Making Response #1

Nicholas Martinez

10/13/15

Reading Response #1

            In this week’s readings, it discusses the influences of that particular counties had on the Mediterranean diet. In particular, the Columbian exchange is in reference to the exchange of ideas, food, and population between the New World and Old World. The Old World, by this it is meant not just Europe, but the entire Eastern Hemisphere, gained a tremendous amount of staple crops that are now present in the Mediterranean diet. This exchange also drastically increased the availability of many Old Word crops, such as sugar and coffee, which were particularly well suited for the soils of this New World. According to Nunn and Qian (2010), the transfer of foods between the Old and New Worlds during the Colombian Exchange had important consequences for world history. The transfer across the ocean of the staple food crops across the ocean of the staple food crops of the Old and New Worlds helped bring about a more stable, healthy population throughout the European region.

            One of the main food crops that was a part of the Colombian Exchange was the advent of tomatoes in Europe. There seemed two types of tomatoes that were present in the European diet. Often Italians would grow the large, furrowed variety of tomatoes, but at the same time make references to the tomatillo that was discovered in Mexico. Gentilcore (2010) mentions that Felici’s tomatoes were either yellow and round, and thus perhaps tomatillos, or red and segmented, and thus obviously tomatoes. The tomatillo never became part of the Italian diet, and even now there is no Italian name for the plant. In the future, the tomato’s ability to mutate, so that new and different varieties can be developed and perpetuated with relative ease, contributed to its great success and dissemination.

            Meanwhile, the tomato’s curiosity value had extended beyond physicians and other scholars to include wealthy and aristocratic patrons as well as the educated public. These people’s gardens mixed botany and pleasure, so just as in the botanical gardens; there was always a place for new and interesting crops. The garlands document the range of plants present in Italy at the time, whose functions and uses ranged from culinary and medical to ornamental. The inclusion of plants from the New World in particular served to display the richness and lushness of the natural world, and because they were rarities, they also showed off the patron’s own wealth and power.

            The tomato slowly started its descent into common people’s homes in the nineteenth century. As Castelevetro states in “Spring,” many of Italian consumption crops have been introduced by others and adopted into Italian culture and identity. This identity is reflected in the food practices of the Italian diet. The tomato became a staple in Italian food culture and it is now recognized around the world. It shows how important the Colombian Exchange, scholarly studies of tomatoes, and the development of tomatoes in every day life around Italy.

            Finally, I just want to express that I never knew that tomatoes had such a rich history in Italy. It boggles my mind that one small fruit had such an impact on not only the culture in Italy, but also many other European nations. The tomato has inspired nations across the globe and is a crucial part of many cultures around because of the discoveries of the fifteenth century.