga palma, malangota/ NA Asia Araceae Colocasia esculenta cv. Blanca malanga blanca/ white taro Asia Araceae Colocasia esculenta cv. Lila malanga lila/ purple taro Asia Araceae Xanthosoma atrovirens yautía amarilla/ yellow cocoyam Neotropics Araceae Xanthosoma caracu yautía blanca/ white cocoyam Neotropics Araceae Xanthosoma nigrum yautía lila, yautía morada/ purple cocoyam Neotropics Arecaceae Cocos nucifera coco/ coconut Pantropics Asteraceae Lactuca sativa lechuga/ lettuce Mediterranean Brassicaceae Brassica oleracea var. capitata repollo morado/ red cabbage Mediterranean Brassicaceae Brassica oleracea var. capitata repollo verde/ green cabbage Mediterranean Brassicaceae Nasturtium offi cinale berro/ watercress Eurasia Bromeliaceae Ananas comosus piña/ pineapple South America Caricaceae Carica papaya lechoza grande/ large papaya Mesoamerica Caricaceae Carica papaya lechoza pequeña/ small papaya Mesoamerica Convolvulaceae Ipomoea batatas batata amarilla/ yellow sweet potato Neotropics Convolvulaceae Ipomoea batatas batata naranja/ orange sweet potato Neotropics Convolvulaceae Ipomoea batatas batata roja/ red sweet potato Neotropics Convolvulaceae Ipomoea batatas batata Koreana/ Korean sweet potato Neotropics Cucurbitaceae Citrullus lanatus sandía/ watermelon Africa Cucurbitaceae Cucumis sativus pepinillo/ cucumber Asia Cucurbitaceae Cucurbita maxima kabocha, calabaza/ kabocha squash South America Cucurbitaceae Sechium edule chayote amarillo/ yellow christophine Mesoamerica Cucurbitaceae Sechium edule chayote verde/ green christophine Mesoamerica Cucurbitaceae Sicana odorifera pepino angolo, pepino de Guinea/ cassabanana South America Dioscoreaceae Dioscorea alata ñame blanco de Brasil/ white Brazilian yam Asia Dioscoreaceae Dioscorea alata cv. Florido HT: ñame blanco de Costa Rica; PR: ñame florido, Asia ñame de agua/ water yam Dioscoreaceae Dioscorea cayenensis ñame amarillo de Jamaica/ yellow Guinea yam Africa Dioscoreaceae Dioscorea rotundata cv. Guinea HT: ñame blanco de Colombia, Puerto Rico; Africa PR: ñame habanero, ñame de Guinea/ white Guinea yam Dioscoreaceae Dioscorea trifi da mapuey/ cush-cush South America Euphorbiaceae Manihot esculenta yuca/ cassava Neotropics Fabaceae Cajanus cajan gandul/ pigeon pea Asia Fabaceae Tamarindus indica tamarindo/ tamarind Africa Flacourtiaceae Dovyalis hebecarpa aberia/ ketembilla Asia Lauraceae Persea americana aguacate/ avocado Mesoamerica Liliaceae Allium cepa cebolla blanca/ white onion Asia Liliaceae Allium cepa cebolla hispana/ yellow onion Asia Liliaceae Allium cepa cebolla roja/ red onion Asia Liliaceae Allium sativum ajo/ garlic Eurasia Malvaceae Abelmoschus esculentus guingambo/ okra Africa Moraceae Artocarpus altilis panapén/ breadfruit Pacific Moraceae Artocarpus camansi pana de pepita/ breadnut Pacific Musaceae Musa acuminata guineitos, guineo niños/ baby bananas Asia Musaceae Musa acuminata guineo maduro/ ripe Cavendish banana Asia Musaceae Musa acuminata guineo rojo/ red banana Asia Musaceae Musa acuminata guineo verde/ green Cavendish banana Asia Musaceae Musa paradisiaca guineo rulo, mafafo/ NA Asia Musaceae Musa paradisiaca plátano maduro/ ripe plantain Asia Musaceae Musa paradisiaca plátano verde/ green plantain Asia Myrtaceae Psidium guajava guayaba/ guava Neotropics Passifloraceae Passifl ora edulis parcha/ passionfruit South America Poaceae Saccharum offi cinale caña de azúcar/ sugarcane Pacific Poaceae Zea mays maíz/ corn Mesoamerica Punicaceae Punica granatum granada/ pomegranate Asia Rosaceae Fragaria ananassa fresa/ strawberry Europe Rubiaceae Genipa americana jagua/ genipap Neotropics Rutaceae Citrus aurantiifolia limón, limón verde/ lime Asia Rutaceae Citrus aurantium naranja agria/ bitter orange Asia Rutaceae Citrus limetta limón dulce/ sweet lime Asia Rutaceae Citrus limon lima agria, limón amarillo, limón agrio/ lemon Asia

