Almond / Almendra

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Prunus dulcis
Region of origin: Central Asia

Quotations:

"De esas comidas, la más rica era el ochinchín, que se hacía con berro, acelga, almendras y camarones sancochados." (60)

"But the most delicious of all those foods was ochinchin that was made with water cress, chard, almonds, and boiled shrimp." (77)

Botanical reference: Pedro Martinez-Gomez et al., “Almond,” 2007, 229–42, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-34533-6_11.

Apasote

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Chenopodium ambrosioides
Region of origin: Mexico, Central America, South America

Quotations:

"Se mezclan todas, la albahaca, el apasote, el piñón de botija, se meten en la lata con un poco de azúcar y sal." (101)

"You mix them all up, basil, apasote, pine nuts, put them in the can with a little sugar and salt." (126)



Botanical reference: Pedro Acevedo and Mark Strong, “Catalogue of Seed Plants of the West Indies,” Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98 (January 1, 2012): 22, https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.98.1."

Apple / Manzana

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Syzygium jambos
Region of origin: Southeast Asia and Malesia

Quotations:

"Ahora mismo uno coge y va a una iglesia católica y no ve manzanas, ni piedras, ni plumas de gallos." (24)

"Right now, if you up and go to a Catholic church, you see no apples, no rocks, no rooster feathers." (33)




Botanical reference: Pedro Acevedo and Mark Strong, “Catalogue of Seed Plants of the West Indies,” Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98 (January 1, 2012): 607, https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.98.1.

Asparagus / Espárragos

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Asparagus officinalis
Region of origin: Mediterranean region

Quotations:

"Si no, me mandaba a freír espárragos." (53)

"If not, she sent me packing." (68) [plant not present in translation]

Botanical reference: Shosei Kubota, Itaru Konno, and Akira Kanno, “Molecular Phylogeny of the Genus Asparagus (Asparagaceae) Explains Interspecific Crossability between the Garden Asparagus (A. Officinalis) and Other Asparagus Species,” Theoretical and Applied Genetics 124, no. 2 (February 1, 2012): 345–54, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-011-1709-2.

Barley / Cebadilla

Number of times mentioned: 2
Latin name: Hordeum Vulgare
Region of origin: Fertile Crescent, Central Asia

Quotations:

"Y para burlarse de ellas nada más que había que mandar a buscar cebadilla a la botica." (29) "

And if you wanted to make fun of them, all you had to do was send off to the store for barley." (39)

***

"Con esa cebadilla cualquier mujer se moría de vergüenza, porque el hombre la ponía en un lugar a donde ellas se fueran a sentar y si nada más que les rozaba el culo, las mujeres empezaban a tirarse vientos." (29)

"Any woman would die of shame on account of that barley because a man would put a little where she was going to sit down, and no sooner than it touched her behind, the woman would begin to break wind." (39)

Botanical reference: Peter L. Morrell and Michael T. Clegg, “Genetic Evidence for a Second Domestication of Barley (Hordeum Vulgare) East of the Fertile Crescent,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104, no. 9 (February 27, 2007): 3289, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0611377104.

Basil / Albahaca

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Ocimum basilicum
Region of origin: Tropical Asia, Africa

Quotations:

"Se mezclan todas, la albahaca, el apasote, el piñón de botija, se meten en la lata con un poco de azúcar y sal." (101)

"You mix them all up, basil, apasote, pine nuts, put them in the can with a little sugar and salt." (126)

Botanical reference: “Ocimum Basilicum,” Missouri Botanical Garden, accessed June 30, 2021, http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=281408.

Cabbage / Col

Number of times mentioned: 2
Latin name: Brassica oleracea
Region of origin: Europe

Quotations:

"El tenia esas cosas: entre col y col, una lechuga." (145)

"He had traits like that, a lettuce among the cabbages." (182)

Botanical reference: Pedro Acevedo and Mark Strong, “Catalogue of Seed Plants of the West Indies,” Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98 (January 1, 2012): 174, https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.98.1.

Chard / Acelga

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Beta vulgaris
Region of origin: Eurasia and Africa

Quotations:

"De esas comidas, la más rica era el ochinchín, que se hacía con berro, acelga, almendras y camarones sancochados." (60)

"But the most delicious of all those foods was ochinchin that was made with water cress, chard, almonds, and boiled shrimp." (77)

Botanical reference: Pedro Acevedo and Mark Strong, “Catalogue of Seed Plants of the West Indies,” Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98 (January 1, 2012): 21, https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.98.1.

