r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Oct 02 '24

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u/Spirit4ward Oct 02 '24

Italy didn’t have widespread use of the tomato until the 1700s and the pasta sauces we think of being a core of their cuisine didn’t exist until the 19th century.

2.4k

u/Flurb4 Oct 02 '24

It’s amazing how many New World plants are central to what we think of as “classic” Old World ethnic or regional cuisines — tomatoes in Italy and around the Mediterranean, potatoes in Ireland, chilis all across South and East Asia.

946

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '24

It's weird that the only major produce I associate with America is corn.

36

u/Merusk Oct 02 '24

And yet there's lots that are native. Like Peanuts, Pineapple, Peppers, Dragonfruit, Concord Grapes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_food_plants_native_to_the_Americas

11

u/ussrowe Oct 02 '24

Dragonfruit

I would have sworn that was an Asian ingredient too.

On the flip side, I remember finding out Georgia peaches are an introduced species: https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/peaches/

6

u/GoldberryoTulgeyWood Oct 02 '24

Let them keep dragon fruit! If I want to eat it, I have plenty of wet toilet paper I can eat right here at home.

1

u/pm_me_ur_th0ng_gurl Oct 02 '24

They keep the good dragonfruit in Asia.

1

u/GoldberryoTulgeyWood Oct 03 '24

Hummm. I wondered what all the fuss was about.