Before Europeans were willing to eat plants from the nightshade family, what did the Italians eat?
I believe the question should be, “Before Columbus, what did Italians eat?”
Lots of things. If you look around, you can find Roman and Medieval cookbooks in modern editions.
I do know that white pizza was street food going back to Roman times.
John W. Kennedy
“Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.”
– Charles Williams
Roman recipes (courtesy of MFK Fisher) might imply… lot’s o fish, breads, vegetables (not “greens” though - that was considered a Celtic weirdness) some occassional beef, chicken, and various game - red wine, eggs, cheese.
Definately no:
corn,
tomatoes,
chilis,
potatoes,
cantelope (before the middle ages),
oranges (before the middle ages)
yoghurt (before modern times)
Oats and rice are rare in Italy before modern times.