There's archeological evidence that during the ancient westward spread of proso millet (aka broomcorn millet) out of what is now China, diverse peoples adapted this grain to their existing culinary practices, rather than adopting new practices with the new grain. This appeared in the following article (I'll copy the abstract further down, and also add the link to a thread on Threads, where I first saw mention of this item): Hunt, Harriet V., Hongen Jiang, Xinyi Liu, Diane L. Lister, Yidilisi Abuduresule, Wenying Li, Changsui Wang, and Martin K. Jones. "Did Crops Expand in Tandem with Culinary Practices from Their Region of Origin? Evidence from Ancient DNA and Material Culture." Antiquity, 2024, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.197 That people adapt new foods to their familiar food cultures is not a novel proposition, and can be observed around the world today. However, I find it interesting that this can be seen even in the archaeological records. It would seem to underscore the fundamental nature of this bias for promotion of proso millet (or any millet) among people not used to eating it, today. How could proso be used and presented as food which appeal to a wider public in North America? It is already used in "hidden" forms - notably in various multigrain bread products. What would it take to successfully raise the profile of this grain? Here's a digression about soybeans in West Africa, about which I did some research some years back.* For many years, international development agencies sought to promote soybeans in Africa. The reasoning was that soybeans could be an excellent source of protein and figure prominently in efforts to improve health and nutrition in the region. Africa has its own pulses (beans) and soybeans never caught on as a substitute for any of them . Among the promotional efforts was the idea of incorporating soybean flour into some traditional foods, but that didn't catch on either. At the same time some countries, notably Nigeria, were producing soybeans for export - but there was no local demand for them (parallels with the situation of proso farmers in the Great Plains?). Then in the 1990s, two apparently unconnected things happened. Some women started to use soybeans as a substitute for the nere seed (African locust bean) in the production of a fermented condiment popular across the region (known variously as sumbala, dawa dawa, iru, and other names). Nere seeds were getting harder to procure in some regions and the prices went up, so that was a motivation. This does not appear to have even been on the radar of international development experts. Also, in southwestern Nigeria, researchers worked with local women to identify a way to make bean curd (tofu) with soybeans, and prepare it in a way similar to how a local dairy cheese - wagasi - was consumed (fried, and eaten with spices). This technique became popular, as the beancurd was much cheaper than the wagasi cheese. It spread from women to women, and without external support, across Nigeria and into Niger, and west to other countries in the region. Is now fairly common as a street food. The original technique has been modified variously along the way. What can such examples suggest as we think about methods and directions for promotion of proso and other millets in North America? Returning to the Hunt, et al (2024) article, here's the abstract: "Grain-cooking traditions in Neolithic China have been characterised as a ‘wet’ cuisine based on the boiling and steaming of sticky varieties of cereal. One of these, broomcorn millet, was one of the earliest Chinese crops to move westward into Central Asia and beyond, into regions where grains were typically prepared by grinding and baking. Here, the authors present the genotypes and reconstructed phenotypes of 13 desiccated broomcorn millet samples from Xinjiang (1700 BC–AD 700). The absence in this area of sticky-starch millet and vessels for boiling and steaming suggests that, as they moved west, East Asian cereal crops were decoupled from traditional cooking practices and were incorporated into local cuisines." ... and here's the thread on Threads: [image: 418798565_392049529877593_7457112263053269788_n.jpg] NEW DNA analysis has revealed that regional cuisines persisted as new staple crops spread across the prehistoric world, showing how even the first cooks retained strong cooking traditions. Strap in for a tasty AntiquityThread 1/12 🧵 <https://www.threads.net/@antiquity_journal/post/C2Hur1gt0sh/> Antiquity (@antiquity_journal) on Threads <https://www.threads.net/@antiquity_journal/post/C2Hur1gt0sh/> threads.net <https://www.threads.net/@antiquity_journal/post/C2Hur1gt0sh/> <https://www.threads.net/@antiquity_journal/post/C2Hur1gt0sh/> <https://www.threads.net/@antiquity_journal/post/C2Hur1gt0sh/> All the best, Don Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance Note: * Osborn, Donald. 2008. "Soybeans and Soybean Products in West Africa: Adoption by Farmers and Adaptation to Foodways." in Christine DuBois, Tan Chee-Beng, and Sidney Mintz, eds. The World of Soy. University of Illinois Press.
