Perhaps this also explains why corn, chocolate, and tomatos used to give me migraines (got better). They're all new-world plants.
There was an article in the Los Angeles Times in 1992 describing the effects of new-world plants on old-world cuisine. (At that time, the French were better cooks than the English and had been for centuries.) Corn, chocolate, tomatos, potatos, vanilla, chili peppers, Jerusalem artichokes, avacados, cassava, sweet potatos, etc., are all used worldwide now.
I once announced that I would be a hemisphere Chauvinist, and would henceforth limit my diet solely to New World foods: corn, squash, turkey, potatoes, etc. But my resolve didn't survive the day. I now consume such a limited menu only on Thanksgiving.