History of The Tomato

When you think Italian

food, images of meat balls and pasta swimming in tomato sauce float

to the top of your mind. True they fit the perception of Italian

food here in the states, but tomatoes are truly an American export!.

That’s right, tomatoes did not come to Italy until after America

was discovered and did not become a part of any Italian dishes until

much later.

Tomatoes come from South

and Central America. Before the tomato was perfected into the ripe,

red fruit we eat today- were small yellow berries. The berries were

eaten by natives only.

In fact when tomatoes

were first brought to Europe by Cortes, they were not even eaten.

People believed them to be poisonous. So they were only grown as

interesting additions in gardens for people to look at and study.

The reason for this was mainly because tomatoes bear a resemblance to

a family of poisonous plants known as nightshade. Nightshade is

considered toxic in most quantities.

It wasn’t until the

19^th century that

tomatoes were finally proven harmless to eat. In a court case a man

had to prove tomatoes were safe for consumption by eating an entire

basket of tomatoes. After that farmers started to actually grow

tomatoes and it became a popular staple..

18^th

century i Europeans finally began using tomatoes in their meals

despite some leftover myths about their unedible status. Finally,

the popularity of the tomato led the way to creating today’s popular

sauce for the world’s favorite dishes of pizza and pasta!

Gomestic
Editor: Daniel Rahim