Tomatoes: history, origin, facts … or fiction?

A tomato importer, John Nix, decided to challenge the law after examining the Tariff Act. His case was based on the fact that tomatoes were a fruit and not a vegetable, so they should not be subject to the Tariff Law. Nix’s objections brought the case to the Supreme Court in 1893. Although Nix had a strong case, the Supreme Court rejected the botanical facts and continued to refer to tomatoes as vegetables.

Plant family

Tomatoes belong to the genus Lycopersicon, while potatoes belong to the genus Solanum; They both belong to the same nightshade “flowering plant family”. The similarities in leaves and flowers justify this taxonomic grouping.

United Kingdom – Tomato introduction

When the tomato plant was first introduced to the UK, some areas were unwilling to consume the fruit because it was considered poisonous. Other plants that were poisonous and in the same family as the tomato, such as henbane, mandrake, and deadly blackberry were cause for concern.

The deadly nightshade (Atropus belladonna), in particular, was more like the tomato plant and was used as a hallucinogenic drug as well as cosmetic purposes in various parts of Europe. In Latin, the name “belladonna”; it literally means “beautiful woman”. Medieval court women applied a drop of deadly nightshade extract to their eyes, dilating their pupils, a fashion statement at the time.

When the deadly nightshade was taken for its hallucinogenic properties, the user experienced visual effects and a sensation of flying or weightlessness. German folklore suggests that it was also used in witchcraft to evoke werewolves, a practice known as lycanthropy. The common name for tomatoes in Germany translates to “wolf peach,” which was just another reason Europeans avoided the plant.

North America – Tomato Introduction

Tomato plants were transported by settlers from Great Britain to North America. Plants were most valued for eliminating pustules (pimples, blisters – inflamed skin filled with pus). Peanut butter inventor George Washington Carver strongly urged his poor Alabama neighbors to consume tomatoes because of their unhealthy diet. However, he had little success in convincing them that the plants were edible.

The early efforts of traders to sell tomatoes were not very successful. The fruit is said to have been brought to the liberal village of Salem, Mass. In 1802 by a painter who also found it difficult to convince people to taste the fruit. New Orleans cuisine was reported to have used tomatoes in 1812, however doubts about the fruit persisted in some areas.

Doubts about the plant’s edibility are believed to have been dispelled when Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson announced that he would consume a bushel of tomatoes in front of the Boston courthouse at noon on September 26, 1820. Thousands of spectators turned out to see the man commit suicide (at least, they thought) by consuming the poisonous fruit. Onlookers are said to have been shocked when they realized that the Colonel will survive after consuming numerous tomatoes. This story is from an old farm journal and may not be very reliable, however it is quite entertaining.

Tomato popularity is on the rise

Across the western world, tomatoes began to gain popularity. In the 1820s, various cookbooks included recipes that called for or called for tomatoes. Tomatoes sold by the dozen at Boston’s Quincy Market in 1835. In Thomas Bridgeman’s seed catalog, 4 varieties of tomatoes were listed: cherry, pear, large yellow squash, and large squash.

Bruist, a seed merchant, commented on the tomato in 1858: “In retrospect of the last eighteen years, there is no vegetable in the catalog that has gained such popularity in such a short period as the one we are now considering. Detested; in ten Years ago almost every variety of pill and panacea was tomato extract. Now it occupies an area of ​​land as large as cabbage, and is grown throughout the country. ” – http://www.heirloomseeds.com

That year, Bruits had eight cultivators listed in their catalog. A few years later, in 1863, a popular seed catalog listed 23 cultivars. One of the cultivars listed was Trophy, the first modern-looking large, red, smooth-skinned variety that sold for $ 5.00 for a pack of 20 seeds.

Large-scale breeding of desirable traits became common in the 1870s in both the US and the UK. In fact, by the 1880s several hundred cultivars had been named and it was clear that the tomato had grown in Western culture. According to a study conducted at Michigan Agricultural College in the late 1880s, 171 of the named cultivars represented only 61 truly unique varieties, many of which were only marginally different.

Heirloom varieties

Although Central America is believed to be the center of domestication, throughout Europe and later North America, further domestication occurred at a more intense level. Eastern Europe seemed to produce a large number of high-quality varieties. Tomatoes are self-pollinating plants that tend to become genetically homozygous after many generations. Tomatoes are rarely crossed and generally produce plants with characteristics similar to those of the parents.

Due to the natural reproduction process of tomatoes, the early cultivars did not change much and were kept in a family or community for a long time, hence the name heirlooms. There are cultivars dating back over a hundred years that are still produced today. Most varieties of heirlooms are different in color, size, and shape. Some varieties are black, red with black shoulders, deep purple, rainbow, and green. In terms of size, some range from the size of a cherry to larger varieties weighing more than 2 pounds.

Inheritances – a story

Some varieties of relics also have interesting stories; At least I think so. Let’s talk about the story of a Mortgage Lifter with a heirloom name. Radiator repair shop owner Charlie experienced tough times, as did much of the country during the Great Depression. Due to financial reasons, most of the people abandoned their cars and Ol Charlie’s business was also a severe blow. He decided to use his four largest fruit-producing tomato plants to repeatedly cross each other to create a plant that would produce two pounds of fruit.

Claiming that his plants could feed a family of six, Charlie sold the crops for a dollar a plant. In four years, Charlie made enough money to pay off the $ 4,000 mortgage on his home, which led to the heirloom name “Mortgage Lifter.”

Inheritances – names and origins

In general, the names of traditional varieties are directly related to their history. For example, the Baptiste family in Remis, Fance grew the First Pick variety. The history of Picardy also dates back to France (1890). Besser came from the Freiburg section of Germany, while the Schellenburg favorite came from the Schellenburg family near Manheim, Germany.

Elba was grown in 1889 near the Elbe River in Germany. Since the 1870s, the Amish of Pennsylvania cultivated the Amish Paste variety. Brandywine was also grown by Amish farmers near Brandywine Creek in Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1885. The hills of Virginia are believed to be the origin of the Hillbilly variety. Old Virginia was also grown in Virginia in the early 1900s. In 1953 Campbell Soup Co., introduced the Ace variety, which is still popular for canning. At Edgar Allan Poe’s farm, a variety that grows there bears his mother’s maiden name, Hopkins.

Please note that these heirloom stories may be true or false, in part or in full, and may be inaccurate or exaggerated.