Who knew that the tomato had such a sordid past that reads like a slave to freedom novel? Poor little fellers were probably the most misunderstood fruit of all time.
Think tomato and you will probably connect these plumpers to Italy where nary a dish is without them.
That is how I always see the tomato and I could not have been more wrong. Actually, the tomato has its origins in Central and South America where Cortez happened upon them in Montezuma's garden.
He returned to Europe with the first seeds and they were planted and used as ornamentals. The Europeans were immediately suspicious of the tomato as it was mis-classified under the poisonous nightshade genus.
It took some brave Italians to take the first bite (maybe a dare after too much Tuscan wine?) and realize they probably would make a great sauce.
Well, then the French came along and perhaps after falling in love with the beautiful Italian people they too adopted the tomato and named it pomme d'amour or apple of love.
Legends grew surrounding the aphrodisiac powers of the tomato and it became a hot and sometimes forbidden fruit in the racy 1500s.
As the New World was being established with some hysterical laws by some overboard puritans, tomatoes were held as evil fruit witches used in witchcraft that, if eaten, would turn you into a werewolf.
It's true that all of the tomato plant except the fruit is poisonous, but even doctors of that day were on the killer tomato bandwagon.
Redemption for the tomato came about when in 1830 Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson made a spectacle by eating a basketful of tomatoes on the courthouse steps in Salem, Mass.
A crowd of some 200 people showed up to watch this lunatic commit public suicide.
Even his doctor was recorded warning he would foam at the mouth and then keel over from a bursting appendix, and if the appendix didn't kill him then the tomato skins would surely stick to his stomach causing cancer.
Colonel Johnson survived and the overly cautious American public embraced the tomato first in a highly processed form called ketchup, then in the infamous Campbell's canned soup and, years later, raw in salads and on sandwiches.
Another small blip in the tomato's reputation came in 1887 when it appeared in the U.S. Supreme Court fighting for its identity. A tomato importer was fighting the 10 per cent tax imposed on all vegetables.
He tried to prove a tomato was in fact a fruit based on the theory that, like all fruits, its seeds are born from the ovaries of a flower.
The court overturned his appeal saying, "Botanically speaking, tomatoes are fruits of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas. But in the common language of the people... all these are vegetables... which, whether eaten cooked or raw, are... usually served at dinner in, with or after the soup, fish or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert."
So whether you prefer your tomatoes raw or stewed, in sauce or in soup, I hope as you bite into these vitamin-rich lovelies, you will remember and speak of the crazy history of this impeccable fruit. Or is it a vegetable?
Rich and creamy tomato basil soup
This recipe will take you back to childhood when on cool days you would enjoy a steaming bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. You can use fresh tomatoes but canned are as good.
If you use fresh you will want to boil them for a few minutes and then shock by dropping into ice water. This will remove the skin, which is no good in soup. Also remove the seeds or they will be floating in your bowl.
Ingredients
1 medium onion, chopped finely
1 small carrot, finely chopped
3 tablespoons butter
2 28-oz cans of diced tomatoes. Whole tomatoes are fine, but chop them up.
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup heavy cream, room temperature
Salt and pepper to taste
Basil to taste
Preparation
Heat butter in soup pot on medium low heat. Add onion and carrot, and sprinkle with salt. Saute until onion and carrot are soft.
Add canned tomatoes, including liquid. Turn up heat to medium high. Cook until most of the liquid is evaporated. Reduce heat and add flour. Mix well to get rid of lumps. Cook for two minutes.
Add chicken broth, cook until soup is hot, not boiling.
Using an immersion blender or food processor, blend soup until it is smooth in texture without lumps.
Add some of the hot broth to the cream.
Mix well then pour cream into soup. Add basil. Cook until soup is desired thickness.
