How Late? - Common Items Introduced Later Than You Think
Think of Ireland, or Italy, what comes to mind? We associate things with places all the time, and usually for good reason. What can be funny, though, is just how late those things actually made it to that place. Things that seem ubiquitous to a country today might only have been around for a few centuries or so, a small sample of time given the long and rich histories of human civilizations.
In this article, I wanted to explore some of those things. As we’ll see, many of the items didn’t start to see widespread usage until the age of discovery and the rise of large-scale maritime trading. It turns out, many of the associations we make with a country or culture are actually not as old and ingrained with their history as we might initially think.
Potatoes - Ireland
Potatoes are a crop widely associated with the country of Ireland. However, potatoes didn’t make it to Ireland until 1589 when Sir Walter Raleigh introduced them.[^1] In continental Europe, it would take several more decades before they caught on.
This is because Potatoes are a New World crop. Incas, for example, were cultivating them thousands of years before European settlers started to arrive. But, it would take until the age of discovery before Potatoes would make their way to Ireland and Europe at large.
As you’ll see, many of the items on this list follow the same pattern. Once the Americas were discovered, and the world opened up, many new things were brought between them.
Tomatos - Italy
Another example of a late-arriving new world crop is Tomatoes. Nowadays, tomato-based pasta sauce is commonly associated with Italian cuisine, but that wasn’t always the case.
Tomatoes weren’t introduced in Italy until the 1500s.[^2] That means, for the majority of the Italian peninsula’s history, marinara sauce didn’t exist. The majority of Italian history comes before those red sauces many have come to associate with the country.
Also interesting to note, pasta wasn’t introduced in Italy until the 8th or 9th century, and wouldn’t be widely adopted until the 12th.[^3] It was likely brought by Arab traders from Northern Africa when they visited Sicily, and spread north from there.
Horses - The Americas
A classic symbol of the American West and prairie lands, horses were actually extinct in the Americas for thousands of years before being reintroduced.
While horses did originally inhabit the New World, they became extinct about 10,000 years ago.[^4] It wasn’t until European explorers reintroduced them that horses once again graced the continent. From there, they would spread, both among the colonizing Europeans and the native peoples, through trade and warfare. Horses would come to be one of the most important animals in the Americas, and play a major role in transportation, hunting, and warfare.
Chillies (Peppers) - Asia
Again, we have a new world crop introduced later than you might expect; I’m beginning to see a trend here. Chili peppers are native to the Americas and weren’t introduced to Asia until the late 16th century. [^5] This was largely done by Portuguese and Dutch traders who had large holdings in Asia at the time.
These hot peppers would become an important part of local cuisine over the next century or so. Particularly, as a way to add flavor as salt was oftentimes difficult and expensive to obtain.
Tea - England
Now a staple of England, tea was actually introduced quite late in the history of the country. It wasn’t until the latter half of the 17th century that tea was sold in England. [^6]All those “tea traditions” that are associated with English Aristocracy; they’re relatively recent additions to society.
Originally sold as an upper-class drink, tea would eventually become popular among nearly all social classes. The rest, as they say, is history; tea remains a widely popular drink to this day. It’s interesting to think that throughout the majority of England’s history, they didn’t have tea.
Camels (Domesticated) - Middle East
Camels as pack animals and beasts of burden are common tropes for Middle Eastern cultures. Camels were domesticated and widely used for travel and trade sometime between 930-900 BC. [^7]This is certainly a long time ago, but it still leaves thousands of years of history where camels weren’t a domesticated animal.
This would have a profound effect on the culture in the area and is an important step towards larger-scale trade in the area. This also makes them a rather recent addition to the list of domesticated animals. Dogs, for example, saw domestication over 10,000 years prior to camels[^8].
Bananas - Caribbean
Here we have an example opposite of potatoes and tomatoes, a produce item brought by Europeans to the New World. Bananas are now one of the most popular fruits in the Caribbean and the Southern Americas, but it wasn’t always that way.
Bananas weren’t introduced to the Caribbean until the early 1500s when they were brought there by Spanish missionaries. [^9]Originally native to Southeast Asia, bananas made the long journey to become a staple crop halfway around the world.
Coffee - Europe
It’s difficult to imagine strolling through a quaint European town with no coffee, but for the majority of history that was the case. Coffee didn’t see an introduction to Europe until the early 16th century when it was brought by the Ottomans. [^10]Further, it wasn’t until the 17th century that coffeehouses began to sprout up across Europe.
Like tea, coffee was initially a drink preferred by the aristocracy and not one the average person would consume. Coffee houses would become a meeting place for intellectuals and others of the upper class to gather and discuss ideas.
That would eventually change, though, as coffee would become more accessible and enjoyed by all social classes. While coffee is widespread these days, it wasn’t that long ago that trying to find an espresso in Venice would have been impossible.
[^1]: https://potatogoodness.com/potato-fun-facts-history/
[^2]: https://www.paesana.com/blog/the-story-behind-the-sauce-marinara
[^3]: https://pastaevangelists.com/blogs/blog/the-history-of-pasta-a-tale-of-many-strands
[^4]: https://www.history.com/articles/horses-plains-indians-native-americans
[^5]: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1007963
[^6]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_in_the_United_Kingdom
[^8]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestication_of_the_dog
[^9]: https://www.uncommoncaribbean.com/photo/caribbean-bananas/
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