Food Origins

Before international shipping, most things that we ate were very local. For example, peaches were only found in China and no one else ate them. And this is true of most of the foods that we cultivate.

One of the most dramatic changes to this condition came with the exploration of the Americas by European explorers and conquerors. The plant life of the Americas was largely isolated from the rest of the world which led to the evolution of foodstuffs that could be found no where else, including much of what we consider standard fare now. It may be surprising to learn that Italians were not cooking with tomatoes until maybe 1592, for example. They are from Mexico and were completely unknown to Europeans before about 1550. Other examples of foods from the Americas:

• Potatoes
• Bell peppers
• Peanuts
• Chocolate
• Tobacco
• Vanilla
• Corn
• Squash (all kinds, including zucchini)
• Avocado
• Chili peppers
• Strawberries
• Pineapples
• Sweet potatoes 

And some other food origins:

• Oranges - southeast Asia
• Bananas - southeast Asia
• Rice - China
• Sugar - India
• Cucumbers - India
• Plums - east Europe
• Asperagus - central Eurasia (widespread)
• Cherries - Europe
• Cabbage - Europe and Britian
• Apples - Turkey
• Apricots - Armenia
• Spinach - Persia
• Wheat - the Levant
• Carrots - Iran (although they were bred orange in the Netherlands)
• Lettuce - Egypt
• Grapes - the near east
• Broccoli - bred from northern Mediterranean plants
• Peas - Mediterranean
• Olives - north Africa
• Coffee - Ethiopia
• Watermelon - southern Africa

Be glad that you live in such an interesting culinary time.