6 April 2014] TAYLOR AND ANDERSON CONSERVATION OF CUISINE 629 TABLE 1. Continued. Family Species Common names (Spanish/ English) Origin Rutaceae Citrus reticulata mandarina/ tangerine Asia Rutaceae Citrus sinensis china/ orange Asia Rutaceae Citrus paradisi toronja/ grapefruit Asia Sapindaceae Melicoccus bijugatus quenepa/ genip South America Sapotaceae Manilkara zapota sapote/ chicle Mesoamerica Solanaceae Capsicum annuum jalapeño/ jalapeno Neotropics Solanaceae Capsicum annuum pimiento cubanelle/ cubanella pepper Neotropics Solanaceae Capsicum annuum pimiento rojo/ red bell pepper Neotropics Solanaceae Capsicum annuum pimiento verde/ green bell pepper Neotropics Solanaceae Capsicum chinense ají dulce, ajicitos dulces/ sweet pepper Neotropics Solanaceae Capsicum frutescens ají picante/ hot pepper Neotropics Solanaceae Solanum lycopersicum tomate/ tomato Neotropics Solanaceae Solanum melongena berenjena/ eggplant Asia Solanaceae Solanum tuberosum papa/ gray potato South America Solanaceae Solanum tuberosum papa roja/ red potato South America Vitaceae Vitis vinifera uva/ grape Eurasia Zingiberaceae Zingiber offi cinale jenjibre/ ginger Asia Notes : NA, no English common name is known. When different common names were used by interviewees in Hartford (HT) and Puerto Rico (PR), those are noted separately , 12 crops (60%; 5FR, 4VI, 2SA, 1LE) were present in Hartford in the earlier survey ( ). Thus, only eight (11%) of the 74 crops in Puerto Rico markets were unique there, i.e., not found in Hartford or Two of the crops (FR) shared by Puerto Rico and Hartford markets were not in Hartford Overall, 64 crops (87%) that were present in the 2009 Puerto Rico markets were also present in the Hartford market. Crops found in Hartford but not Puerto Rico Three crops (2FR, 1VI) were unique to Hartford Only the Korean sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas, was unique to Hartford Seven crops (3FR, 2VE, 2VI) were found in both Hartford and markets but not in Puerto Rico. A comparison of the structure of the markets Figure 2A shows that Hartford had fewer crops in each category, except for vegetales, but, overall, the structure of all three sampling periods (Puerto Rico 2009, Hartford and ) is similar. The relative proportions of the different categories across the three sampling periods also remained similar, as clearly displayed in Fig. 2B. The structure of the market has basically remained the same over both distance and time. DISCUSSION Crop consistency over time and space Hartford markets over time There was impressive consistency in the array of crops, and in particular in the viandas, over the nearly two decades of the study: 80% of the crops present in Hartford were still present when the market was resurveyed in As noted, most of the crops that were absent in were not common in , and furthermore, many were highly perishable tropical/subtropical fruits. Thus, it is possible that their perhaps sporadic presence in the markets did not coincide with our sampling. It is also possible that they were already being phased-out from the market during our original survey and were simply gone in The fact that most of the crops absent in were still represented by congeners with similar dietary roles makes it tempting to hypothesize that such congeners are functional equivalents that can replace each other in the Puerto Rican cuisine without any noticeable effect. However, interviews with members of this community regarding, perhaps cryptic, functional differences among congeners, as well as personal preferences, indicate that this is not necessarily true. This is illustrated in our discussion of congener crops, in a later section. Crops unique to Hartford The great majority of the crops found in Hartford were also in the markets of Puerto Rico. Some of the unique Hartford crops were characteristic of temperate/cool climates and easily obtained from local farms (e.g., strawberries). The tropical/warm climate crops found in the Hartford market but not in Puerto Rico include two fruits, pomegranate and guava, and the yellow Guinea yam ( Dioscorea