![]() They boast all three antioxidant vitamins (A, C and E), as well as lots of potassium, a mineral that many standard American diets are lacking in. ![]() Tomatoes may even bear flavor notes of other plants, such as pineapple and herbs.įrom a health standpoint, tomatoes are plump packages of nourishing goodness. Tomato flavors range from sweet and fruity to acidic and tart. Stripey, Stump of the World and Tiny Tim. Just to name a few: Arkansas Traveler, Banana Legs, Bloody Butcher, Golden Egg, Hank, Mortgage Lifter, Mr. Heirloom tomato varieties have names that are almost as fascinating as their odd shapes and splendid colors. Tomatoes are cousins of eggplant, potatoes and peppers, who all belong to the Solanaceae or nightshade plant family. Thanks to enterprising farmers, tomatoes eventually were accepted as a delicious and nutritious fruit by the mid-1800s and continue to rise in popularity today. In centuries past, tomatoes have also gotten a bad rap for being both a tempting aphrodisiac, a deadly nightshade and the bearer of much-feared horned green worms. The real cause, however, was the pewter dinnerware that aristocrats used, from which acidic tomatoes would leach heavy metals, including lead, resulting in poisoning. Tomatoes were nicknamed “poison apples” because of the wealthy Europeans who were falling ill and dying after consuming them. Not so long ago though, in 18th-century Europe, the tomato was not loved, but feared. Today, heirloom tomatoes are practically everywhere, with more and more beautifully ugly varieties popping up on restaurant menus, seed catalogs and farm stands every summer. With this movement, vegetables once again were being bred for taste rather than shelf life. Slowly, heirloom varieties (traditional breeds not grown by large-scale commercial agriculture) with big personalities and even bigger flavor started showing up at farmers markets and even specialty grocers. In the early 2000s, when most tomatoes were picked green and ripened on their way to the store using ethylene gas, small farmers and passionate gardeners began fighting back against these flavorless, pale red impostors. Toe-may-toe or toe-mah-toe, fruit or vegetable, bite-size or as big as your head, there’s no denying the lovable tomato’s place in our late-summer hearts.Īlso dubbed love apple or wolf peach, this much-celebrated food wears on its shiny shoulders the origins of the heirloom food movement.
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