European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 18, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Historians menu what Europe ate before Columbus sailed by Florence fabricant the new York times when it comes to Columbus Luisa i Giovanni a biologist and historian is less than sanguine. I Giovanni a native of Genoa will acknowledge that the foods brought Back from the new world enriched the diets of various countries but Italy benefited less than others. As far As she a concerned the Tomato notwithstanding Columbus a Impact has been greatly exaggerated in his native land Quot ii could be argued that in the Exchange of foods the newly discovered lands gained More than they gave Quot said i Giovanni. Quot Europe had a much Richer variety of food than the americas we already had plenty of grains like wheat Rice Millet Rye and Barley so Corn did not have that much Impact except to the poor. We also had domesticated animals which we introduced to the americas plus plenty of fruits and  to prove her Point and to put a somewhat different spin on the hoopla for the upcoming qui Centennia of Columbus s voyage she has devised an eight course menu of dishes typical of 14th and 15th-Century Italy the $45 meat was served last week at Calfe Bondi in Manhattan where she is the food consultant i Giovanni a former microbiological researcher at Rockefeller University now teaches science and history at la Scuola new York an elementary and secondary school on East 96th Street that is owned by the italian government a few years ago. I Giovanni met Nino Settepani an owner of Caffe Bondi while she was buying bread irom his Bruno bakery in Greenwich Village the historian and the restaurateur share an interest in food history sett Epam a native of Palermo and a mathematician worked for Merrill  for a while but found he preferred food of finance. In Early 1990, when he opened Caffe Bondi an airy Little restaurant and Coffee shop that is More like via Veneto than the Flatiron District he invited i Giovanni whose family is sicilian to help research a sicilian menu thus their collaboration was born. Work on the pre columbian menu began about a year ago. That s what happens when academics become interested in food sure., there will be pasta but no tomatoes. Potatoes Beans Sweet and hot peppers Turkey and chocolate Are also noticeably absent irom the meal Quot potatoes have never been As important in our diet As in that of other european countries Quot said i Giovanni Quot and the role of the Tomato is exaggerated especially by americans whose idea of italian food is mainly neapolitan the tact is that neither of these vegetables gained any acceptance in Europe much before the 18th  the meal will begin with fresh fruit a grapes and figs a because i Giovanni said doctors of Columbus time thought raw fruit could Only be eaten before a meal. And it ends not with Coffee which did not become popular in Europe until the 17th Century but with herbs and Honey. She said the difference Between today stable and the historical example she developed for Caffe Bondi has More to do with How foods were prepared combined and presented than with the ingredients. For example a Rich Chicken soup is seasoned with pungent spices and thickened with ground almonds and Parmesan cheese. The bread is fragrant with Rosemary and studded with raisins. A pudding like concoction of sweetened and spiced Rice with Chicken and Almond milk called Bra Magere is served As the third course Fried Ravioli with a pork and cheese filling comes with a dusting of sugar Quail wrapped in panic la and stuffed with pomegranate seeds has quince Jam on the Side fritters of be with dried fruits and herbs Are accompanied by a Mellow Carrot co fit. Wines like Chianti which i Giovanni said was first documented around 1400, Are served with the dinner but not watered spiced or sweetened As they probably were in the old Days. The dessert a kind of Fried custard with Sweet preserved Green Squash Jam Squash like edible gourds were common in pre columbian Europe was not much sweeter than the other dishes. Quot sugar which came to Europe from India was a sign of wealth in those Days because it was so expensive Quot she said. Quot the introduction of sugar cultivation in the Caribbean eventually brought the Price Down but at tremendous human expense because of the slave labor that made it  working with Settepani and William Hodge the chef at Caffe Bondi she adapted the recipes to make them palatable to contemporary taste Quot we had to tone Down the spices and herbs tremendously Quot she said. Quot because of the Lack of refrigeration at the time heavy spicing was used to camouflage the Strong taste of food that might be nearly Rotten or heavily . I Giovanni said spices became available in Europe through trading with the arabs. Quot medieval cooking in Italy was largely indebted to the arabs who combined the culinary traditions of the Middle East Persia and Rome Quot she said. A the Arab influence is still important in  1 and the spice Trade of course provided the impetus for Columbus voyage. The object was to reach the source a the far East a directly thus eliminating the Arab middlemen. I Giovanni Points out that this resulted in the decline of the Mediterranean As the Center of trading. Quot so the importance of Genoa was greatly diminished Quot she said. Quot maybe the genoese have Columbus to thank for that Quot readers action Lin Reader questions a Only game in town four weeks ago. I won Inlo the base class i store i noticed that the Price of a bottle of Kahlua had risen by 90 cells overnight i noticed that the old Price Slicker was underneath the new one the cashier could not Tell me Why the Price had gone up so i submitted a comment card i never received any reply so i called the Exchange manager s office i was told that it was the policy to Mark up merchandise when the Price of the replacement Stock had increased Why should to pay More Tor merchandise that was acquired at a lower Price when the replacement Stock Price increases7 several months ago when the Price of gasoline on the world Market dropped the Price of cafes Gas stayed at the higher Price we were told then hat it was due to the Stock Levels of the higher priced Gas we would have to wait until the cheaper Gas was obtained i have been stationed in Throe different countries in Europe Over the past live years i know that cafes is the Quot Only game in town Quot when it comes to shopping by gis Why must cafes make a Windfall profit on goods that were purchased and marked at a lower Price just because the replacement goods Are going to Cost more7 at least cafes should not insult our intelligence by just marking Over the old prices so that we can see How much More we Are going to pay for the goods Craig r. Greenwood Torreon a Spain a sgt. Maj. Michel j. Bolduc he cafes Europe replies Johanna Dickman our general manager Al Torreon says the shop Pette manager did attempt to Contact you by phone numerous tunes but either got a Busy signal or no answer the manager tried both phone numbers you listed on your customer comment card contrary to what you were told on the phone we Don t raise paces on class i items already on the Shell when oui costs increase however if the Cost decreases we do change the sell Price on the shelf to Altow customer to take advantage of the cheaper Price immediately in the Case of the Kahlua however what happened was that in the process of closing the class i store and consolidating its inventory into the shop Pette store personnel found the Kahlua had been mis priced. They put the Correct Price on the bottle but failed to remove the incorrect Price tag underneath. You re Correct about gasoline pricing. Our agreement with the Spanish government requires us to Purchase a Tanker Load of fuel at a time hold it in Spanish controlled storage tanks and draw against that inventory. We adjust the Price of Gas based on our Cost when we Purchase the next Tanker Load to write us readers action line is the readers court of last resort striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and done to know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes. Apo 09211-4211 All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers Page 16 b the stars and stripes Friday. October 18. 1991