The history of thetomatois get stuck in rumor , hearsay and speculation , but one matter is sure : Everybody ’s favourite red fruit ( yes , it ’s a yield ) did n’t arise in Italy . Despite the fact that it ’s an essential ingredient inpizzaand pasta , the tomato plant amount to us by way of Mexico and Central America .
The tomato in its original form , however , was not the prolific scarlet Earth we know and love today . It was a modest , fragrant fruit ( render a cherry tomato plant ) that the Native Americans ground up and combined with ahi , a kind ofchili pepper , to make a spicy sauce . While Native Americans had been consuming them for 100 , tomatoes apace gained a risky reputation in the Americas . Colonists believed Lycopersicon esculentum to be poisonous , and virtually no one of European lineage dared eat the yield until the early 19th century for concern of demise .
In fact , American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson is largely credited with cultivating the tomato for uptake in the United States . Jefferson records planting the then - controversial fruit every twelvemonth in his " Garden Kalendar , " which he observe from 1809 to1824 . He provides us with perhaps the first written credit of tomatoes being cultivated by New World settler in " Notes on the State of Virginia " in 1787 . His meticulous records indicate that he frequently sold tomatoes in the Washington , D.C. , markets , and different varieties commonly come along in his kinsperson ’s personal formula collections .
But Jefferson was onwards of his fourth dimension , and most uncouth folks just were n’t quick to try tomatoes for themselves – found Father - sanction or not . One wide circulated history claims that Jefferson once horrified a local villager in Lynchburg , Va. , by snacking on a tomato , though there ’s no proof of the incident . What we can say for sure is that it was n’t until the 1820s and ' 30s that more Americans became comfy with the belief of eating tomatoes , and it was near the end of the 100 before they became wide swallow .
However , the imported tomato had an easier time take in into mealtime in Europe – especially in Italy . The Italians straight off saw something special in the tomato , and though they at first relied on the fruit for medicative purposes , they were consuming love apple with relish , usually in the form of sauce , by the 16th hundred .
It took more than 100 years for the rest of the European continent to catch on , but by the clock time Americans were just starting to tentatively sample tomatoes , the French and English were consuming them with vigour . Part of the fruit ’s popularity was due to the rise of canned goods . In increase to being canned , tomatoes were also eaten fresh and stew into sauces for various meats .
By the twentieth hundred , tomatoes could be discover in just about any market in both America and Europe . The tomato is now one of the most commonly consumed food for thought in the world . More than 1 1/2 billion ( yes , billion ! ) tons of tomatoes are raise and sold every class across the ball , which is moderately impressive for a fruit that few people had get word of , much less had the courage to taste , only a C ago .
