When you think of the tomato, what first comes to mind, the bright red addition to your leafy green salad, spaghetti sauce, pizza, ketchup, a bowl of soup? How about tomato pie or tomato soup cake? How about roasted and stuffed with rice, ground beef and herbs topped with a slice of melted cheddar cheese? Maybe what comes to mind is a quick, juicy snack as you head out the door on your way to the soccer game or maybe a tall glass of juice with a twist of lemon or a dash of Tabasco or Worcestershire sauce or if you imbibe, a shot of gin or vodka. Any one or several of these things come to mind when you hear the word "tomato".
No matter how you slice it, the tomato is a very healthy fruit, yes, they are really a fruit and not a vegetable though vegetable is the category we of the western world most often place them in. Technically tomatoes are a fruit. No matter, whatever you want to call them, bottom line, they are very good for you and a very versatile food.
Tomatoes are a wonderful source of vitamins C, A and B-1. They are very low in calories but they are also relatively high in acidity but the acidity can be a good thing. More on that in a few. One small tomato contains approximately 250 mg of potassium which we all need daily. Potassium is what controls our blood pressure. You need potassium to help prevent heart attack and stroke and to keep your muscles in tune. Eaten raw, the tomato also contains a fair amount of fiber. The combination of the C, the A, the potassium and the fiber makes the tomato a good cancer fighter as well. Studies have shown that tomato helps top prevent lung, prostate, stomach and intestinal cancers as well as helping to prevent acute appendicitis and are also an aid in regulating cholesterol levels. The tomato seems to be a real health giving, all around good thing to eat.
There was a time, however, when the tomato was considered poisonous, even evil and no one would even think of touching one unless of course you were a witch or other sorcerer wanting to bring harm to another, use them in a brew to make some deadly potion or cast an evil spell on someone who had fallen in disfavor. These thoughts pervaded the early 16th century but by the mid-17th century the tomato had changed sides and was considered to be an aphrodisiac, though I highly doubt anyone became overly passionate from eating them. This notion probably stems from the mistranslation of the name for the tomato in different languages. In some regions of the world the tomato is called a vine apple, perhaps because it resembles a ripe apple, is round, plump and red and it grows on a vine. In Latin the tomato is called "mala oethopica" which is translated into English as "apple of the moors". In Italian the name of the tomato is "pomi dei mori" which was translated by the French into "pomme d'amour" which is translated into "apple of love" or love apple in English. What is more, the fruit of this plant is bright red when ripe; red, a color that symbolizes passion, thus the tomato's legendary reputation. It probably isn't really going to do a whole lot for your love life other than keep you alive and healthy longer or perhaps put a grin on the face of your lover in the case your lover has a passion for pizza. In either case, there is a lot of good that comes from the tomato.
Tomatoes are indigenous of South and Central America and were carried back to Europe by the adventurers seeking the New World. The Natives of Central and South America cultivated this plant for food but the Europeans, being a suspicious and superstitious lot failed for a time to see the good of it. From there the tomato made its way to the middle and far east and to North America but it was 1835 before the tomato actually made its way into the diets of North Americans...Tomato, you've come a long way baby.
For a time they were raised only as an ornamental plant for their pretty golden blossoms and amazing scarlet red fruit. They grow on a lacy, leafy vine of beautiful soft green. The tomato plant is a very attractive plant with a heady scent. For years it was allowed to grow wild on the moors of old Europe and it wasn't until the past almost three centuries that the tomato became domesticated and began to be grown specifically for food. For a long time it was considered a wild edible and for many still had superstitions attached to it.
Bottom line; no matter how you slice it, the tomato is a very healthy fruit (vegetable) and in the past century and a half has become a familiar and important part of the American Diet as well as around the world. Tomatoes are good for you, very good for you and they are oh so versatile, from snack to appetizer, to main dish and dessert, and as a beverage. Tomato, mala oethopica, apple of the moor, pomme d'amour and by the way if your kitty or dog gets to cozy with the neighborhood skunk, though there is no scientific proof to back this up, tomato juice, a bath in tomato juice will cut that horrid odor. I don't have a clue why, but it works, it really works. Thus is the tale of the fruit of love.
