"DULYA", "QUEEN'S LACE" AND "DEVIL'S APPLE": FORGOTTEN NAMES OF FAMOUS FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

We offer you to take an excursion into history and find out what exotic names at different times hid the most familiar pears, carrots and potatoes for our current diet. 

Pear

The pear has been known to mankind for thousands of years. The exact place of its origin has not been established, but a cultivated version of the plant began to spread around the world from Ancient Greece (about 1000 BC). The first mention of these fruits can be found in Homer in the Odyssey. 

But in Russian written sources, the fruit has been appearing since the XII century in the "khrusha" format. In general, the root grus/krus/hrus in relation to these fruits is a characteristic of most Slavic languages. Some etymologists have linked its origin with the verb "to destroy", but it is quite likely that we are talking about a more ancient loan – for example, from the ancient Prussian language. 

Since the XIV century, the familiar word "grusha" has been fixed. However, in the XVII century, the word "dulya" became widely used as a synonym. And the point here is not at all in the shape of the fruit that caused new associations, but in another borrowing – this time from the Polish language, where the fruit was called dula. 

Hundreds of years later, the pear is still one of the most popular fruit trees in Russia. In our latitudes, the harvest is harvested in August-September. But the fruit is available all year round, thanks to supplies from other countries. So the Royal Fresh company in March is just opening the season for the supply of fragrant pears the most popular varieties from Argentina and South Africa.  

Carrot

Carrots have a biography no less ancient – it has been cultivated for four thousand years. Species with reddish root crops are native to the Mediterranean, and with purple, white and yellow — Afghanistan and India. The ancient Greeks, and later the Romans, called carrots daucus and carote, later these words became the botanical name of the root crop. But the bright orange sweet carrot appeared relatively recently - in the XVII century – thanks to the efforts of Dutch breeders. 

It is believed that the vegetable was known to the Krivichi, who inhabited Ancient Russia in the IX century, therefore, the word "carrot" (as in the case of the pear) has a Proto–Slavic origin - from the root of mrku. However, the widespread spread of cultural carrots in Russia began later – from the XVI century.  According to many foreigners who visited Russia in Peter's time, Moscow was literally surrounded by vegetable gardens with carrots.

We found the most poetic name for carrots in English, where it is called "Queen Anne's Lace". According to a legend, Anna, the wife of King James I, was a skilled needlewoman. And when she arrived in England from Denmark, she invited the ladies of the court to compete in lace weaving. Actually, Anna's own work turned out to be the most exquisite – thin and delicate, like a white umbrella of wild carrots. Of course, during the breeding process, carrots lost their flowers, but the tops are still distinguished by carved patterned leaves.

The assortment of the Royal Fresh company includes sunny sweet carrots from Egypt. You can submit a request for delivery by following the link. 

Potato

Unlike the rest of the heroes of our today's collection, they learned about potatoes in Russia later than anything else. And his "adaptation" to the Russian (and European) culinary tradition was, to put it mildly, difficult. 

Potato tubers were brought to Europe from Peru by conquistadors in the XVI century. However, for almost two centuries, the foreign vegetable was treated with distrust and fed exclusively to domestic animals. Only in Ireland the "ground apples" were regularly eaten. The church also contributed to increased suspicion: they said there was not a word in the Bible about such a vegetable, which meant, according to the plan of the Lord, people were not supposed to eat it, and all this was the machinations of dark forces. So the potatoes from the "earthen apple" also became "damn". 

However, gradually Europe tasted and appreciated the potatoes. However, to a greater extent, the breakthrough was not due to the enlightenment, but as a reaction to the wheat crop failure and the subsequent famine.  

The word "potato" itself comes from the German kartoffel, which in turn goes back to the Italian tartufolo, which appeared due to the external similarity of truffles tubers.

At the end of the XVII century, it was time for Russia to get acquainted with overseas tubers. The first bag was brought from Holland by order of Peter I. But potato cultivation became widespread here only in the middle of the XVIII century, under Catherine II. It began with a special decree issued in 1765, according to which a new culture began to be imported from abroad and distributed throughout the country. The people met the forced innovation with "potato riots". The Old Believers were particularly opposed, who, in addition to the "devil's apple", awarded potatoes with no less disparaging names like "devil's spit" and "fruit of harlots". 

Nevertheless, the process was underway. And by the end of the XIX century, more than 1.5 million hectares of land were occupied in Russia for potatoes, and by the beginning of the XX century this vegetable was already considered  as a "second bread", that is, one of the main food products.

Today, potatoes are still widely grown in Russia, but in the winter and spring the vegetable is actively imported. The Royal Fresh company offers its customers selected potatoes from Egyptian producer ROYAL FRUITS.