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It's important to remember that any time you consume dumplings, you are consuming "how local cooks attempted to prepare the foreign food called 'dumplings' for their terrifying Mongolian overlords, who demanded dumplings" https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/ekpsnx/the_spread_of_dumplings/
Dumplings are a sign that the Mongols absolutely wrecked your ancestors, spread the word
The Khagan captures your city. He decapitates thousands, making a pile of skulls, In that terrifying wake, he finds a local skilled chef. The chef, expecting death, quivers before this blood-soaked conqueror. Slowly, the nomad lord speaks.
"Do you know how to make dumplings?"
"Do you know how to make dumplings?"
Ravioli are odd. Their earliest appearance uses a Mongolic/Sinitic dumpling recipe (blanched herbs, aromatic spices, minced pork, no cheese), and is in market towns with trade to the east. Venice is the best-attested origin. And it's post-Genghis Khan. https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1334905374030368768
So the Italians did not get absolutely wrecked by the Mongols, but they were trading with people who did, and imitated. Likewise, Taiwanese dumplings are because of migration by mainlanders who got wrecked. Likewise Japan and Korea absorb via trade.
Samosa/sambusa is a secondary origin. Samosas originate in the middle east, reach India via the Timurids and the Mughals, and spread from India and from Arab traders throughout East Africa.
However, the key difference between samosas and other dumplings is samosas are basically always very heavily friend, whereas the Mongolian-descended dumplings are not generally fried, but boiled or steamed.
FOR THIS REASON,
St. Louis-style fried ravioli is the ULTIMATE FUSION DUMPLING, uniting the long-sundered ancestry of the Arab/Indian samosa and the Mongol/Chinese dumpling.
St. Louis-style fried ravioli is the ULTIMATE FUSION DUMPLING, uniting the long-sundered ancestry of the Arab/Indian samosa and the Mongol/Chinese dumpling.
Empanadas are first mentioned in the 16th century in a cookbook that explicitly mentions them as being influenced by Arab cooking styles. Empanadas are samosa-kin. https://twitter.com/NickRiccardi/status/1334909726937788418
The earliest documented case of Maultaschen is in the 18th century, and they're not the current recipe. Maultaschen as we know them are probably an invention since industrialization, influenced by the precedents above. https://twitter.com/deletedagainp/status/1334905901589860352
oooooo! fascinating plot twist! I did not know this! But that makes sense; that's a Moorish period text in a port city with active trade to the middle east, reinforcing the origin in the Arab samosa, not a uniquely Iberian product. https://twitter.com/PYMundGenealogy/status/1334913855001079811
My favorite of all the Mongolian descendents! Khinkali is amaaaaaazing. https://twitter.com/EarthVsSoup/status/1334914979359825920
Also, as an aside, in HK a Shanghainese friend taught us to make Shanghai-style dumplings. For Mid-Autumn festival we were missing HK so we made a ton of them, but then we went rogue and did 1/3 traditional, 1/3 flavored with French herbs, 1/3 with ME spices/pistachio/pomegranite
Guys. Making a good Shanghai pork-and-veggie dumpling mix, then stirring in ground pistacchio, cumin, pomegranite, and zaatar, and then frying in Japanese-style is FREAKY GOOD.
Dumplings are just BEGGING for fusionist approaches. Kinda like the child tax credit, which is also begging for a new fusion whereby conservatives actively support families by expanding its value and refundability.
By the way, I did not know the original source for the map, but it appears to be this book: https://books.google.com/books/about/Cuisine_and_Empire.html?id=pc4kDQAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description by @rachellaudan which I have not read but looks very interesting!
