Columbian Exchange Research Paper

The Columbian exchange was the exchange of goods and products that occurred when the Europeans came to America. Some of the items exchanged included potatoes and tomatoes, which originated in America, and wheat and rice, which originated in Europe. Because of this exchange, certain dishes are possible to be made. For example, tomatoes are a popular ingredient in Italian dishes, but they originated in America. Because of the Columbian exchange, Italians were able to adapt tomatoes to be included in their dishes. Similarly, there are many dishes which also cannot be possible without the exchange. This will go in-depth into a few dishes and see if they could be made without the Columbian exchange.
Mozzarella sticks are one common dish. It is cubes of mozzarella coated in breadcrumbs and fried in oil. This dish is one of the few can be made without the Columbian exchange. The ingredients in this dish include all-purpose flour and breadcrumbs, besides the cheese. The flour is from southwestern Asia, and the mozzarella cheese is from Italy. The breadcrumbs are from Egypt. All of these ingredients are from the “Old World”, meaning that they are from either Europe, Asia, or Africa. Therefore, the Columbian exchange need not have occurred to make

this dish.
However, the Columbian exchange did need to exist to make one version of a salad. This version includes romaine lettuce, which is from Greece, olive oil, which is from Spain and the Mediterranean, and salt and pepper, which are from Africa and India correspondingly. The “New World” ingredient in this dish is avocado. Avocado is from Mexico and without the exchange, no one in the “Old World” would know about it. Thus, this dish cannot exist without the Columbian exchange.
The next dish is Minestrone soup. This soup is composed of vegetables and kidney beans in a thin tomato soup. This dish is mainly an “Old World” dish, but it includes some vegetables which happen to be originated in the “New World”. Some of the “Old World” ingredients include onions and garlic, which are from central Asia, and celery and carrot, which are from the Mediterranean and central Asia, respectfully. The “New World” ingredients in this dish are green beans, which are from Peru, tomatoes, which are from the Andes Mountains in South America, and kidney beans, which are also from Peru. Because this dish includes both ingredients from the Americas and ingredients from the “Old World”, the exchange of goods did need to occur.
The next-to-last dish is eggplant lasagna.

True to the name, this lasagna contains eggplant, which is from southeastern Asia. This lasagna has ingredients which are all mainly from the “Old World”. Some of the them include oregano, thyme, and ricotta cheese, which are all from Italy. The only ingredient that is from the Americas is one that is in the marinara sauce, and that is tomatoes. Technically, this lasagna could be made with pesto sauce, with herbs already located in the “Old World”. However, the recipe calls for marinara sauce. This dish could have existed without the exchange, provided that a pesto sauce was substituted for the marinara sauce. Still, most would prefer the marinara sauce to the pesto sauce in a

lasagna.
The last dish is a fruit salad. As the name suggests, there are many fruits in this dish. This is the one dish out of all the dishes discussed that I consider to be half “Old World” and half “New World”. There are 3 ingredients from the Americas and 5 from the “Old World”. Some of the ingredients from the latter include mangos, which are from India, apples, which are from central Asia, and milk, which is from cattle from Europe. The ingredients from the Americas are grapes, which are from North America, strawberries, which are from Chile and America, and blueberries, which are from America. This dish needs fruits from the Americas and other ingredients from the “Old World” to exist. Therefore, the Columbian exchange needed to have existed to make this dish.
There are many dishes in this world. Each one has different ingredients which have origins in different places. The Columbian exchange helped bring them together, in the sense that people could have access to ingredients from different places. Most dishes made today include ingredients that are from both the Americas and the three continents. The Columbian exchange helped bring together people and various goods. The world would not be what it is today without the Columbian exchange.