The 1937 cinema " Shall We Dance " sport " Let ’s Call the Whole Thing Off , " a song penned by George and Ira Gershwin . The ditty is a rundown of all the word that two Melopsittacus undulatus pronounce differently , thanks to their accents – words like bananas , either and oysters . Because the pair ca n’t see eye - to - eye on these matters , the birdsong move , they should just nip off this affair in the bud right now .
" Let ’s Call the Whole Thing Off " make brief line of the fact that one-half of the twosome choose the pronunciation " tomato plant , " while the other half prefers " tomahto . " But this disagreement merely scratches the surface of what to call a tomato , and if the Gershwins had determine to write the intact song about tomatoes , they would have had plenteous material . For example , when this couple refers to tomatoes , are they thinking of beefsteak , heirloom or cherry tomatoes ? Do they favour varietals like the Abraham Lincoln , the Fourth of July or the Black Russian ? Would they rather we refer to the tomato ’s formal botanic classification , Lycopersicon esculentum , which translates as " comestible brute peach " [ beginning : Ray ] ? And does anyone in this family relationship prefer call tomatoes " hump apples , " as they are sometimes known ?
We can thank the Aztecs for the love apple , both the name in English ( which is gain from the Aztec intelligence " tomatl " ) and the food itself . One of the first extension to tomatoes in diachronic documents cite that Aztecs who practiced cannibalism used the red-faced yield as a side dish to the main course of human anatomy [ source : Epstein ] . When the tomato made its manner to Europe , many were convinced that the yield was vicious , because it was classified alongside the virulent belladonna and nightshade . So how does a food link withcannibalismand believed to be toxic become cognise as the making love apple ?
A Love Apple By Any Other Name Would Still Taste as Sweet
In 1544 , Italian herbalist Pietro Andrae Matthioli made the first denotation to the tomato ’s presence in Europe when he wrote about the " pomi d’oro , " or apples of gold [ source : Smith ] . It ’s probable that the first tomatoes in Europe were yellow 1 , hence the aureate description . Matthioli went on to classify them as similar to the mandrake plant . As we mentioned on the first page , the mandrake flora was colligate with many poisonous plants , such as nightshade , but it also renowned for itsaphrodisiacqualities . In the account book of Genesis , Rachel and Leah concocted alovepotion out of mandrake roots ; the Hebrew Holy Writ for mandrake , " dudaim , " can be translated as " love apples " or " making love plants " [ source : Smith ] . Some foods conspicuously featuring spaghetti are associated with sex to this day ; view the twentieth century creation of puttanesca sauce , which is translated as " whore ’s spaghetti " [ germ : Seed ] .
While it ’s possible that tomatoes are call in love life apples because of their aphrodisiac qualities , there is one other possibility to consider , which unfortunately is much less juicy than the first one . This theory has to do with how the tomato plant migrated through Europe . Spanish travelers fetch tomatoes to Europe in the 16th hundred ; as we mention , the Italians deemed them pomi d’oro . But at this time , there were moorland in Spain , and they claim the tomato back to Morocco , where they call it pomi dei mori , or " apple of the Moors . " When the French make hold of the tomato , they call it " pommes d’amour , " or apples of love . Did they call it that because of its connexion with the mandrake plant , or was it simply a linguistic skid - up ? It ’s potential that " pommes d’amour " was derived from its law of similarity to " pomi dei mori " or even " pomi d’oro " [ source : Ray ] .
Today , Italians still love a goodpomodoro , while English - speaking people use the Aztec - enliven word tomato plant . But regardless what you call it , there ’s enough more to memorise about this fleshy fruit . manoeuver on over to the next page for more corking articles on tomatoes .
