From the "Can You Believe It?" files

[djheater]

The discovery of the Americas forever changed the diet of the entire world... Ever wonder what Italian food was like before tomatoes? What Polish food was like without potatoes? What did the Swedish do before they made chocolate?...
What the h3ll did people EAT before 1492??

Indigenous Foods of the Americas

Fruits
Berries:
(blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, gooseberries, strawberries, huckleberries, loganberries, raspberries), cactus fruit (tuna), cherimoya, acerola cherries, chokecherries, groundcherries, grapes (e.g Concord), guava, mamey, papaya, passion fruit (granadilla), paw-paw, persimmon (American), pineapple, plums (American, beach), soursop (guanabana), zapote (sapodilla)

Vegetables
Avocado (alligator pear), bell peppers (sweet peppers, pimento). cactus (nopales, nopalitos), chayote (christophine, chocho, huisquil, mirliton, vegetable pear), pumpkins, squash, tomatillo, tomatoes, Tubers/Roots Arrowroot, cassava (yuca, manioc, tapioca), groundnut, Jerusalem artichoke (sunchoke), jicama, malanga (yautia), potatoes, sweet potatoes

Grains/cereals
Amaranth, corn (maize), quinoa, wild rice

Nuts/seeds Brazil nuts, cashews, hickory nuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), sunflower seeds, walnuts (black)

Legumes
Beans (green beans, most dried bean), peanuts

Poultry
Turkey

Seasonings/Flavorings
Allspice, chiles (i.e. chiles, cayenne, paprika), chocolate (cocoa), maple syrup, sassafras (file powder), spicebush, vanilla

 

[Scarpozzi]

Not only that....we saved Europe's butt in WWI and WWII....

Corn and Potatoes were the real discoveries though. That's what pulled Europe out of the dark ages...

 

[djheater]

OMGWTFNOINTEREST!(*!(!*&(!!!!(!!(*!^

 

[Encryptic]

Thank God...I was afraid this was going to be a post about how McDonalds has spread to every corner of the globe.

Seriously though, that is something interesting to think about. On the same subject, consider what the New World would be like without some of the following imports from Europe and Asia, among others:

Apples
Oranges
Lettuce
Broccoli/Cauliflower
Cucumbers
Olives

 

[So]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
Not only that....we saved Europe's butt in WWI and WWII....

Corn and Potatoes were the real discoveries though. That's what pulled Europe out of the dark ages...

Well, the culinary dark ages, at least.

 

[MySoS]

Your list is flawed, some of the items you listed are also indigenous to the old war like Starwberries. Not all plants are only indigenous to the old or new world, many are indigenous to both.

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: Encryptic
Thank God...I was afraid this was going to be a post about how McDonalds has spread to every corner of the globe.

Seriously though, that is something interesting to think about. On the same subject, consider what the New World would be like without some of the following imports from Europe and Asia, among others:

Apples
Oranges
Lettuce
Broccoli/Cauliflower
Cucumbers
Olives

Whoah there, you forgot wheat, barley and rye....

The lack of alcohol producing grains probably goes a long way toward explaining why the Native Americans didn't progress technologically as far as Europeans... without beer, there's no cause to build an ale-house after all.

Though they should have discovered Vodka at some point, seeingas they had potatoes..

 

[Bootprint]

And without beaver we would still be calling it fanny.

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: MySoS
Your list is flawed, some of the items you listed are also indigenous to the old war like Starwberries. Not all plants are only indigenous to the old or new world, many are indigenous to both.

There are certainly Wild Strawberries in Europe but they are not the variety which are cultivated and enjoyed, they are a small seedy relative that people don't eat, though certainly they ARE technically edible. The version enjoyed is a cross-breed of indigenous American species.

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: Bootprint
And without beaver we would still be calling it fanny.

hahahahaa...ha.

 

[Encryptic]

Originally posted by: djheater

Originally posted by: Encryptic
Thank God...I was afraid this was going to be a post about how McDonalds has spread to every corner of the globe.

Seriously though, that is something interesting to think about. On the same subject, consider what the New World would be like without some of the following imports from Europe and Asia, among others:

Apples
Oranges
Lettuce
Broccoli/Cauliflower
Cucumbers
Olives

Whoah there, you forgot wheat, barley and rye....

The lack of alcohol producing grains probably goes a long way toward explaining why the Native Americans didn't progress technologically as far as Europeans... without beer, there's no cause to build an ale-house after all.

Though they should have discovered Vodka at some point, seeingas they had potatoes..

They certainly had other means of producing alcohol. For instance, the Aztecs used to make a drink called octli from fermented maguey sap. Other natives of Central America made beer from fermented maize as well.

 

[MySoS]

Originally posted by: djheater

Originally posted by: MySoS
Your list is flawed, some of the items you listed are also indigenous to the old war like Starwberries. Not all plants are only indigenous to the old or new world, many are indigenous to both.

There are certainly Wild Strawberries in Europe but they are not the variety which are cultivated and enjoyed, they are a small seedy relative that people don't eat, though certainly they ARE technically edible. The version enjoyed is a cross-breed of indigenous American species.

People in Europe most defiantly ate the native strawberries. For example Fragaria vesca was a fruit that was cultivated in some European homes, a fruit that is native to Europe and North America. The reason the north American one is more common today is because it is cheaper to mass produce due to its larger size. In fact Vesca a species native to North America and Europe is generally considered to be the most sweet tasting of species of strawberries.