Plant Origin Picture
Chocolate About 4,000 years ago chocolate (cacao) had its origins in the tropical rainforests of the Americas.  The Maya and the Aztecs were the first people to make chocolate.  The Aztecs valued it so much that the used it like money. The chocolate that they drank was mixed with spices and didn't resemble the chocolate that we drink today.

 

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/chocolate/history.html

Photo: Coco pods, Matura, Trinidad, West Indies by Karen Retford 2003
Cashew The cashew is native to the Northern part of South America.  The name comes from the Portuguese 'caju' which they borrowed from the Tupi-Indian 'acaju'.  The Portuguese took the nut to India and Africa during the 1500's.

 

http://www.achalcashew.com/historyofcashewnut.htm

http://www.uga.edu/fruit/cashew.htm

Photo: Cashews, Matura, Trinidad, West Indies by Karen Retford 2003
Coffee Coffee originated before 1000 AD in Ethiopia on the continent of Africa.  About 1000 AD Arab traders brought coffee to their homeland and began cultivating it.  The Turks were the first to adopt it as a drink.  It was considered very precious and guarded closely.  The spread of coffee was done illegally by a man named Baba Budan who smuggled beans to the mountains of Mysore, India.

 

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/coffee/history.htm

Photo: Blooming Coffee Plant, Matura, West Indies by Karen Retford 2003
Black Pepper Black pepper was once so valuable that it was held in more esteem than gold.  It is native to the Western Ghats of Kerala, India and began its journey about 4,000 years ago.  In classical times tributes were paid in pepper, both Attila the Hun and Alaric I a Visigoth demanded pepper as Rome's ransom.  Black pepper was one of the spices Queen Isabella of Spain sent Columbus in search of.

 

http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/pepper.html

Photo: http://www.templespice.com/item.asp?idProduct=4

 

 
Mangoes Mangoes originate in Southeastern Asia in what is now India about 4,000 years ago.  They grow on evergreen plants that can reach 60 ft in height.  The have a large seed which allows them to spread naturally. They also spread with the religion of Buddhism.

 

 

http://www.hungrymonster.com/FoodFacts/Food_Facts.cfm?Phrase_vch=Mangoes&fid=5435

http://freshmangos.com/aboutmangos/

Photo: Mangoes, Sangre Grande, Trinidad, West Indies by Karen Retford 2003
Coconut The coconut is native to the Pacific.  It is believed that coconuts spread to much of the tropics on ocean currents.  Coconuts appear in ancient Sanskrit writing more that 2,000 years ago.  They grow on palm trees.  Coconuts play an important role in East Indian culture and religion.

 

http://www.plantcultures.org.uk/plants/coconut_history.html

Photo: Coconut palm, Matura, Trinidad, West Indies by Karen Retford 2003

 

 
Avocado The avocado is native to Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America.  It was once enjoyed by Aztecs, Toltecs, Incas, and Mayans.  The Aztecs called the avocado ahuactl.  It is believed that the Spanish Conquistadores couldn't pronounce it, so they called it aguacate.  The first published record in Spain of the avocado was in 1518 by Martin Fernandez de Enciso.

 

http://whatscookingamerica.net/avacado.htm

Photo: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/senior/fruits/avocado1.htm

 

 
Tomato The cultivated tomato is believed to have originated in the Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia region of the Andes.  Today this same area has a large variety of both cultivated and wild tomatoes.  The word tomato comes from the word tomati  used by the Aztecs.  Italians were the first Europeans to cultivate and eat the tomato around 1554.  The Italians called it poma d' oro or gold apple, suggesting the early varieties were yellow.

http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/vegetabletravelers/tomato.html

Photo:  www.tastefulgarden.com

 
  Archeological evidence suggests that the potato originated in Peru.  The potato was a source of nutrition for people living in the area 10,000 years ago.  The Mochia, Chimu, and Incas, developed frost resistant varieties and called it papa.  The potato was a staple in a mainly vegetarian diet.

http://collections.ic.gc.ca/potato/history/index.asp

Photo:  http://www.sheridangardens.com/Vegetables/potatoes.jpg

 

 
Corn There is archeological evidence that suggests that corn was in the Americas long before there were people.  Fossil pollen grains have been found in sediments from beneath Mexico City said to be 80,000 years old.  It is believed to have come from the Mexican plateau or the highlands of Guatemala.  Corn belongs to the grass family.

 

http://www.ontariocorn.org/classroom/history.html

Photo:  http://www.veryvera.com/images/recipes/multicoloredcorn.jpg