Tomato History: Where Did Tomatoes Come from ?

Facts about Tomatoes

The tomato is a native of South America but the ancestor is nothing like the tomatoes you find in the market today. The early tomato was small and green. Eventually the plant diversified into different varieties and the first domesticated tomato was a small yellow fruit that the Aztecs grew around 500 BC.

The name xitomatl meant “plump thing with a naval”. Later the Mesoamericans renamed it the tomatl. The way the tomato was used by the Aztecs was in a mixture with peppers, salt and corn. This may be the start of today’s salsa.

Who Discovered Tomatoes

There’s a discrepancy of tomato history as to whether Columbus brought the tomato back to Europe in 1493 or whether Cortez was the first to bring it back as part of the bounty from conquering the Aztecs at Mexico City. Either way, it didn’t receive mention in any writings until Pietro Andrea Mattioli included it in his herbal and named it “the golden apple.”

Spain made certain all their colonies had tomatoes, including those in the Caribbean. When the Spanish introduced it to the Philippines, it spread through Southeast Asia and then throughout the entire continent. The Mediterranean climate provided an ideal growing condition for the tomato. Spain embraced it and it was part of the fare immediately in the 1500s. Some parts Italy embraced it but others simply thought the tomato was best when used as a decoration for the table rather than part of the meal. The first time tomato recipes were in an Italian recipe book was 1692. The recipes, however, were of Spanish origin not Italian. Finally by the late 17th century Italy began to use tomatoes in it’s cuisine.

One man, John Gerard, stopped the use of the tomato for a long time in England. Even though he knew that the fruit of the plant was used extensively in both Spain and Italy, his herbal compendium warms that the tomato was poisonous to consume. While many people realized that the tomato was eaten elsewhere, Gerard’s words made them consider the fruit as unfit for human consumption. This is quite different from poisonous and takes on more of a status statement rather than medical warning. The consideration even spread to Britain’s American Colonies. Finally, Britain joined the tomato-consuming group in the mid 1700’s.

It took a while longer for Americans to embrace tomatoes. Even though the plants were often grown as ornamentals, it wasn’t until Thomas Jefferson ate tomatoes in Paris and sent home seeds to plant that the tomato finally received a gold star as a food product in America.

Some stories attribute the tomato Origin or tomato history as a reason that tomatoes were considered toxic or not meant for human consumption was because of the serving ware. If you were poor, you ate from wooden plates. The rich had fine pewter that contained lead. The acid from the tomatoes leached out the lead and gave the consumer lead poisoning. This didn’t happen to the poor with wooden plates. The tomato, therefore, received the label of food of the poor.

The tomato received the status as a vegetable when it went all the way to the US Supreme Court in 1893 in the case Nix vs. Hedden. Biologically, the tomato is a fruit because the seeds are on the inside but according to the court case, it was classed as a vegetable because of its use. Why would anyone take it to court? It all had to do with taxes and tariffs of the time.

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SBI!