Humans have been eating fruit, vegetables, and meat for a long, long time, so long in fact, that what we put into our mouths has been evolving alongside us. Let’s examine some foods that look completely different from what they used to.
In the seventeenth century, Italian still life painter Giovanni Stanchi painted a scene with peaches, pears, and some other fruit, including a super weird-looking thing in the lower right corner. It’s a good thing for us that he made that particular artistic choice, because it gives us a glimpse into what he knew as a watermelon. It turns out that if you hate seeds, you’d have hated 17th century watermelons.
Centuries-old artwork can provide a fascinating glimpse into what fruits and vegetables looked like before we started selectively cultivating them. Watermelon, for example, came from Africa and likely was a familiar garden staple in Europe by the 1600s. The flesh probably didn’t taste much different from today’s watermelon, and it would’ve been a super sweet treat. Over the next few centuries, gardeners started selectively breeding watermelons to have more of the bright red flesh and less of the white rind.
Watch the video for more about popular foods that look completely different today!
#Food #History #Fruit
Watermelon | 0:13
Bananas | 1:04
Apples | 2:13
Corn | 3:28
Wild boar bacon | 4:24