The tomato—a critical ingredient in some of our favorite foods, including pizza and lasagna—has had a checkered past. Once scorned as a sinister and poisonous food (one Latin name, lycopersicon or “wolf peach,” refers to the belief that tomatoes were like a wolf—dangerous). It wasn’t until the late nineteenth century that tomatoes became popular. Originally grown and enjoyed by the Aztecs in Mexico, tomatoes were imported to Europe by Spanish missionaries. Viewed as a dangerous food by all but the Italians and Spanish, it took years for tomatoes to lose their unsavory reputation.
There was some basis for the original skepticism that clung to tomatoes: their leaves do contain toxic alkaloids. Embraced by Americans by the end of the nineteenth century, tomatoes have gone on to become one of our most popular vegetables and now are recognized as one of our favorite SuperFoods.
It should be noted that tomatoes are not really vegetables. Botanically classified as a fruit, they are the seed-bearing portions of a flowering plant. However, in 1893, a case came before the Supreme Court of the United States relating to shipping tariffs on tomatoes. Should farmers pay fruit or vegetable rates on them? The Court came down on the side of vegetables, and so vegetables they became.
