I wonder what old world food must have been like before contact with the new world. Tomatoes, potatoes, and chili peppers are all new world plants. No marinara sauce, no baked potatoes. This doesn't just affect European cuisines, either...what was sczechuan cooking like before the introduction of hot peppers? What about Southern Indian food? Or Korean cooking...no kimchee without those vicious little chili peppers.

It's weird to think that so many of the foods we consider representative of various world cuisines didn't exist before the European Age of Exploration.