Foods Of The Old And New Worlds
Basic Information
Prior to 1492, there are a number of food items that do not occur in one hemisphere or the other. The transfer of these plants and animals from one hemisphere to the other is often known as the Columbian Exchange.
Old World
Old World Plants
- Apple (New World had just tiny crab apples)
- Banana
- Barley
- Beet
- Black-Eyed Pea
- Broad Bean (aka. fava bean)
- Cabbage
- Carrot
- Cauliflower
- Chickpea
- Coffee
- Cucumber
- Daisy
- Dandelion
- Eggplant
- Grapes
- Oats
- Onion
- Orange
- Pea
- Peach
- Pear
- Poppy
- Raspberry
- Spinach
- Sugar Cane
- Tea
- Turnip
- Truffle
- Wheat
Old World Animals
New World
New World Plants
- Avocado
- Cacao Bean - Chocolate
- Cashew
- Cassava
- Cinchona - the bark can be rendered into Quinine, the original treatment for Malaria
- Capsicum - Bell Pepper and Chili Pepper
- Coca
- Corn / Maize
- Crab Apples - tiny little nasty ones were all the New World had, but Old World had big juicy ones. Hence the need for Johnny Appleseed
- Cranberry
- Dahlia
- Lima Bean
- Long Bean
- Marigold
- Pineapple
- Poinsettia
- Potato
- Pumpkin
- Quinoa
- Rubber
- Squash
- Sunflower (arguably producing an edible seed, and certainly a food grade oil)
- Sweet Potato (not to be confused with the yam, which is sometimes also called a sweet potato).
- Tobacco
- Tomato - tomato sauce wasn't a common part of Italian cuisine until the 19th Century
- Vanilla Bean
- Wild Rice
- Zinnia
New World Animals
Non-edible or decorative plants are italicized on the lists above.
Sources
Bibliography
Game and Story Use
- The chart above will empower you to add little details that contribute to the suspension of disbelief and verisimilitude of an RPG campaign.
- Knowing what is or isn't on the menu is an important consideration for Time Travel.
page revision: 10, last edited: 13 Jan 2023 12:23