So my question is this, what if chillies, cocoa and potatoes hadn't been introduced to medival kitchens by Aztec traders?
Yeah it took what..at least four recorded missions before the Europeans stopped trying to attack them on sight but then again, could those european lords and kings have been blamed for reacting with fear when those strange, tall ships appearred from the western horizon, flying those strange feathered serpent seals over their sails adorned with leopard skins?
Lets leave aside the sudden expansion of the world as the Europeans knew it and all the stuff that followed and look at the 'small scale' in regards to food. Specifically, chillies and cocoa and of course Potatoes. Potatoes were easy to grow, but Chillies and cocoa for ages remained the 'property' of the rich, although their prices were also controlled by the Spanish who started growing them and selling them on at high prices as they were very much a luxury item.
And shall we talk about the effect of Corn/Maze on the Europeans too?