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Monday, 21 January 2013


Tomato History
Detailed Contents: Tomato History-Fruit, Vegetable; or Poisonous Ornamental Plant-Tomato Recipes-Stewed Tomatoes-Chilli -Stewed Fresh Tomatoes-Stewed Green Tomatoes and Pepper-Tomatoes and Eggplant-Savoury Tomatoes, Beans, and Squash-Fried Ripe Tomatoes-Fried Green Tomatoes-Fried Green Tomatoes and Cucumber Slices-Fried Tomatoes with Béchamel Sauce-Baked Tomatoes-Broiled Tomatoes-Scalloped/Au Gratin Tomatoes
Tomato History
 It was not until about 1830
that tomatoes lost their
"proud" place in the flower
garden and were placed
with the onions, cabbages
and other
Common Vegetables.
Like beans, corn, melons, potatoes, and squash, the tomato has origins traced back to the early Aztecs and Incas in SOUTH AMERICA around 700 AD and, although there has recently been discovered very strong evidence as to a much earlier Asian origin of all these vegetables, because this discovery plays havoc with many “First Nations” land claims, it is generally believed or at least stated, that the tomato is probably native to that continent.
It was not until around the 16th century that Europeans, and later, through them North Americans, were introduced to this fruit when early explorers set out to discover new lands. Throughout Southern Europe, the tomato was quickly accepted into the kitchen, yet as it moved north, more resistance was apparent. The British, for example, admired the tomato for its beauty, but believed that it was poisonous, as its appearance was similar to that of the wolf peach.
It was not regarded as a kitchen vegetable in North or Central America until the times preceding the Civil War period in the United States. From this point forward, tomatoes have become a staple item in the kitchens throughout the world. Each area of the world has its own tomato history and how it is used in everyday dining. It appears that tomatoes have had the largest impact on Canadian and American eating habits, as they are responsible for enjoying over 12 million tons of tomatoes each year.
Fruit, Vegetable, or Poisonous Ornamental plant
An interesting aspect of tomato history is the now classic debate: Is the tomato a Fruit or a Vegetable? I guess that depends on whom you are asking. By definition, a fruit is the edible plant structure of a mature ovary of a flowering plant, usually eaten raw, some are sweet like apples, peaches, or pears, but the ones that are not sweet such as beans, cucumbers, pea, peppers etc. are commonly called vegetables. Botanists claim that a fruit is any fleshy material that covers a seed or seeds, where a horticulturalist point of view would pose that tomatoes are a vegetable plant.
 Until the late 1800’s the tomato was classified as a fruit to avoid taxation, but this was changed after a largely unsubstantiated American Supreme Court ruling that the tomato is used as a vegetable and should be taxed accordingly.
When all is said and done, the history of the tomato has classified it as a poisonous, beautiful plant, a tax-avoiding fruit and as a taxable vegetable. Nonetheless, the tomato is the most popular fruit/vegetable in Canada and enjoyed by billions all over the world. Today it’s impossible to imagine Italian cuisine without the tomato. The English adopted it for a popular English breakfast dish: grilled tomatoes with rashers of bacon or grilled kidneys. This is still an outstanding breakfast combination. Modern Canadians have made up for lost time by using tomatoes in an amazing variety of ways: they go into juice and into soups and sauces: they are baked, grilled, fried and stewed, and eaten raw in salads or with hamburger; they make ketchup, chilli sauce, and pickles. They even go into a pie.

 The French tagged the tomato as pomme d’ amour…English swains, not to be outdone presented tomatoes as tokens of affection.

These strange amorous apples be of two sorts, one red and the other yellow, but in all other ways they be like.

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