Tomatoes

The history of tomatoes

The tomato is native to the northwest of South America, a region that corresponds today to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. At that time, the tomato was found in the wild and was no larger than a cherry tomato. However, the tomato was first cultivated in Mexico by the Aztecs, who called it “tomalt”.

The tomato is believed to have been discovered by Christopher Columbus in the 15th century when he thought he had found the route to India, but the Spanish became familiar with it during the Spanish conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés in 1519. It was later introduced to Spain and then to Italy, where the city of Naples was under Spanish rule.

The tomato was long limited to medicinal and ornamental uses because its leaves were toxic, and it was believed to be poisonous. At the time, people used lead-based cookware, which reacted and dissolved when in contact with the acidity of the tomato, leading to many poisonings.

Spanish cuisine quickly embraced the tomato, and we saw the emergence of this cold, refreshing soup known as Gazpacho.

While in the mid-16th century, in France and Belgium, it was called “pomme d’amour” (love apple), in Italy it was called “pomme d’or” (golden apple) because at the time, the tomato had a golden hue. The Italians retained the word “Pomodoro” to refer to the tomato.

Today, there are over 12,000 varieties of tomatoes found all over the planet.