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Reddit
reddit.com › r/askhistorians › what on earth did europeans eat before the introduction of new world fruits & vegetables??
r/AskHistorians on Reddit: What on Earth did Europeans eat before the introduction of New World fruits & vegetables??
August 27, 2013 -

I simply cannot imagine Italian cuisine without tomatoes, or British cuisine without their beloved potato, or even Asia without chilli. I've read a little about Roman cuisine in Apicius, but other than that, I'm completely clueless.

Top answer
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144

Below I outline the fruits and vegetables which would have been grown domestically and eaten in north western Europe (France/Germany/England) by the late medieval period, or in some cases imported from southern Europe in preserved form.

The late medieval period would have been just the point before 'new world' foods found their way to Europe.

I do not include here the medieval trade in spices (which was significant). Nor do I discuss meats, fowl, fish, cereals and legumes (beans); in the main these remained relatively the same through the medieval period and are recognizable to us today, although methods of husbandry might have changed (ie forest-raised pigs vs. pasture and pen, river fishing vs. fish ponds, etc) or dominance of one cereal or legume over another based on substantial transformation of cultivation techniques between 10-13th century CE (crop rotation).

I use north western Europe as a barometer; many foods were in the mediterranean Europe centuries before the north adapted or adopted them.

Note: In [brackets] are origins, then first cultivation reference in West, then Medieval uses (medieval = high to late medieval due to documentary sources).

Fruit

Apples: [Caucasus] evidenced by Greeks and Romans; Medieval: fresh or dried; added to sauces and as fillings; added to verjuice (cooking liquid); made cider

Pears: [Caucusus] evidenced by Greeks and Romans; Medieval: like apples, eaten fresh or dried; added to sauces and as fillings; made cider

Quinces: [Caucasus] evidenced by Greeks and Romans; Medieval: preserved in honey, eaten as 'marmalade' or in sauces and stews

Plums: [European native?] evidenced by later Romans; Medieval: eaten fresh and dried; stuffing, sauces and stews

Peaches: [China via Persia] evidenced by Greeks and Romans; eaten fresh and dried; stuffing and sauces

Cherries: [West asia] evidenced by Romans; Medieval : eaten fresh and dried; preserves; stews and stuffing

Berries: [Indigenous] Late medievals created several of the cultivars we know now, including strawberries; however berries of all sorts were foraged and grow including blackberries, raspberries; eaten fresh and dried

Grapes: [West asia via Phoenicians] evidenced by earliest Greeks; Medievals fresh and dried as raisins; juice, syrup, fermented as wine and spirits; vinegar and verjuice;

Citrons (lemon/lime): [India] evidenced by late Romans; Northern Medievals imported these from the mediterranean as they did not grow domestically, and were therefore eaten dried or preserved

Oranges: [India/China] Arrived in medieval mediterranean as bitter varieties by 12th century; juiced; candied/preserved

Figs: [Not indigenous but predates Greeks] evidenced by greeks and romans; Medievals: eaten fresh, dried and candied; stews

Dates: imported by Romans and Greeks; Medievals imported them dried from Arabic lands, eaten as-is or in sauces

Vegetables

Garlic: [Asia] evidenced by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans; Medievals: sauces; salads; preserved; medicines;

Onions: [Asia] evidenced by Eqyptians, Greeks and Romans; Medievals: salads, sauces, soups, stews

Cabbage: [Indigenous] evidenced by Eqyptians, Greeks and Romans; Medievals it is found as cabbage cultivars including cauliflower, kale, broccoli, etc; soups, stews, salads; pickled; cooked; juiced

Lettuce: [Indigenous] evidenced by Greeks and Romans; Medievals: salads

Turnips: [Indigenous] evidenced by Romans; Medievals: cooked; stews; pickled;

Parsnips: [Indigenous] evidenced by Greeks and Romans; Medievals: cooked; preserved; juiced for sweet essence

Carrots: [Indigenous] not cultivated as root for eating by Romans or Greeks, 'modern' carrot developed in the early middle ages in the south and became staple in the north by late middle ages (yellow or purple in colour); salads, stews

Beets: [Indigenous] evidenced by Romans; Medievals cultivated varietals into chard; eaten cooked, sauces, soups;

Radishes: [Indigenous] evidenced by Eqyptians, Greeks and Romans; Medievals eaten as salad, cooked, sauces, soups, stews;

Gourds: [Indigenous] evidenced by Romans; Medievals: soups, stews, cooked

Cucumbers: [India?] evidenced by Greeks and Romans; Medievals: soups, salads

Asparagus: [Indigenous] evidenced by Greeks and Romans; Medievals: cooked, fried

Eggplant (Aubergine): [India] Medievals: received from Arabs in early middle ages; cooked, fried;

Spinach: [Persia 4th CE] Medievals: received from Arabs in high middle ages, boiled, fried, salads

Mushrooms: [Indigenous] evidenced by Greeks and Romans; Medievals: cooked, fried, salads, dried

Olives: [Indigenous] evidenced by Greeks and Romans; medievals: pressed oils; preserved

Beyond fruits and vegetables, there were a lot of native herbs and wild leaf varietals ('salads') and a lot of nuts which, if not native to Europe, were established by the time of Greeks from eastern sources; nuts like almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pistachios, chestnuts. These would have all been present in medieval diets and are testified to in some surprising ways, including identification of almonds with heretics in the 13th century.

