Potatoes
Potatos, tomatos, green peppers and corn(maze) all come from the Americas.
The first Europeans to come into contact with them and introduce them to Europe were obviously the Portuguese and Spanish.
Coffee on the other hand even though associated to Brazil was introduced to South America by the Portuguese and it comes from Ethiopia.
Time makes us forget were everything comes from. A good example is pasta from Italy right? Wrong it's Chinese and was brought back to Italy by Marco Polo even though we can't imagin Italt with out spaghetti.
Give it time and most people won´t even know that kiwis comes from New Zealand.
If they "come from" New Zealand, why were kiwi fruits originally called "Chinese gooseberries"? ;)
'Give it time and most people won´t even know that kiwis comes from New Zealand.'
I'm going to have to take that back as it does come from the Chinese Himalaia region even though New Zealand is a big producing country.
You needn't have taken it back: it would have been funnier to have passed it off as sarcasm. By the way, kiwis do come from New Zealand, it's kiwi fruit which come from the Chinese Himalaia region.
Every time I see the kiwi bird I'm reminded of the cartoon B.C., in which the bird enthusiastically greets everyone with a hearty, "Hi! I'm an Apteryx, a flightless bird with hairy feathers!" -- and then thinks about what he just said and gets all sad and dejected!
What is realy impressive about the kiwi bird is that egg they lay.
Wow what an egg (that is for the birds size).
A third of their body weight, or something like that -- I would NOT want to be a female kiwi....ow!
from potatoes to celine dion, kiwi fruits to kiwi birds?? Gosh!
It's a little like playing "telephone", isn't it? ;)
We all have to get our 2 cents worth, even if it means that we have to break topic lol.
I almost forgot another important South American plant, the cacoa plant.
How can anyone forget about chocolate.
Ah, chocolate ---Theobroma -- food of the gods!
Don't forget tobacco, too. I hear that's one of the Americas' more popular exports to the rest of the world. ;) Along with cocaine.
Damn Tobacco. I've been trying to give it up for years along with the thousand other chemicals contained within the average cigarette.
Well, we are an addictive bunch, us products of the New World! ;P Think of all the poor schmoes who die with with spots on their lungs, white powder up their nose, and incriminating brown smears on their lips.... oh, and a garlicky red stain that won't come out of their best shirt....
I once read somewhere that the first potato grown in England was given to the queen to eat (or king) but they actually cooked and served the plant and and not the bulb.
Can anyone confirm that?