firecat

Well you know, I was just ruminating on it some more and I realized that the countries that adopted American foods (beans, tomatoes, potatoes, squash, etc.) are the ones with more delicious vegetarian foodways (Italy has good bean recipes for instance, and India and the Middle East as well), so it's maybe a matter of spotting these tasty things and adapting cuisine accordingly, too? Other European countries adopted the potato, but not as much the other veg, is the impression I get from my rather patchy history knowledge. Potatoes are wonderful, but not exactly inspirational when it comes to making a rich and varied culinary palette.

The bean question is interesting because favas, lentils, and chickpeas were (I'm 99% sure I read this in a book by Aliza Green, I swear) the only legumes native to the "Old World," so all those other beans were a new exciting thing...and...HA! Of course. The Mediterranean, the Middle East, India...spices. They had unparalleled access to spices that, the further west and north you went, got more and more rare.

I feel like all of these things together sort of gesture at why England and the US have a rather meh vegetarian cuisine, but don't fully explain it.