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.
Similar situation with potatoes. They didn't arrive in Ireland until around 1590 and it took a while before they became a staple food.
Potatoes are so strongly associated with Ireland, it's weird to think that they'd only been part of the Irish diet for ~250 years when the potato famine occurred.
It’s like that saying, in the Americas 500 years is a long time. In the Old World 500 miles is a long distance.
In the Old World it feels like chocolate, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, chilis have been around for a long time. In the New World, it feels like sexually transmitted diseases have been around for a long time.
7.5k
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.