What is the history of tomatoes?

Answer 1

Tomatoes likely originated in the highlands of Peru. Wild tomato plants still grow in South America, as well as on the Galapagos Islands. At least one species was cultivated in southern Mexico by 500 BC. The first domesticated tomato may have been a small yellow fruit, similar in size to a cherry tomato, grown by the Aztecs of Central Mexico. Mayans developed larger, more irregularly shaped fruits. Hernán Cortés may have been the first to transfer the small yellow tomato to Europe from the Aztec city of Tenochtítlan, now Mexico City, in 1521. After the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the Spanish distributed the tomato throughout their colonies in the Caribbean. They also took it to the Philippines, from which it spread to southeast Asia and then the entire Asian continent. Tomatoes grew easily in Mediterranean climates, and cultivation began there in the 1540s. They were mentioned by Italian physician and botanist Pietro Andrea Mattioli in 1544, when he wrote that a new type of eggplant had been brought to Italy that was blood red or golden color when mature and could be eaten like eggplant (cooked and seasoned with salt, black pepper, and oil). On October 31, 1548, the house steward of Cosimo de' Medici, the grand duke of Tuscany, wrote to the Medici private secretary that the basket of tomatoes sent from the grand duke's Florentine estate at Torre del Gallo "had arrived safely," although tomatoes were grown mainly for decoration after their arrival in Tuscany. Tomatoes were grown in England by the 1590s. John Gerard, a barber/surgeon wrote about them in 1597, and knew the tomato was eaten in Spain and Italy, although he believed it was poisonous. The tomato was considered unfit for eating for many years in Britain and its North American colonies. The earliest cookbook with tomato recipes was published in Naples in 1692, although the author had apparently obtained these recipes from Spanish sources. In Florence, tomatoes advanced from tabletop decoration to cuisine in the late 17th or early 18th century. In 1710, herbalist William Salmon reported seeing tomatoes in what is now South Carolina. They may have been introduced from the Caribbean. By the mid-18th century, they were cultivated on some Carolina plantations, and probably in other parts of the Southeast as well. By the mid-18th century, tomatoes were also widely eaten in Britain, and before the end of that century, the tomato was enjoyed daily in soups, broths, and as a garnish. Thomas Jefferson, who ate tomatoes in Paris, sent some seeds back to America. The tomato was introduced to the Middle East and Asia by John Barker, British consul in Aleppo around 1799 to 1825. Tomatoes entered Iran through Turkey and Armenia, although the royal family may have been introduced to them in France. Alexander W. Livingston wanted to develop smooth, uniform, tasty tomatoes. He introduced the first of over 17 hybrid varieties in 1870, and the fruit became fleshier and larger. Several states in the southern United States became major tomato producers, particularly Florida and California.