番茄并不是意大利的本土植物，它在16世纪中叶才被引入欧洲，那它是如何成为意大利人餐桌上的常客的呢？
Tomatoes are not native to Italy.
In fact, they weren't introduced to Europe until the mid 1500s, and the first Italian tomato sauce recipe was not written until 1692.
But when we think of Italian cuisine, the dishes that first come to mind are probably pizza, bruschetta, pasta with red sauce.
You might notice they all have one ingredient in common: the tomato.
So how did tomatoes become an Italian staple?
It all starts with colonization, which is responsible for a lot of what we think of as iconic European foods.
Think about it.
Fine Belgian chocolates and Irish potatoes - these essential ingredients came to Europe through colonization.
And the same goes for tomatoes in Italy.
The history of the tomato begins in the Americas, specifically in the Andes around present day Peru and Ecuador, where wild tomato plants originated.
