Today, the fruits of certain edible nightshades, like eggplants and tomatoes, are associated with the cuisines of the Mediterranean region. Yet these now-ubiquitous ingredients were introduced to the sea's shores from far afield (the eggplant was first domesticated in Asia and the tomato in the Americas). This talk explains how they transformed over time from exotic oddities to beloved local staples. Their entangled histories reveal how trends we often associate with modern and industrialized cuisines may have much older roots. They also speak to the fragility of food as material for historical study, particularly for understudied or marginalized populations and the importance of telling Mediterranean stories that center Muslim, Jewish, and Arab perspectives rather than European imperial ones.