Centuries before becoming a staple in salads and sauces, tomatoes were once considered a deadly fruit by Europeans.
Used in pizza, pasta, and gazpacho, tomatoes are a common ingredient in Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. However, when they first arrived in Europe around the early 16th century, they instilled fear.
Tomatoes originated from the Andes in South America, growing as a small wild plant. At that time, they looked very different from today’s tomatoes, resembling cherry tomatoes more, with a slightly yellow color and much less sweetness.
Still life painting of tomatoes and onions by artist Catherine M. Wood. (Photo: Wikimedia).
Historians are unclear exactly when tomatoes arrived in Europe. After the conquest of South America, Spanish armies meticulously recorded the gold and silver sent to Seville, Spain, but did not mention tomato seeds. They believe tomatoes made their appearance in Europe during the time of explorer Hernán Cortés (1485 – 1547).
When they first arrived in Europe, tomatoes were considered an exotic ornamental plant. They were also associated with poisonous plants and mandrake (a toxic plant with yellow fruit), due to the classification of Italian herbalist Pietro Andrae Matthioli in 1544. In the Bible, mandrake was used as an aphrodisiac. This gave tomatoes a bad reputation as both toxic and a source of temptation.
By the 1600s, Europeans began eating tomatoes, particularly in Andalusia, Spain, where they were cooked in the Aztec style with oil and chili. Meanwhile, Italians were unsure about which parts to eat, so they still did not favor tomatoes in their cuisine.
In the 1700s, tomatoes became notorious as a poisonous fruit, earning the nickname “poison apple.” It was believed that members of the upper class fell ill and died after eating them.
After a long period of stigma, scientists eventually discovered that tomatoes were victims of a simple misunderstanding.
Tomatoes were once considered poisonous due to lead leaching from pewter dishes. (Photo: glamcheck.com)
It all began from the fact that wealthy Europeans always used pewter dishes, which contained high levels of lead, to serve food. Since tomatoes are naturally high in acidity, when placed in pewter containers, they would leach lead and often lead to acute lead poisoning.
According to Smithsonian magazine, the journey of tomatoes from a “toxic fruit” to a beloved ingredient has been fraught with challenges. The U.S. Department of Agriculture states that wild tomato varieties grow naturally in South America, from southern Ecuador to northern Chile and the Galapagos Islands.
Europeans are believed to have gradually lost their stigma towards tomatoes thanks to the invention of pizza in Italy in 1880. (Photo: internet)
This fruit was first recorded to appear outside the Americas in 1544 in Italy, where it was initially grown as an ornamental plant or curiosity. At that time, tomatoes were classified within the poisonous plant family Solanaceae.
Like many fruits and vegetables in the Solanaceae family, including eggplants, tomatoes were rumored to be not only toxic but also seductive. According to a new book titled “Tomatoes in America: History, Culture, and Culinary Art,” public skepticism towards tomatoes intensified after a 1957 publication called “Herbs” based on the poor research of John Gerard. In this largely plagiarized book about various herbs, Gerard claimed that the entire tomato plant was terribly flavorful, with its leaves and stems being toxic.
Tomatoes are now a favored ingredient in many dishes around the world. (Photo: wundersalat.blogspot)
Gerard’s views shaped European attitudes towards this exotic fruit for the following two centuries. The turning point for tomatoes occurred in 1880 with the invention of pizza in Naples, Italy. This dish, featuring succulent red tomatoes, quickly became popular across Europe and North America.
Today, tomatoes are present in almost every culinary art form across various cuisines worldwide.
