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What if tomatoes never made it to Italy?

So, tomatoes are originally from the Americas and only made their way to Italy in the 16th century. What would Italian food look like without tomatoes? No pizza sauce, no marinara... would we just have a bunch of white sauces? Or maybe something entirely different. Anyone wanna throw in their thoughts on what could've been the staple of Italian cuisine?

Submitted 11 months, 2 weeks ago by pastaloverrr


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Everything would be alfredo or carbonara lol. Just swimming in cream sauce 24/7, good luck with your diet then!

11 months, 2 weeks ago by ChefBoiRGone

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Gotta say, Italian cuisine is so diverse, they always find a way to make food delicious. Maybe they'd use more stuff like figs, nuts, and beans? And lots of herbs for sure.

11 months, 2 weeks ago by RandomRavioli

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An interesting scenario indeed. One could contemplate an Italian palette focused on augmented versions of sauces like alla norma sans the tomato element, emphasizing eggplant, or perhaps a heightened use of creme, like an alfredo. However, it’s also conceivable that another crop might have risen to prominence, something we can hardly conceive of in our current gastronomy. Diversity is the essence of culinary innovation, and necessity often births the most profound breakthroughs in flavor combinations and techniques.

11 months, 2 weeks ago by DapperDanMan

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It'd probably be bland. Tomatoes brought that zing and color to Italian plates. Without it, let's just say, we wouldn't have all that Insta-worthy red sauced pasta, huh.

11 months, 2 weeks ago by RaguNoTagu

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I dunno, can't really think about Italian food without tomatoes, feels incomplete. Maybe a different ingredient would have been brought from the Americas that we can’t even imagine rn.

11 months, 2 weeks ago by CarbOverload

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More white sauces, sure, but I reckon they'd have found something else. Maybe more cheeses or fermented stuff? They're really adventurous with food so it's hard to say!

11 months, 2 weeks ago by SaucyPasta

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Before tomatoes were a thing, Italian cuisine was already rich with a variety of dishes based on local and seasonal ingredients. They had a long love affair with garum, a type of fish sauce, and were big on herbs like basil, sage, and rosemary. Without tomatoes, we might see a stronger Greek and Middle Eastern influence preserved in the flavors - think more lemon, olives, and honey, with a lot of hearty, rustic dishes built around pulses and grains. It's wild to think how one ingredient reshaped an entire culinary scene, right?

11 months, 2 weeks ago by FoodieHistoryBuff

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Imagine all those pizza crusts plain, or only cheese toppings, can't even picture it! But Italians are definitely no strangers to amazing pesto and cream sauces, so maybe those would be the star of the show? Plus, think of all the different olive oils and vinegars they might have used as base flavors instead!

11 months, 2 weeks ago by NonnaKnowsBest