Did they have chocolate in Middle Earth? They had potatoes which implies the equivalent of South America so maybe but it’s never specifically mentioned.
Spuds are a solanum species, which is not specific to south america. eg belladonna. So this hypothesis maybe falls over. Ditto tomatoes and chillies - also solanum species. Curcurbits like pumpkins etc are also not specific as gourds are worldwide (except for antarctica). My theory is accelerated selection pressure from elves etc. for edible species. Plus a bit of magic. I mean, do we know that what the LOTR universe calls a potato is the same as ours? We don’t.
Did they have chocolate in Middle Earth? They had potatoes which implies the equivalent of South America so maybe but it’s never specifically mentioned.
Spuds are a solanum species, which is not specific to south america. eg belladonna. So this hypothesis maybe falls over. Ditto tomatoes and chillies - also solanum species. Curcurbits like pumpkins etc are also not specific as gourds are worldwide (except for antarctica). My theory is accelerated selection pressure from elves etc. for edible species. Plus a bit of magic. I mean, do we know that what the LOTR universe calls a potato is the same as ours? We don’t.
I can’t believe there’s a part of worldbuilding Tolkien didn’t spell out. Indeed, it must have been elves. Or a wizard did it.