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35

British cuisine involved a lot of grains, ale, dairy and peas. Peas were a staple crop and were eaten at every level of society. Dairy included milk, buttermilk, cream, butter, and cheeses. The ale was unhopped until the 16th century, but would have been flavoured with other plants (eg alexanders, ground ivy, heather) The grains (eg wheat, barley, millet) would have been ground into flour for bread and pie crust, or made into porridge. Poor and rich alike ate meat, but which animals you ate depended on money and status. Chicken was a rich people food, for example. Beef, pork, venison, mutton, lamb, goose, duck, fresh and saltwater fish were all eaten.

Italian cuisine had a lot of zucchinis and eggplants where you might expect a tomato, and even today isn't as tomato-heavy as you might think given Italian-American food. There's an AskHistorians thread on Italian cuisine here.

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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › List_of_food_origins
List of food origins - Wikipedia
October 22, 2025 - This is a list of food items by the region of the world they originate or were domesticated in. Dandelion greens · Coconuts · Cranberry (species are native to subarctic regions) Elderberry (not present in tropical regions) Mulberry · Raspberry (not present in Africa) Wild strawberry (not present in Africa) Yellow plum (common to tropical regions, excluding North America, Europe, and West Asia) Crab ·
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Quora
quora.com › What-food-resources-are-native-to-Europe
What food resources are native to Europe? - Quora
Answer: Europe has a large number of traditions, because it streches from the Mediterranean Sea in the South to the Barents Sea in the North. I can tell about the resources in the Northern area, specifically in Finland. Natural food resources are many species of fish, like salmon, trout, baltic...
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Historum
historum.com › home › forums › world history › european history
What vegetables were eaten in Europe before the Columbian exchange? | History Forum
June 2, 2017 - You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. ... I have always wondered what was eaten in Europe prior to the 1500's? I am particularly interested to hear what the Italians ate as almost all of their current 'traditional' cuisine is based on South American vegetables (potato, tomato etc) ... One of the most important Medieval foods was the bread.
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Insteading
insteading.com › half-forgotten european food plants to consider
Half-Forgotten European Food Plants to Consider • Insteading
May 30, 2024 - The leaves are also edible and are usually given the “use as spinach” designation applied to all nonspinach greens. You can find rampion seeds over at The Italian Gardener. and Terroir Seeds. ... This carrot-family relative was a popular plant in the 19th century, especially in its native range of middle and south-eastern Europe, but I’d wager that most 21st century people have never heard of it.
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Purdue University
hort.purdue.edu › newcrop › proceedings1999 › v4-146.html
Conservation of the Wild Relatives of Native European Crops
Wild relatives have contributed to the improvement of most crop plants and are used mostly as sources of desirable genes as well as in research relating to crop improvement. Although not often thought of as a major center of crop diversity, the European continent harbors rich wild gene pools of many crop species. These include: cereals, particularly oats (Avena) and rye (Secale); food legumes such as pea (Pisum) and lupins (Lupinus); fruit crops, such as apple (Malus), pear (Pyrus), plums and cherries (Prunus), grape vine (Vitis), raspberries and blackberries (Rubus), olive (Olea) and fig (Ficus); vegetables—including lettuce (Lactuca), carrot (Daucus), parsnip (Pastinaca), cabbage and other brassicas (Brassica), beet (Beta), celery, celeriac (Apium), leek (Allium), asparagus (Asparagus), salsify (Tragopogon), and artichoke (Cynara).
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Eupedia
eupedia.com › home › forums › europe forum › european culture, arts & traditions › european food and recipes
European fruits and vegetables | Eupedia Forum
January 22, 2006 - For example, oranges and apricots originated from China, bananas from south-east Asia, apples from central Asia, carrots from Afghanistan, spinach from Persia, garlic and onions from the Middle East, while the pumpkin, tomato, avocado, potato and pineapple are all native of the central or southern American continent. Among fruits of European origin, berries are numerous, like the redcurrant, native of western continental Europe, and the cranberry, from northern Europe.
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Europeana
europeana.eu › en › exhibitions › edible-plants-from-the-americas › familiar-food-from-far-off-places
Familiar food from far-off places | Europeana
As the plants were distributed across the planet, the unfamiliar species - tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, cacao, corn, vanilla, peanuts and more – not only enriched the cuisines of Europe, Asia and Africa, but also had a major impact on global culture, economics and politics. Unfortunately this content cannot be shown. View this content via an external link · Some new species (such as corn and sweet potato) were instantly identified by those early explorers as convenient foodstuffs for long journeys.
