LET'S EXPO..SE FOR OUR PLANET PROJECT: LET'S EXPO..SE FOR OUR PLANET school year 2014 /15

Products imported from America

Cocoa One of the first wonderful American plants described by Christopher Columbus from his first trips was probably cocoa. Soon, in fact, the Spaniards understood the use of cocoa beans in the diet of local people and began to appreciate this new plant.

Corn Immediately after the cocoa, it was the corn to arouse the interest of the European conquerors. The reason is obvious: corn, as noted by the French historian Braudel, had for Amerindians the same importance as wheat had for Europeans and rice for Asians

Potatoes Things went differently for the potato, which, although known by Europeans since the middle of the '500, struggled long before it became a common food in the daily diet as it was used as an ornamental plant. the potato is a tuber and comes from South America, in particular from Colombia and Andes, where it was cultivated together with corn, at lower altitudes

Pepper The pepper is very popular and well known. It can be red, yellow and green. The pepper was discovered by Columbus in 1493. It is not considered a real dish because of its very strong flavor.

The pineapple Class: II E The pineapple is a plant from South America. It was brought to the Caribbean islands by Indi Caribbean. In 1493 Christopher Columbus, on his journey to discover India, saw, for the first time, a pineapple plantation in Guadeloupe. The pineapple was later imported to Europe and from there first traded by Spanish and English to the Pacific Islands. It is known that pineapple represented hospitality. Besides, among ancient Aztec people pineapple represented perfection, for them, infact, it was "the one that is beautiful even when it's raining outside." Class: II E