American ingredients, European meals
Can you imagine a Spanish omelette without potatoes? Or the Neapolitan sauce without tomatoes?
The Incas did not eat French fries
That's right, the potato is native to Peru , in the south, and the northwest of Bolivia, in fact it is one of the main crops, and more than 25 species are known. It is the basis of Andean food.
The native peoples of the Andes cultivated this tubercle for centuries. The old Quechua name (the language spoken by the Incas) is " papa ", and that is how it is known in America.
When the potato treads European soil
The potato arrived in Europe in two ways: one, Spain, of course, because the conquered lands were under the control of the Spanish crown. And the other route was the British Isles, from where it effectively expanded throughout Europe.
At first it was considered an ornamental plant , too beautiful to be eaten; in fact they consumed the fruits of the plant instead of their roots, which caused frequent stomach pains and poisonings, and that generated severe prejudices against them. Until they discovered how it was eaten and prepared.
Already in Ireland the potato was grown in the seventeenth century, where it seemed to be a perfect crop for a poor island, because it had a much higher yield than cereals and could be planted in stony and steep land. Also, there was no need to thresh it or grind it, like cereals.
Germany , under the command of Frederick II the Great, began to cultivate the potato in 1756 as food. And Holland is today the main potato producer in the world.
Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Holland, Russia ... and the list goes on. We could mention some typical European dishes where the potato is the protagonist: Italian gnocchi , Spanish tortilla , French fries, and even Russian vodka . At different times, the potato has calmed the European famine. Do not you think it's funny?
The "golden apple"
The tomato , in the Nahuatl language, means " fruit with navel ". He arrived in Europe thanks to the conquerors, in the sixteenth century.
Mexico and Peru are considered as the origins of this fruit of the gods, it is even thought that in both places the pre-Columbian cultures independently domesticated the crop, consuming it before the arrival of the Spaniards.
When they conquered the American lands, they distributed the tomatoes in all their Caribbean colonies, including the Philippines, and it was there that the tomato entered Asia.
In 1540 it arrives in Europe, and the Mediterranean climate was favorable.
According to some records, the first tomatoes that were grown in Italy were yellow and described by Piero Andrea Mattioli, a botanist, as pomo d'oro (golden apple), a name by which until today tomato is designated in Italian.
Neapolitan sauce of Spanish origin, with American ingredient
The discovery of a cookbook published in Naples in 1692 provided very curious data: although it indicated how to make the traditional Neapolitan sauce , there are records that the author took his recipes from Spanish sources .
The exchange between the old and the new world has made innumerable combinations possible, enriching the gastronomies in and out of the seas.