cayenensis ). The fruits are more seasonal and perishable and are likely present in Puerto Rico at times that did not happen to coincide with our sampling. However, the yellow Guinea yam exemplifies a different scenario. The presence of the yellow Guinea yam in Hartford markets was not surprising given the ethnic diversity in the city. Hartford vendors explained that while Latino customers will sample the yellow yam, it is primarily offered in their market for their (more limited) Jamaican clientele (Jamaica also was cited by vendors as the source for the yellow-fleshed yam). Purseglove Fig. 1. Percentage of total available crops from different usage categories present for different durations in Hartford markets. Usage categories: FR (frutas/fruits), SA (saborizantes/flavorings), VE (vegetales/ vegetables), and VI (viandas/fresh, starchy crops).

7 630 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY [Vol. 101 T ABLE 2. Monthly availability of fresh crops in Hartford market. Use Common names (Spanish/ English) J F M A M J J A S O N D J2 No. months present AZ caña de azúcar/ sugarcane x x x x x x x x x 9 FR corazón/ custard-apple x 1 FR guanábana/ soursop x x 2 FR guayaba/ guava x x 2 FR fresa/ strawberry x x x 3 FR granada/ pomegranate x x x 3 FR jobo/ golden-apple x x x 3 FR lechoza pequeña/ small papaya x x x 3 FR mandarina/ tangerine x x x x 4 FR piña/ pineapple x x x x 4 FR quenepa/ genip x x x x 4 FR guineo rojo/ red banana x x x x x x x 7 FR china/ orange x x x x x x x x x 9 FR guineitos/ baby bananas x x x x x x x x x x 10 FR guineo maduro/ ripe Cavendish banana x x x x x x x x x x 10 FR lechoza grande/ large papaya x x x x x x x x x x 10 FR mango/ mango x x x x x x x x x x 10 FR toronja/ grapefruit x x x x x x x x x x x 11 FR uva/ grape x x x x x x x x x x x 11 LE gandules/ pigeon peas x x 2 SA ají picante/ hot pepper x x 2 SA limón dulce/ sweet lime x x x 3 SA tamarindo/ tamarind x x x x x 5 SA naranja agria/ bitter orange x x x x x x 6 SA cebolla hispana/ yellow onion x x x x x x x x 8 SA tomate/ tomato x x x x x x x x 8 SA pimiento rojo/ red bell pepper x x x x x x x x x 9 SA pimiento verde/ green bell pepper x x x x x x x x x 9 SA cebolla blanca/ white onion x x x x x x x x x x 10 SA cebolla roja/ red onion x x x x x x x x x x 10 SA jenjibre/ ginger x x x x x x x x x x 10 SA ajo/ garlic x x x x x x x x x x x 11 SA lima agria/ lemon x x x x x x x x x x x 11 SA limón/ lime x x x x x x x x x x x 11 SA ají dulce/ sweet pepper x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 SA coco/ coconut x x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 SA jalapeño/ jalapeno x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 SA pimiento cubanelle/ cubanella pepper x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 SA cilantro/ coriander x x x x x x x x x x x x x 13 SA recao, culantro/ false coriander x x x x x x x x x x x x x 13 VE berro/ watercress x 1 VE guingambo/ okra x x 2 VE pepinillo/ cucumber x x 2 VE maíz/ corn x x x 3 VE repollo morado/ red cabbage x x x x x 5 VE lechuga/ lettuce x x x x x x x x x x 10 VE zanahoria/ carrot x x x x x x x x x x 10 VE berenjena/ eggplant x x x x x x x x x x x 11 VE repollo verde/ green cabbage x x x x x x x x x x x 11 VE aguacate/ avocado x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 VI ñame de Brasil/ white Brazilian yam x x 2 VI guineo rulo, mafafo/ NA x x x 3 VI ñame blanco de Costa Rica/ water yam x x x x 4 VI panapén/ breadfruit x x x x 4 VI papa roja/ red potato x x x x x x 6 VI mapuey/ cush-cush x x x x x x x 7 VI apio/ celeriac x x x x x x x x 8 VI ñame amarillo de Jamaica/ yellow Guinea x x x x x x x x 8 yam VI yautía amarilla/ yellow cocoyam x x x x x x x x 8 VI chayote amarillo/ yellow christophine x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 VI guineo verde/ green Cavendish banana x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 VI malanga blanca/ white taro x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 VI ñame blanco de Colombia, Puerto Rico/ x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 white Guinea yam VI papa/ gray potato x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 VI plátano maduro/ ripe plantain x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 VI plátano verde/ green plantain x x x x x x x x x x x x 12

