Columbian Exchange Recipe Project

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by Jenn Beecher

This assignment provides a fun way to examine the impact of the Columbian Exchange. This assignment can be created and completed in either a Google Doc or in Google Slides.

Complete the following steps:

Step 1: Pick out your favorite home-cooked meal. Your menu must include an appetizer, main dish, two side dishes, and a dessert.

Step 2: Find recipes for ALL of your dishes on your menu (include all sauces, dressings, etc). You must type up the recipes for each dish in detail. Below each recipe should be a picture of the dish (this can be computer-generated or hand-drawn).

Step 3: Mark all ingredients as Old World or New World by placing OW or NW next to it

Step 4: Answer the following question in 1-2 paragraphs (typed): What did this activity make you realize about the impact of the Columbian Exchange? Elaborate and explain in detail.

Example #1 to reference

Example #2 to reference

*I’ve included this list below to help you in identifying Old and New World food items

Type of organism	Old World list (Europe)	New World list (Americas)
Domesticated animals	camel cattle donkey fowl (several species including chickens) goat horse pig rabbit sheep	fowl (a few species) guinea pig raccoon llama turkey
Domesticated plants	bananas barley beans black pepper cabbage coffee cotton (short staple "Egyptian" variety) citrus garlic hemp lettuce oats onion peach pear rice rye sugarcane turnip wheat	avocado beans cashew chicle (chewing gum base) chili pepper (includes the bell pepper) cocoa cotton (long staple variety, 90% of modern cultivation) huckleberry maize (corn) manioc (cassava) papaya peanut pecan pineapple potato rubber squash (incl. pumpkin) sunflower strawberry sweet potato tobacco tomato vanilla

Standards