Stephanie,


It's not quite the same thing, but if you go to Rome and observe the local tribe you'll see that their culture has been vastly altered by products introduced from the other direction -- particularly, of course -- the TOMATO (all bow down) and chocolate; and don't forget pasta from the Chinese. They could have left Zucchini behind IMHO, but we’d still have it here, I guess. There’s no special point here except to note that the influences of the new world and old worlds have, in certain areas, perhaps most notably food products, been reciprocal.

What is strange to me is that corn, so important in North/Native A diets, has never caught on in Europe. I was able to get some lovely corn on the cob while living in Berlin (American military Commissary I could use because my dad was Army), but German friends turned their noses up pretty far. I guess the one exception re: corn that I can think of is North Italy where polenta is a regular part of the diet, but from what I can figure they don’t use just plain corn as a vegetable either.

I wonder, by the way, whether the demand for wool is being filled by NZ and Australia. New Zealand seems to be the preferred source for carpets being made in India, Pakistan and China. But that’s been true for a while, and the prices are just falling now? Is there some particular product this wool is most used for? You mention rugs. Does you grandmother sell to buyers who are looking for a particular grade and type of wool which is suddenly less fashionable?

Lee