8 April 2014] TAYLOR AND ANDERSON CONSERVATION OF CUISINE 631 TABLE 2. Continued. Use Common names (Spanish/ English) J F M A M J J A S O N D J2 No. months present VI yautía blanca/ white cocoyam x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 VI yautía lila, yautía morada/ purple cocoyam x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 VI batata naranja/ orange sweet potato x x x x x x x x x x x x x 13 VI batata roja/ red sweet potato x x x x x x x x x x x x x 13 VI chayote verde/ green christophine x x x x x x x x x x x x x 13 VI kabocha, calabaza/ kabocha squash x x x x x x x x x x x x x 13 VI malanga lila/ purple taro x x x x x x x x x x x x x 13 VI yuca/ cassava x x x x x x x x x x x x x 13 Notes : Use categories: AZ (azúcar/sugarcane), FR (frutas/fruits), LE (legumbres/legumes), SA (saborizantes/flavorings), VE (vegetales/vegetables), and VI (viandas/fresh, starchy crops). Months are abbreviated with their first letter, starting with January 1993 and ending with January 1994 (J2). An x indicates presence in the market. (1975) explains that this yam is generally more popular in Jamaica than in the eastern Caribbean. This is an example of how offering items targeted to different cultural groups broadens the customer base and can confuse interpretations from market surveys alone (i.e., surveys without interviews). These new crop insertions into a market (sensu Nguyen, 2006 ) may result in an expansion of the migrant community cuisine. By living in Hartford, the Puerto Rican shoppers are not just exposed to and potentially influenced by the crops of the majority community (perhaps best epitomized by the produce section of any local mega-market), but they also are exposed to the crops of other minority communities like the yellow Guinea yam. This, of course, in time, might lead to a blurring of the cultural identity associated with food preferences (more discussion below), to a homogenization of the markets, and eventually, perhaps to a loss of the original cultural identity. Crops unique to Puerto Rico Most of the crops found in Puerto Rico were also present in Hartford The majority of those absent in Hartford were fruits of warm/ tropical climates that are highly perishable, and probably sporadic in their availability to Hartford markets. Difficulties with shipping and freshness of some crops could have also been an issue, such as with the fresh seeds of breadnut that were available at every market in Puerto Rico. The lack of this crop in Hartford markets is likely due to the high oil and low organic acid content of these seeds, making them prohibitively difficult to export in unprocessed, fresh form ( Adeleke and Abiodun, 2010 ). Some of the unique Puerto Rico crops were limited by local and small production, so much so that they were only being sold by a single vendor in a single market. An example of this was malanga palma/malangota; its sole vendor explained that he harvested these enormous pieces of rhizome (up to 1.5 m in length and 20 cm in diameter) from his small farm and sold them to families for making special pasteles de Navidad (vianda paste and meat wrapped in leaves). In summary, none of the crops absent from Hartford constitutes an exception that suggests a principle regarding conservative culinary behavior in migrant groups. Congener crops are not necessarily interchangeable in function The presence of Dioscorea rotundata cv. Guinea in Puerto Rico markets and its absence from Hartford might seem to indicate that other white yam crops, such as D. alata cv. Florido, are able to functionally replace it in Hartford. However, according to vendors in Puerto