Complex sentence: The dish cannot be an ancient one since the tomato was a New World crop, introduced to cultivation in the Middle East by John Barker, British consul in Aleppo c.1799--c.1825.
Split into simpler sentences: The dish cannot be an ancient one since the tomato was a New World crop. The tomato was introduced to cultivation in the Middle East by John Barker, British consul in Aleppo c.1799--c.1825.