Tomayto, Tomahto

Just call them di-ˈli-shəs

There are many arguments about the tomato, from the way it’s pronounced (tomayto, tomahto) to its identity (fruit or vegetable?), but one thing that we can all agree on is that it is one of the most popular food ingredients in the world, showing up on our dishes as a topping on the burger we ordered from a fastfood joint or as the sauce on the homemade pizza we decided to make for dinner. What would the culinary world be like if this little red vegetable-fruit had not been discovered?

The tomato is actually a native of South America, specifically Peru. The historians are in conflict (not again) as to who is responsible for bringing it to Europe – Spanish explorer Cortés or the Genoese Christopher Columbus. Thanks to whoever it is among the two, the tomato reached Spain, and during the Spanish colonization spree of the 1540s, they introduced this ingredient to all their colonies in the Caribbean and Asia. From there, it spread throughout the world.

There are many kinds of tomatoes – globe, beefsteak, oxheart plum, pear, cherry, grape, and campari. The commercial ones that we buy from the grocery stores are the globe tomatoes which we use in most of our cooking except for some salads which calls for the sweet cherry tomato. Meanwhile, canners favor the plum and pear variety for their pastes & salad as they have higher solid content.

As with everything commercial these days, however, the tomato is losing its quality taste from the mass production. The yield is so great for some tomato varieties that the plant becomes in a way, exhausted. Because the plants have been bred to produce so many fruits, they can’t produce enough sugars and other nutrients. Aww, poor plants. As a result, the fruits that these plants bear have diluted flavors and taste mostly like water.

Fear not, dear citizens, for superheroes are coming to the rescue. Okay, maybe not superheroes, but something close – scientists. These folks from Florida think that there is a way to improve the tomato taste without sacrificing quantity. They think the secret lies in a class of chemicals called “volatiles” which are what gives the tomato its distinctive smell and taste. Thus, if they can figure out a way to increase these instead of the sugars or acids, they might be on to something.

But of course, they are still the testing phase and it would take quite some time before they actually make some sort of major breakthrough. So in the meantime, if you really want a taste of a real tomato, you can just buy some heirloom tomatoes which are also out in the market.

Here are a few interesting tidbits about the tomato:

• Tomato leaves and stems actually contain poisonous glycoalkaloids, but the fruit is safe.
• Tomato plants can be toxic to dogs, if they eat large amounts of the tomato itself, or chew on the plant that grows it.
• The tomato is botanically a fruit, but it has lower sugar content than other fruits and is considered a vegetable for culinary purposes.
• Tomatoes contain lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that fights cancer and helps improve the skin’s ability to protect against harmful UV rays.
• Ripe tomatoes can be stored in the refrigerator, but are best kept at room temperature. Tomatoes stored in the refrigerator tend to lose flavor but will still be edible.

If reading about tomatoes just suddenly gave you an appetite for it, you can head over to our tomato recipe section. The caldillo de congrio is especially delicious.

If you want to hear more about this research, check out this NPR Podcast.