Chickpea / Garbanzo

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Cicer arietinum
Region of origin: Asia

Quotations:

"Así era el sistema que había para comprar lo demás: las galletas de queques, redondas y dulces, las de sal, los confites del tamaño de un garbanzo y hechos de harina de distintos colores, el pan de agua y la manteca."(20)

"That's how the system worked for buying everything else, the flour cookies, round and sweet, salt biscuits, different colored sweets the size of chickpeas made of flour, water bread, and lard." (28)

Botanical reference: Pedro Acevedo and Mark Strong, “Catalogue of Seed Plants of the West Indies,” Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98 (January 1, 2012): 417, https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.98.1.

Cumin / Comino

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Cuminum cyminum
Region of origin: Mediterranean region

Quotations:

"Hacen una comidas sin sal y sin manteca, que no valen un comino." (113)

"They make food without salt or lard, and it isn't worth a mustard seed." (141) [erroneous translation]

Botanical reference: “Cuminum Cyminum (Cumin, Cummin, Jeera),” North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, accessed June 30, 2021, https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cuminum-cyminum/.

Garlic / Ajo

Number of times mentioned: 2
Latin name: Allium sativum
Region of origin: Asia

Quotations:

"Se le daba pimienta de guinea, ajo y ají guaguao, la cabeza de un muerto y una canilla tapada con un paño negro." (98)

"The offerings were Guinea pepper, garlic, and guaguao peppers, a dead man's skull, and a shin bone wrapped in a black cloth." (124)

***

"La comida la ordena el dueño de la prenda, que es quien pone los resguardos. Casi siempre se alimentan de ajo y ají guaguao." (100)

"The food is selected by the owner of the prenda, who is the one who makes the charm. They are almost always fed with garlic and guaguao pepper." (126)

Botanical reference: Pedro Acevedo and Mark Strong, “Catalogue of Seed Plants of the West Indies,” Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98 (January 1, 2012): 25, https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.98.1.

Grape / Uva

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Vitis vinifera
Region of origin: Near East and Western Mediterranean

Quotations:

"Algunas veces los mismos españoles veían que la gente se apiñaba en las ventanas para mirar y entonces salían y le daban a uno vino, uvas y queso." (57)

"Sometimes those same Spaniards saw that people were crowded together in the windows watching, and so they came out and gave you wine, grapes, and cheese." (74)

Botanical reference: R. ( 1 Arroyo-García 2 ) et al., “Multiple Origins of Cultivated Grapevine (Vitis Vinifera L. Ssp. Sativa) Based on Chloroplast DNA Polymorphisms,” Molecular Ecology 15, no. 12 (01 2006): 3707–14, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2006.03049.x.

Guinea pepper / Pimieta de guinea

Number of times mentioned: 2
Latin name: Vitex agnus-castus
Region of origin: Mediterranean region; Asia

Quotations:

"Se le daba pimienta de guinea, ajo y ají guaguao, la cabeza de un muerto y una canilla tapada con un paño negro." (98)

"The offerings were Guinea pepper, garlic, and guaguao peppers, a dead man's skull, and a shin bone wrapped in a black cloth." (124)

"También se les da a beber aguardiente y se les riega un dedito de pimienta de guinea." (100)

"Also, they are given rum to drink, and a pinch of Guinea pepper is sprinkled on them." (126)

Botanical reference: Pedro Acevedo and Mark Strong, “Catalogue of Seed Plants of the West Indies,” Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98 (January 1, 2012): 384, https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.98.1; “Vitex Agnus-Castus,” Missouri Botanical Garden, accessed July 1, 2021, http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=g290.

Indian goosegrass / Pata de gallina

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Eleusine indica
Region of origin: Africa and temperate and tropical Asia

Quotations:

"Dentro de la cazuela, ponían patas de gallinas, que era una yerba con paja de maíz para asegurar a los hombres." (19)

"They put star-shake, which was an herb, in the pot with corn straw to hold human beings." (27) [erroneous translation]

Botanical reference: Julissa Rojas-Sandoval and Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, “Eleusine Indica (Goose Grass),” Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International, 2014, https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/20675.

Lettuce / Lechuga

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Lactuca sativa
Region of origin: Kurdistan-Mesopotamia

Quotations:

"El tenia esas cosas: entre col y col, una lechuga." (145)

"He had traits like that, a lettuce among the cabbages." (182)

Botanical reference: I.M. de Vries, “Origin and Domestication of Lactuca Sativa L.,” Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 44, no. 2 (April 1, 1997): 165–74, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008611200727.