Rico, there are differences in culinary function between the different types of white yam. Vendors interviewed in Puerto Rico regarding components of the common sancocho stew indicated that although D. rotundata and D. alata appear the same inside, D. rotundata is harder and takes longer to cook. This means that D. rotundata stays intact during the normal cooking time for sancocho, whereas D. alata falls apart early. Accordingly, D. rotundata is preferred for sancocho, and D. alata is used more as a side dish. This example suggests that the different yam crops in Hartford or Puerto Rico markets are not necessarily interchangeable in function, and that, at least in Puerto Rico, people do recognize differences that affect food preparation. People make fine distinctions regarding their foods, and they (at least first-generation migrants) may carry these distinctions with them when they move to new locations. However, other factors, such as cost, may affect such preferences. Dioscorea alata is higher yielding than D. rotundata ( Purseglove, 1975 ); as a result, it is probably cheaper and easier for vendors to sell in Hartford. It is possible that the lower-yielding D. rotundata is preferred by Hartford Puerto Rican shoppers, but only becomes affordable when imported the short distance from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico. Perhaps it is not only in supermarkets dependent upon highly mechanized agricultural production where people are subject to reduction in food quality as a consequence of wholesale cost-savings ( Hightower, 1973 ). Origin of Puerto Rican plant-based cuisine Crops are domesticates from other lands There is no evidence that any of the New World crops in this study were first domesticated in Puerto Rico. Pre-Columbian travel and crop exchange by Amerindian groups undoubtably brought a mixture of crops from neighboring lands ( Sauer, 1952 ; Heiser, 1965 ; Pagán-Jiménez, 2011 ; Picó, 2011 ) to Puerto Rico, where they were used by the indigenous Taínos. After the arrival of Europeans to Puerto Rico in the middle of the previous millennium and their subsequent use of African slaves there, the plant foods employed there became a mixture of African, European, and indigenous Taíno ( Espenshade, 2000 ; Pagán-Jiménez, 2011 ), although the Taíno population was largely exterminated soon after contact with the Europeans. The Puerto Rican cuisine of today therefore is relatively young and has heterogeneous origins, not unlike the Puerto Rican population itself. The mixture of food crops cultivated and consumed in Puerto Rico has subsequently become further enriched by later groups of immigrants and migrants from all parts of the world. Particularly when compared to Old World crops in the same genus that serve a similar dietary function, one might expect that crops native to the Caribbean basin, due to their longer historical presence in the region, would play the most central role in current Puerto Rican cuisine.

9 632 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY [Vol. 101 T ABLE 3. Comparison of fresh crops present in Hartford , Hartford , and Puerto Rico 2009 markets. Use Common names (Spanish/ English) HT HT RP CA PO Use Common names (Spanish/ English) HT HT RP CA PO AZ caña de azúcar/ sugarcane x x x FR china/ orange x x x x x FR chironja*/ NA x x FR corazón/ custard-apple x FR fresa/ strawberry x x FR granada/ pomegranate x x FR guanábana/ soursop x x FR guayaba/ guava x x FR guineitos/ baby bananas x x x x x FR guineo maduro/ ripe x x x x x Cavendish banana FR guineo rojo/ red banana x x FR jobo/ golden-apple x x x x FR lechoza grande/ large papaya x x x x x FR lechoza pequeña/ small x papaya FR mandarina/ tangerine x x x FR mango/ mango x x x x x FR parcha/ passionfruit x FR pepino angolo, pepino x x de Guinea/ cassabanana FR piña/ pineapple x x x x x FR quenepa/ genip x x x FR sandía/ watermelon x x x FR sapote/ chicle x x FR toronja/ grapefruit x x x x x FR uva/ grape x x x LE