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For centuries, Native Americans cultivated the plants they called the Three Sisters—maize (corn), common beans, and winter squash. They planted them in hills, so that as the corn grew up, it provided the beans a support that they could cling to as they rose out of the ground. The beans returned the favor by adding nitrogen to the soil around the corn’s roots, and the squash shaded the soil with their leaves, keeping the earth moist and weeds to a minimum. The process of domesticating the plants and learning how to plant them together most likely took place over a period of 5,000 to 6,500 years in North America.

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Maize, also called corn, is a cereal grain that indigenous peoples in the Tehuacán Valley of central Mexico domesticated more than 10,000 years ago. It cannot grow without human intervention, but it is an extraordinarily versatile plant. Varieties can be grown for animal feed, for human consumption, for pressing into oil, for fermentation and distillation into alcoholic beverages, and for ethanol and biofuels.

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Native to Mesoamerica and the Andes, squashes are members of a very big family of gourds. Five species are cultivated for their seeds and their flesh. Most grow on vines that can reach several feet long—as can the fruit themselves, as anyone who has grown zucchini in their gardens can attest.

Squashes are very nutritious, providing high doses of vitamins C and A. They are quite versatile in the kitchen as well, forming the foundation of breads, puddings, desserts, and soups. A winter squash that has been cultivated in Northeastern Mexico and what is now the Southwestern United States, pumpkin has nearly taken over the fall season, from pumpkin spice lattes to pumpkin pie to pumpkin decorations on the Thanksgiving table.

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The common bean (P. vulgaris) is the “sister” that has been cultivated the longest by indigenous peoples in the Americas. They can be either bush or climbing varieties, with green or purple leaves two to six inches long and one to four inches wide. The flowers may be pink, purple, or white and yield pods containing four to six kidney-shaped seeds each.

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The avocado (Persea americana) comes from south-central Mexico and Guatemala, where it was domesticated more than 5,000 years ago. The oily fruit is buttery, smooth, and green when it’s ripe. It’s prized the world over for its rich taste, lovely texture, and nutrient density.

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The sweet potato is a large, starchy tuberous root that is native to the tropical regions of the Americas. It belongs to the morning glory family. Although it is often called a “yam,” it is not truly a member of that family. Sweet potatoes are cooked and served as a vegetable or in pies and puddings as desserts.

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Tomatoes have become so ubiquitous worldwide that it’s hard to remember that they, too, are native to Mexico and Central and western South America. What would Italian cooking be without tomatoes? Yet the Aztecs were cooking tomatoes long before the Spanish encountered them in the 15th century.
Tomatoes are not vegetables, but the fruit of the Solanum lycopersicum plant. They are packed with vitamin C, potassium, and antioxidants, and low in calories, making them nutritional powerhouses.

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Wild rice is the common name for four species of grasses that historically and are still gathered and eaten in North America, primarily by Native Americans. The grasses grow in shallow, fresh water. The name “wild rice” is a misnomer—the grain is not related to domesticated rice. It is chewy and has to be cooked much longer than regular white rice.

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Finally, quite possibly the Western hemisphere’s most treasured gift to the world is chocolate, made from cacao, which the Olmec people of South America consumed since at least the 19th century BCE. The Aztecs and Maya also made chocolate drinks from cacao seeds. Chocolate is mainly used in desserts, but it is also used in some alcoholic beverages and in some savory dishes, such as mole, a traditional Mexican preparation.

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