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Tomatoes didn't even exist at all in Italy until the "Columbian Exchange" in the 15th/16th Century. It shouldn't be a surprise at all that pizza in the middle a
by WorldMaker 4y ago
Tomatoes didn't even exist at all in Italy until the "Columbian Exchange" in the 15th/16th Century. It shouldn't be a surprise at all that pizza in the middle ages was nothing like today's pizza.
- AlanYx 4y agoTomatoes were also viewed with suspicion initially in Italy and used only ornamentally. It wasn't until the 18th century that tomatoes really became accepted in Italian cuisine.
- TylerE 4y agoTo this day there remains a sharp geographic gradient. Northern italians do not use many tomoatoes - practically never red sauces.
- manuelmoreale 4y agoDo you have a source for this? Because my experience tells me quite the opposite.
- alanfranz 4y agoNorth-East italian here. Never knew that.
- fmajid 4y agoThey are a member of the nightshade family after all, which includes many poisonous plants.
- OkayPhysicist 4y agoThey also were rather acidic compared to most foods people ate at the time. Acidity + pewter plates makes for a bad time.
- fmajid 4y agoI doubt any but the very rich could afford pewter tableware.
- OkayPhysicist 4y agoNobody but the very rich could afford tomatoes.
- WorldMaker 4y agoEggplant parm is such a fascinating dish for its mix of nightshades. Relatedly, I've known Americans that rate Italian-American restaurants on their eggplant parm as their preferred benchmark dish.
- fmajid 4y agoI'd use risotto as the benchmark myself, but then again I loathe eggplant.
- WorldMaker 4y agoReminds me of the risotto scene early in "The Big Night" (1996), which is also an interesting movie generally in the context of this discussion. The scene is about Italian immigrants trying to run a restaurant in America, and revolves around the kitchen dispute that happens when an American customer requests a side of spaghetti to go with the risotto.
- fmajid 4y agoHeh. I have French friends who eat rice with bread as for them rice is a vegetable.
- TylerE 4y agoI will die on that hill that an olive oil base is so superior that tomatoes do not belong on pizza. Especially these days where so many places "tomato" sauce is basically corn syrup and food coloring.
- smcl 4y agoI am curious about it and I'm quite sure that it is great but on that hill you are fighting an ... err ... uphill battle. To flip a contemporary saying around "pizza is like sex, even if it's bad it's still good" :D
- switch007 4y agoWhy not both! Olive and tomatoes (and salt) are a match made in heaven
- yamtaddle 4y agoToo runny. Pizzas I use olive oil on always end up messy as hell. Tomato politely stays put under the cheese, any exposed sauce cooks and dries so it's not runny, and oils and greases from other sources tend to sit on top of it rather than displacing it and turning into a kind of icky liquid-fat blend. I still use it for certain pies, but would absolutely not rate it higher than tomato sauce for this purpose, overall.
- nonethewiser 4y agoWhere have you found this type of pizza?
- throw0101b 4y ago> Tomatoes didn't even exist at all in Italy until the "Columbian Exchange" in the 15th/16th Century. The same holds true across the Pacific: > Chili peppers spread to Asia through their introduction by Portuguese traders, who—aware of their trade value and resemblance to the spiciness of black pepper—promoted their commerce in the Asian spice trade routes.[10][14][15] They were introduced in India by the Portuguese towards the end of the 16th century.[16] In 21st-century Asian cuisine, chili peppers are commonly used across many regions.[17][18] * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper#Distribution_to_Asia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper#Distribution_to_A... All the 'traditionally' hot dishes of India and Thailand that have chili peppers are post-1492. I think that after a few hundred years it's okay to call the cuisine 'traditional'. See Mann's book for some more on this: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1493:_Uncovering_the_New_World_Columbus_Created https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1493:_Uncovering_the_New_World...
- ahzhou 4y agoI’ve always considered traditional food to be based on generation. If your grandparents grew up eating it, it’s traditional. Many foods comes from cultural cross-pollination.