gandules/ pigeon peas x x x x SA aberia/ ketembilla x SA ají dulce/ sweet pepper x x x x x SA ají picante/ hot pepper x x x SA ajo/ garlic x x x x SA cebolla blanca/ white onion x x x x x SA cebolla hispana/ yellow x x x x x onion SA cebolla roja/ red onion x x x x x SA cilantro/ coriander x x x x x SA coco/ coconut x x x x x SA jagua/ genipap x x SA jalapeño/ jalapeno x x SA jenjibre/ ginger x x x x SA lima agria/ lemon x x x x x SA limón/ lime x x x x x SA limón dulce/ sweet lime x x x x SA naranja agria/ bitter orange x x x x SA pimiento cubanelle/ x x x cubanella pepper SA pimiento rojo/ red sweet bell x x x pepper SA pimiento verde/ green bell x x x x x pepper SA recao, culantro/ false x x x x x coriander SA tamarindo/ tamarind x x x SA tomate/ tomato x x x x SE pana de pepita/ breadnut x x x VE aguacate/ avocado x x x x VE berenjena/ eggplant x x x x VE berro/ watercress x x x VE guingambo/ okra x x x VE kabocha, calabaza/ kabocha x x x x x squash VE lechuga/ lettuce x x x VE maíz/ corn x x x x VE pepinillo/ cucumber x x x VE repollo morado/ red cabbage x x VE repollo verde/ green x x cabbage VE zanahoria/ carrot x x x x VI apio/ celeriac x x x x x VI batata amarilla/ yellow x sweet potato VI batata Koreana/ Korean x sweet potato VI batata naranja/ orange sweet x x x x potato VI batata roja/ red sweet potato x x x x VI chayote amarillo/ yellow x x x x christophine VI chayote verde/ green x x x christophine VI guineo rulo, mafafo/ NA x x VI guineo verde/ green x x x x x Cavendish banana VI malanga blanca/ white taro x x VI malanga lila/ purple taro x x x x x VI malanga palma, malangota/ x NA VI mapuey/ cush-cush x x x VI ñame amarillo de Jamaica/ x x VI VI yellow Guinea yam HT: ñame blanco de Colombia, Puerto Rico; PR: ñame habanero, ñame de Guinea/ white Guinea yam HT: ñame blanco de Costa Rica; PR: ñame florido, ñame de agua/ water yam x x x x x x x x x VI ñame de Brasil/ white x Brazilian yam VI panapén/ breadfruit x x x x x VI papa/ gray potato x x x x VI papa roja/ red potato x x VI plátano maduro/ ripe x x x x plantain VI plátano verde/ green plantain x x x x x VI yautía amarilla/ yellow x x x x cocoyam VI yautía blanca/ white x x x x x cocoyam VI yautía lila, yautía morada/ x x x x x purple cocoyam VI yuca/ cassava x x x x x Notes : Hartford is abbreviated as HT. Puerto Rican markets are Río Piedras (RP), Caguas (CA), and Ponce (PO). NA indicates that no English common name is known for this crop. When different common names were used by interviewees in Hartford (HT) and Puerto Rico (PR), those are noted separately. *Chironja = hybrid of orange (china) and grapefruit (toronja). An x indicates presence in the market. However, this is not necessarily true, as illustrated by the yam example in the section following. Old World vs. New World yam crops in Puerto Rican cuisine today The cultural importance of yams in some of the areas where they originated is well known, particularly in the African Yam Zone, where these crops are involved in religious and social ceremonies ( Arua, 1981 ; Hahn, 1995 ). Dioscorea trifi da is the only food yam native to the New World (northern South America); D. alata originated in Asia, and D. rotundata and D. cayenensis are native to the west coast of Africa ( Ayensu and Coursey, 1972 ; Purseglove, 1975 ). None of the food yams used

10 April 2014] TAYLOR AND ANDERSON CONSERVATION OF CUISINE 633 TABLE 4. Prices of viandas relative to rice and pasta in the Hartford market. Common name (Spanish/ English) Price/lb (US$) Exporter plátanos/ plantains 0.27 Ecuador (green) papas/ potatoes USA yuca/ cassava Costa Rica guineos/ Cavendish bananas 0.49 Colombia (green) arroz/ rice (dry weight) USA batatas/ sweet potatoes 0.79 Dominican Republic pasta/ pasta (dry weight) USA, Italy yautías/ cocoyams Costa Rica chayote verde/ green 1.03 Costa Rica alligator pear malangas/ taros Nicaragua ñames/ yams Jamaica, Costa Rica panapén/ breadfruit 1.79 Dominican Republic apio/ celeriac 2.99 Dominican