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ICT News
ictnews.org › home › 10 indigenous foods thought to be european
10 Indigenous Foods Thought to Be European
June 30, 2014 - Birds are believed to have carried their seeds northward, spreading them in present-day Mexico as early as 800 B.C. Aztecs embraced the red tomato as they did their green husk tomato, or tomatillo, native to Mesoamerica. Europeans, however, initially feared the bright red fruit, considering them poisonous.
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Oldcook
oldcook.com › en › medieval-vegetables
Oldcook : vegetables in Medieval Europe
Vegetables which where known in Europe in Medieval Ages, as artichoke, aubergine or eggplant, cardoon, carrot, cabbage, medieval European gourd, melon, parsnip. Vegetables of transatlantic origin, as potatoes, tomatoes, reached Europe only later
Find elsewhere
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YouTube
youtube.com › the seasonal diet
Vegetables native to ALL Parts of Europe - YouTube
While grains were the primary constituent of most meals, vegetables such as cabbages, chard, onions, garlic, and carrots were common foodstuffs. Many of thes...
Published   September 29, 2022
Views   1K
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William Justus
willjustusauthor.com › news › 2020 › 4 › 7 › ancient-agriculture-in-northern-europe
Ancient Agriculture in Northern Europe — William Justus
April 7, 2020 - Vegetables were eaten by Northern Europeans prior to the advent of agriculture, and they continued to be consumed after its arrival. Leeks, onions, and garlic were easy to grow and flavorful. Parsnips were native to Northern Europe and carrots would have been quickly imported from the Middle East.
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Quora
quora.com › Is-there-any-food-that-is-totally-European-in-origin-without-ingredients-or-influences-coming-from-other-continents
Is there any food that is totally European in origin, without ingredients or influences coming from other continents? - Quora
Answer (1 of 12): Sure there are plenty. Most truly traditional foods are made with local ingredients that were on hand in the past as foreign foodstuffs were either prohibitively expensive, unobtainable or outright unknown. Here are a few examples amongst thousands of European dishes made from ...
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PattyCooks
pattycooks.com › home › blog › cuisine of european indigenous peoples
Cuisine of European Indigenous Peoples - PattyCooks
July 8, 2022 - Wikipedia writes: Gastronomic societies are organisations, almost always of men, who cook and eat together in a communal txoko. Some of the Basque food I made included Basque Garlic Vinegar Fish. A picture of Saami people taken in 1910. Photo by Wikipedia. The Sinchi Foundation writes that The Saami seem to be the oldest native Europeans still existing within tribal context today.
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Wordpress
fricoteurope.wordpress.com › tag › traditional-foods-of-europe
Traditional Foods of Europe – FRICOT INDIGENOUS — Local Food Produce | Traditional Food Recipes | Sustainable Food Security Solutions
And back in England the Cornish pasty, made with beef, onion, potato and swede, is managing to hold its own against fast-food competition. Potato is a main ingredient in the Swiss mountain dish called cholera, which also contains apples or pears, cheese and onions. The potato pie is now an institution across Europe. Potato dumplings remain popular in northern and central Europe. In Austria dumplings made with apricot and potato are called marillenknödel.
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Shef
shef.com › home
European Regional Cuisines
Moving towards Eastern Europe, you’ll see the cuisine transform into what you may consider comfort food. These mostly landlocked countries experience a colder winter, which explains why most dishes consist of roasted meats (such as beef and pork), potatoes, and soups with cabbage and beets. Stuffed cabbage and pierogi are also popular in this area of the world.
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Quora
quora.com › What-are-some-crops-or-plants-that-originated-from-Europe
What are some crops or plants that originated from Europe? - Quora
Answer (1 of 6): Most of the brassica family have an European origin. The beta has an European origin. The strawberry is an aggregate accessory fruit that was definitely cultivated in Europe. There’s a few legumes from the beans family that possibly have an European origin, such as birdsfoot or l...
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TravelTeening
travelteening.com › home › all the adventures › 13 european foods to try in their native country
13 European Foods to Try in Their Native Country - TravelTeening
July 6, 2019 - We compiled a list of our family's favorite foods from several European countries including Iceland, Spain, France, Germany, and Austira.
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TV Tropes
tvtropes.org › pmwiki › posts.php
Non-native foods that are common in European cuisine - TV Tropes Forum
August 16, 2010 - Or, more specifically, foods (crops and livestock) common in European cuisine today · * As in, I don't want to hear about the Bhut Jolokia or japanese pufferfish that would not exist in Sweden and Denmark in the 6th century. tomato · potato · cabbage (native to the meditteranean, but the Scandies may not have known of it) cauliflower (same) broccoli (same) cacao · maize · sugarcane · papryka · Are there any other foods that I have missed?