Trop picks: Kumquat
Today's arrangement Fromm Moss & Rose highlights the bounty of China.
Did you know that the kumquat is native to China? In fact, "kumquat" comes from the Cantonese "gam gwat" (jin jü in Mandarin), which means "golden orange." Southern China is believed to be the place of earliest kumquat domestication. The southern Chinese kumquat belongs to the genus Fortunella (named after the British plant explorer Robert Fortune, who introduced the kumquat to Europe from China in 1846). Although an evergreen, it is semi-dormant during fall, winter and spring, and grows only in the heat of summer. Because of this unusual attribute, the kumquat can survive the winter cold better than any other species of citrus. In an agricultural society, one could well imagine that this would be a prized quality, and in fact the kumquat was one of the most important citrus fruits cultivated in the lower Yangtze Valley. The kumquat is considered especially auspicious during the Lunar New Year celebration: a hardy mascot for a hardworking people.
The long bean (Vigna unguiculata) isn't actually a bean but the pod of a vine. And although the vegetable is ubiquitous in Chinese wet markets the world over, it's indigenous to Africa where it grows wild and where it was first domesticated. One historian believes the plant was brought to Asia millennia ago by traders plying the Northeast Monsoon trade routes.
It's popular in certain foodie circles to sniffily dismiss Chinese cinnamon (Cinnamonum cassia) as not the real cinnamon (i.e. Ceylon cinnamon). Yes, the scientific name for Ceylon cinnamon is Cinnamonum verum (i.e. the real cinnamon) but this arbitrary nomenclature reveals nothing. Both types of cinnamon belong to the genus Cinnamonum, and neither has a stronger claim than the other. Indeed, the cinnamon most of us grew up baking with is cassia and not Ceylonese cinnamon. That makes the Chinese kind real enough for me.
Sources:
Frederick J. Simoons, Food in China: A Cultural and Historical Inquiry, 1990.
Jack Staub in 75 Remarkable Fruits for Your Garden, 2007.
William Kirk in "The N.E. Monsoon and Some Aspects of African History," The Journal of African History, 1962.