Italy, a European country with a long Mediterranean coastline, has left a powerful mark on Western culture and cuisine.Significant changes occurred with the discovery of the New World and the introduction of potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, maize and sugar beet, this last introduced in quantity in the 18th century.Italian cuisine is known for its regional diversity, especially between the north and the south of the Italian peninsula.It offers an abundance of taste, and is one of the most popular and copied in the world.It influenced several cuisines around the world, chiefly that of the United States.
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