Opium / Opio

Number of times mentioned: 4
Latin name: Papaver somniferum
Region of origin: Turkey

Quotations:

"Allí tenían, además, sastrerías, dulcerías y fumaderos de opio." (70)

"They also had tailor shops, candy shops, and opium dens there." (89)

***

“A los chinos les gustaba mucho el opio." (70)

"The Chinese liked opium a lot." (89)

"Se lo fumaban en pipas largas de madera, escondidos en sus tiendas para que los blancos y los negros no los vieran. Aunque en aquellos días no perseguían a nadie por fumar opio." (70)

"They smoked it in long wooden pipes, hidden away in their shops so the whites and blacks couldn't see them — even though in those days they didn't go after anyone for smoking opium." (89)

***

"Entonces se iban para su cuarto y para mí que cocinaban, por- que salía en seguida un olor riquísimo, que no era opio." (95)

"Then they went to his room, and I thought they were cooking because soon after a wonderful smell came out that wasn't opium." (119)

Botanical reference: William Hosch, “Opium Poppy,” Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017, https://www.britannica.com/plant/opium-poppy.

Orange / Naranja

Number of times mentioned: 2
Latin name: Citrus sinensis
Region of origin: China, India, Myanmar

Quotations:

"Lo hacían con naranja y vinagre." (60)

"They made it with oranges and vinegar." (77)

***

"El ponche lo vendían igual en la calle que en la bodega. Más bien en la calle, los días de fiesta. Aquel ponche no se me podía olvidar. No tenía naranja, ni ron, ni nada de eso." (114)

"Punch was sold on the street as well as in the store. More likely on the street on feast days. I will never forget that kind of punch. It had no oranges or rum or anything like that." (142)

Botanical reference: Julia F Morton, Fruits of Warm Climates, ed. Curtis F. Dowling (Miami, FL: Julia F. Morton, 1987), 134–42.

Plantain / Llantén

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Plantago major
Region of origin: Europe and Asia

Quotations:

"Entonces me entraban unas calenturas fuertes que se me quitaban acurrucándome un poco o con yerbas frescas en la frente, con hoja de llantén casi siempre." (41)

"Then I would get some hot spells that were so fierce that to get over them I had to wrap up some, almost always with a plantain leaf, or put fresh herbs on my forehead." (52)




Botanical reference: A B Samuelsen, “The Traditional Uses, Chemical Constituents and Biological Activities of Plantago Major L. A Review,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology 71, no. 1–2 (July 2000): 1–21, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0378-8741(00)00212-9; Pedro Acevedo and Mark Strong, “Catalogue of Seed Plants of the West Indies,” Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98 (January 1, 2012): 712, https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.98.1.

Purslane / Verdolaga

Number of times mentioned: 2
Latin name: Portulaca oleracea
Region of origin: West Indies, North America, Central America, South America, Old World

Quotations:

"China no, allá lo que había más era yerba de la que se arrastra, dormidera, verdolaga, diez de la mañana." (16)

"Over there they had plants that grew along the ground, creepers, purslane, morning glories." (24)

***

"Lo más que podía hacer un libertador en Las Villas era robar ganado, recoger malanga, retoños de boniato, bledos, verdolagas, en fin..." (140)

"The most a revolutionary could do in Las Villas was to steal livestock, collect taro weeds, sweet potato shoots, amaranth, purslane, and such." (75)



Botanical reference: Pedro Acevedo and Mark Strong, “Catalogue of Seed Plants of the West Indies,” Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98 (January 1, 2012): 778, https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.98.1.

Rice / Arroz

Number of times mentioned: 3
Latin name: Oryza sativa
Region of origin: China

Quotations:

"En las tabernas vendían arroz, tasajo, manteca y frijoles, todas las familias del frijol." (20)

"In the taverns they sold rice, beef jerky, lard, and all kinds of beans." (28)

"Daban una ración buena, aunque siempre era lo mismo; arroz con frijoles negros, blancos o de carita y tasajo." (48)

"They gave a good-sized portion though it was always the same — rice and black beans, white beans or black eyed peas and beef jerky." (63)

"Por la tarde daban viandas, arroz y carne de puerco, bebida blanca y cerveza marca T" (74)

"On that day there was plenty of food. In the afternoon they served greens, rice, pork, almond drinks and brand T. beer." (93)

Botanical reference: Jae Young Choi and Michael D. Purugganan, “Multiple Origin but Single Domestication Led to Oryza Sativa,” G3 8 (2018): 797–803.

Rosemary / Romero

Number of times mentioned: 1
Latin name: Rosmarinus officinalis
Region of origin: Mediterranean region

Quotations:

"Para calmarlo preparaba un cocimiento de hojitas de romero y me lo quitaba en seguida." (39)

"To rid myself of it I made a brew of rosemary leaves, and it went away right then." (50)

Botanical reference: Marianne Jennifer Datiles and Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, “Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary),” CAB International, 2014, https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/47678.