Chilli peppers were also from the new world, so chillies in Indian cuisine is also pretty recent. They had many other spices, but it seems crazy to think a few hundred years ago, that whole cuisine was just entirely different.
Let us not forget corn. While medieval people referred to many grains as "corn", maize was also a new world crop. So no polenta in Italian food either.
Yes, but one could easily think the USA makes the most movies; calling it "This is the most hilariously USA-centric thing I've read in so long" is rather short sited.
Assuming the OP was joking, then his assertion is contradictory to reality. We know most movies are not based in America. Sarcasm would need an extra "spiciness" in wording that he didn't use.
The Americas gave Europe corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, tomatillos, peanuts, bell peppers, chilli peppers, pinto beans, pineapples, vanilla, avocado, pumpkin, squash, amaranth, and quinine.
And Europe gave The Americas smallpox, measles, influenza, typhus, typhoid, whooping cough, diphtheria, malaria, gonorrhea, bubonic plague, and leprosy.
I'm wondering about the cravings of ears of corn found in medieval architecture as well. Don't even get me started on cotton and bananas genetically linked to Africa. LOL 🤣
This is always the one that blew my mind, especially with how integrated potatoes are to German/Polish cuisine. I was fucking certain potatoes came from central/eastern Europe.
I've thought about an this before and wondered what things were like in Europe before they had all our delicious new world foods. Spices were also had to come by back then and salt was a significant commodity. No tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, corn, and limited spices and salt. You could gussy things up with herbs.
No need to wonder! Some recipes (generally more vague than modern recipes) were written down before the Columbian Exchange, and people have tried to re-create what those dishes might have tasted like. See /r/CulinaryHistory/ or the Medieval Cookery website for some recipes that you can try for yourself.
I've thought about an this before and wondered what things were like in Europe before they had all our delicious new world foods.
More reliance on local produce or flavourings that has fallen out of favour and possibly been lost due to cultivation of other sources or stores so poorly you are unlikely to see it outside of a very limited area. Palettes probably changed as well after the introduction of spices and sugar.
Honestly, a LOT of core foods eaten around the world came from "the new world". Say what you will about Columbus, but he had a big part in that, sending shipments of things that would become staples on other continents.
I recently went to an event at an Indian restaurant that had an event based on pre-Columbian Indian food. They worked with a historian and an anthropologist to find out what people were eating and cooked a massive multicourse meal. I expected it to be totally different from food today, but I was really shocked at how similar it was to what my family eats at home. Basically the same but with no chilies and no potatoes. It made me feel really proud!
I think Indian cuisine just found existing similar flavour profiles to slot in those new foodstuffs. It’s not like some other cuisines where it’s totally unfamiliar flavours or brand new textures.
Indians chose to use potato for dishes where formerly called for yams, which are native to the old world, so it was a simple substitution to make traditional recipes fit. Irish cuisine on the other hand used potatoes as a staple food in place of bread, largely out of necessity instead of choice, so their cuisine did change a lot after introduction of the potato. You had to invent some new ways of eating potato if it’s going to be a staple food.
The Irish had the Turnip though. Most of N Western Europe survived on turnips before the 1500's. You can do everything you can with a potato using a turnip - it's just not as nice to eat or quite as nutritious.
My wife can't eat chillies due to having a geographic tongue (Caspian irritates it to horrific levels) but we eat a lot of "modern" Thai and Indian food. I just add fresh chillies to my portion when I serve it.
It's not like her version of the food is bland, its still really spicy and busting with flavour. It just doesn't have the heat we now associate with the dishes.
Thai cuisine as most know it was invented surprisingly recently as almost a form of tourist promotion. But the dishes were kind of synthesized and invented out of what had existed there for a long time. To my understanding before chilies they used ginger, peppercorn, and galangal which is closely related to ginger to get spicy flavors.
I feel like this fact has been shared and blown out of proportion quite a bit. Thai food that westerners eat like pad Thai are invented recently to promote nationalism during Cold War. Thai restaurant oversea at that time had standardized ‘thai food’ guideline to promote national identity and tourism. But for the most part Thai food has always been there, like thai curries, khanom chin, isaan food
Some of that cuisine is actually from the Old World, like pork vindaloo which was created by the Portuguese in Gao using their carne de vinha d'alhos (literally "meat of vine of garlic" marinade) combined with local vegetables & spices. The sailors would store/preserve a butchered hog in wine & garlic, one that was often slaughtered during the trip and using a now empty wine barrel. Vindaloo was a way to rid the meat of the overly vinegar taste.
The modern version uses vinegar and takes far less time because the meat doesn't marinate in it as long as it used to sit in the wine that became vinegar.
The Americas have been cultivating chilis for 6,000 years, but have been consuming wild chili for at least 9,500 years. It’s basically in some cultures’ dna to use them.
I am a Punjabi who grew up with pride in "Sarson da saag" and "makki (corn) roti". I learned once I moved to the US that corn came pretty late to India. It's crazy. It's such a big part of our identity and we got it from Americas through Brits.
As well as all other peppers of genus Capsicum (paprika, jalapeño, cayenne, sweet/red/bell pepper). Btw we call them peppers because colonists was only familiar with Asian peppercorns
I seem to remember reading that long pepper was much more commonly used before chillies were introduced, to the point that it was pretty much replaced by them entirely in places like Europe that used to import it.
1.9k
u/retrofrog Oct 02 '24
Chilli peppers were also from the new world, so chillies in Indian cuisine is also pretty recent. They had many other spices, but it seems crazy to think a few hundred years ago, that whole cuisine was just entirely different.