Friday, December 13, 2013

Corned Beef Sandwich = Columbian Exchange?

The other day I went to my local deli to get a corned beef sandwich and I wondered if any of these ingredients were goods that were traded in the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange is a period of cultural and biological exchanges between the New and Old Worlds. Exchanges of plants, animals, diseases and technology transformed European and Native American ways of life. Corned beef sandwiches are usually made out of corned beef, Jewish rye or onion bread, mustard, Swiss cheese, and sometimes coleslaw. Corned beef is made out of the lower front part of the cow. The cow was a part of the Columbian Exchange and was brought from Europe to the Americas. Onion bread is made out of onions of course and onions were brought from Europe to the Americas via the Columbian Exchange. The ingredients in Jewish rye bread weren't exchanged in the Columbian Exchange but is still wonderful anyway. Swiss cheese comes from the cow also and as was stated earlier, was brought from Europe to the Americas. Coleslaw is made out of green cabbage, carrots, mayonnaise, sour cream, Spanish onion, Sugar, white vinegar, dry mustard, celery salt, salt and pepper. Out of all those ingredients, sour cream, which is made by the cow, is the only ingredient you can say was traded indirectly in the Columbian Exchange. The bottom line is, without the Columbian Exchange, my favorite food probably would've been foreign.

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