Republic Note : Price ranges reflect differences over time and in some cases among different crops within the same genus. in Puerto Rico or Hartford markets are native to Puerto Rico. However, there is evidence that D. trifi da was used in Puerto Rico in pre-columbian times ( Pagán-Jiménez, 2011 ). Dioscorea alata and D. rotundata arrived much later in Puerto Rico, in early post-columbian times, transported in the holds of slave-trade ships ( Purseglove, 1975 ). Given the greater historical connection of D. trifi da with the Caribbean and the generally high regard of it as food in that region ( Purseglove, 1975 ), one might expect this species to be the yam with greatest prominence in the markets of Puerto Rico. However, we found that while D. alata cv. Florido and D. rotundata cv. Guinea were sold by almost every vendor in all three Puerto Rico markets studied, D. trifi da was only sold by a single vendor in one market (i.e., Río Piedras). The limited representation of D. trifi da in the Puerto Rican markets cannot be ascribed to the seasonality of the crop, given that we recorded it in Hartford during June and July and September through January. Perhaps D. trifi da was more important in Puerto Rico in earlier times and has been supplanted by the Old World yams due to their larger size (more flesh per peeled surface area), higher yields (yields are especially high in D. alata, Purseglove, 1975 ), or greater storability. The observation that D. trifi da was the only yam in the Puerto Rican market with protective wax coating points to it as perhaps being more prone to early rotting than the other yams. It is also possible that D. trifi da never played a major role in the diet of Puerto Rico s inhabitants and that they never developed a strong cultural attachment to it because of the other root crops native to northern South America that were available in Puerto Rico around the same time ( Espenshade, 2000 ; Pagán-Jiménez, 2011 ). Northern South America was an important region for the prehistoric use of native, starchy, underground crops (e.g., Ipomoea batatas, Manihot esculenta, and Xanthosoma species), possibly by fishing communities who used plants essentially for starch ( Sauer, 1981 ). The presence of these other starchy crops in the pre-columbian era might have led to lower cultural stature for D. trifi da in the Caribbean, unlike the high cultural stature that was enjoyed by African or Asian yams in their native regions ( Ayensu and Coursey, 1972 ). Of course, even if the original Amerindians of Puerto Rico had formed a strong cultural attachment to D. trifi da, that attachment might have been lost after the arrival of the Spanish and the subsequent destruction of the indigenous culture. Perhaps just as the Amerindian population was replaced by the Europeans and their slaves, so too were some of their crop plants and cuisine. Foods of slavery become celebration foods Some of the most sought-after and celebrated crops in Puerto Rican cuisine, purchased now in Hartford at high prices relative to other nutritionally equivalent foods, almost as luxury foods, originally were brought to the Caribbean from the Old World to either feed slaves or to be produced on plantations through slave labor. Key examples of such crops include: Dioscorea alata and D. rotundata, bananas, plantains, sugarcane, breadfruit, and gandules. Despite the tragic practices surrounding the arrival of these crops to Puerto Rico, the crops, like the Africans themselves, have come to form an integral part of what it is to be Puerto Rican. The complicated routes by which some Old World crops have become established parts of the Puerto Rican Fig. 2. Relative structure of Hartford (HT93), Hartford (HT09), and Puerto Rico 2009 (PR) markets based on (A) number of crops present and on (B) percentage of total crops present. Usage categories are: FR (frutas/fruits), SA (saborizantes/flavorings), VE (vegetales/vegetables), and VI (viandas/fresh, starchy crops).