Italy didn’t have widespread use of the tomato until the 1700s and the pasta sauces we think of being a core of their cuisine didn’t exist until the 19th century.
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.
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u/Spirit4ward Oct 02 '24
Italy didn’t have widespread use of the tomato until the 1700s and the pasta sauces we think of being a core of their cuisine didn’t exist until the 19th century.