POPSCI.COM / SPRING 2020 15Banana split/bananas
Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and
Wilmington, Ohio, both claim
to have invented the banana
split by 1907. But the key in-
gredient comes thanks to the
domestication of seedy, starchy
plantains some 7,000 years
ago in Southeast Asia. Amer-
icans didn’t enjoy the fruits of
those labors until the Centennial
Exposition in 1876, where ven-
dors sold bananas peeled and
wrapped in foil for a dime.Lasagna/tomatoes
Italians have been making
lasagna since ancient Rome—
only without the tomatoes. The
bulbous fruit, which originated
in the Andes, first appeared in
Italian records in 1548 as an or-
namental plant. It wasn’t until
1692 that cookbooks featured
it as an edible ingredient. By
the 19th century, the tomato—
cheap, growable year-round, and
tasty—was central to the newly
unified country’s cuisine.Fufu/cassava
Cassava root provides food for
500 million Africans. In coun-
tries like Ghana, a doughy mush
of cassava (or plantains or
yams) called fufu goes with most
meals. But the woody shrub
originated on the other side of
the Atlantic. Portuguese sailors
and slave traders introduced the
crop to Africa in the 16th cen-
tury, where its ability to survive
intense rains and drought made
it an indispensable food source.Peach cobbler/
peachesIrish coddle/
potatoesStuffed squash/
zucchiniQuinoa bowls/
quinoaTeatime/
teaHoney roasted
nuts/peanutsBY ELEANOR CUMMINS / ILLUSTRATIONS BY OSCAR BOLTON GREENPEACH COBBLER AND
ballpark peanuts have something in com-
mon: They’re classic American dishes
built on decidedly un-American crops.
The state fruit of Georgia originated in
China, while peanuts (just like “Irish”
potatoes) hail from South America.
These aren’t gastronomical exceptions
either. From the heyday of the Silk Road
to the Columbian Exchange, globalization
has been bringing humans— and their
stomachs— closer together for thousands
of years. Here we trace some iconic foods
back to their foreign homelands.