The Americas in your saucepan!

Yavuz Sultan Selim never ate beans (kuru fasülye) in his life. Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi never knew the taste of potatoes. Sunflower seed oil was not used in Mevlana’s home to cook meals. This is because all of these ingredients become popular with the exploration of the New World.

Corn native to Americas, but known as Turkish wheat

Corn was first planted in North Africa, Egypt and Syria 50 years after the New World was explored. It was brought to these countries from Europe. However, it became known as Turkish wheat because many of the countries where it was cultivated were within the borders of the Ottoman Empire. In addition to corn, beans, also a common ingredient in Turkish cuisine, were brought to Turkey from the Americas.

There are three kinds of mulberry. Surprisingly, every kind of mulberry is native to a different country. It is believed that white mulberry was native to China, black mulberry to Iran and red mulberry to North America.

The apple is one of the most widespread fruits in the world. There are at least 7,500 known cultivars of apples, resulting in a range of desired characteristics. Cultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate size of the tree, even when grown on the same rootstock. It is believed that apples are native to Asia.

Grapes are some of the most widely consumed fruits across the five continents. They are native to Anatolia. Carrots, too -- although native to Central Europe -- are grown all over the world. Wild carrots are white in color, but slight changes to their genetic structure make them orange.

Pomegranate is native to Iran and India’s Himalayan region. For several millennia, it has been cultivated in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, north India, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the Mediterranean region.

Fruits and vegetables native to various regions

Mediterranean: olive, mustard, beetroot, cabbage, fig, chestnut, carob, celery, parsley and lentil.

Americas: sweet pepper, green pepper, bell pepper, tomato, peanut, bean, pumpkin, corn, potato and sunflower.

Anatolia: grape, walnut, black cherry, wheat, apple, almond, rye, chickpea, broad bean, green pea and strawberry.

Far East: rice, eggplant, cucumber, okra, sesame, orange, bitter orange, lemon, persimmon, peach, apricot, mulberry, tea and black pepper.

Potatoes were used as animal feed

Human beings have had the opportunity to consume a wide variety of vegetables and fruits thanks to the exploration of the Americas. Many only realized the delicious taste of many vegetables and fruits some 200 years after the Americas were explored. Potatoes, native to Peru, were considered poisonous and were only used as animal feed; most people steered clear of them. However, some Europeans who suffered hunger during the French Revolution resorted to eating animal feed, including potatoes. Thanks to their delicious flavor, potatoes moved up into a higher class, from being animal feed to being a food eaten by people. The vegetable first came to Anatolia through Russia and began to be grown in the Black Sea region.

Tomatoes were once  ornamental plants

Like potatoes, tomatoes also were not eaten by humans in Europe. They were first ornamental plants, akin to viola, in European homes and palaces, but then someone realized that they could be eaten. The tomato is native to South America. Now an indispensable ingredient in Turkish cuisine, tomatoes first came to Turkey at the end of the 18th century.

Eggplant believed to cause insanity

Green, sweet and bell peppers are native to South America. Pepper seeds were sent to Spain one year after they were discovered in the Americas. In time green peppers entered saucepans along with eggplant. People liked them so much that they became standard fare. Is there anyone who does not like türlü, a Turkish dish made of meat and vegetables, including potato, eggplant, tomato and green pepper? Eggplant got its reputation in China, Japan and the Ottoman Empire, but only entered European kitchens five decades ago, as it was previously believed to cause insanity. Its popularity spread thanks to the many expatriates living abroad. Had it not been for them, Europeans would not have tasted eggplant because they believed it to be dangerous.