>Amadeus Schmidt wrote:
>
>>There are European pumpkins as well.
>>These are today the smaller and decorative or used as containers.
>
>Were they available before the discovery of America?
>
>/Fredrik

As the one who brought up the pumpkin question, I'm please to hear that they
are a fruit.  But as a newcomer to paleo eating, I'm curious as to why the
question of Old World/New World even comes up. Isn't it the case that homo
sapiens sapiens existed in the Americas during the paleolithic era, and that
they too were hunter gatherers? If so, why would it matter whether a food
item was from one area versus the other. Isn't the end of the Ice Age too
recent for significant evolutionary changes that would make us need to eat
the food native to our ancestral homeland?  Speaking with the full freedom
of ignorance, I'd think it would be more relevant to wonder whether the food
existed at all during the paleo period. Thanks for any help on these questions.
I'm trying to read all I can to catch up, but there's a lot to learn!

FWIW, I baked the pumpkin mixed with pureed apple, a couple of eggs,
and cinnamon,
nutmeg and clove. It was great.