Existing comment:
Tomatoes:
The tomato, another food eaten only in the Americas at this time, was first grown in what's now Mexico and South and Central America. The earliest tomatoes were just berry-sized, but by the 1500s, they had been bred into numerous colors and sizes. Many Mexican tomatoes were yellow -- Europeans called them "golden apples" -- though red ones, possibly imported from South America, were also available.
... tomatoes today
Pasta.... Americana?
In some parts of Italy, pasta with tomato sauce is a quintessential dish. Yet no Italians saw a tomato until they were brought over from the Americas. Even then, tomatoes took years to catch on because Europeans feared they were poisonous. Eventually, though, tomatoes became the preferred topping on pizza and pasta. |