I love eating fresh tomatoes. Actually, I love eating tomatoes full stop, and I’m eating a lot at present. Often my lunch will be sliced tomato on toast with lots of fresh ground black pepper.
Thirteen Things About Tomatoes
1. Tomatoes originated in the Andes, around the area of modern day Peru.
2. Botanists categorize the tomato as a fruit rather than a vegetable because it grows from a flowering plant and contains seeds.
3. China is the largest producer of tomatoes, followed by the US and India.
4. There are around 7500 different varieties grown worldwide.
5. They are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that’s great for the heart and effective in fighting some types of cancer.
6. Cooked tomatoes are healthier since the heat releases more beneficial chemicals.
7. The town of Bunol hosts the world’s largest tomato fight.
8. Tomatoes are members of the deadly nightshade family.
9. Tomatoes didn’t become widely eaten in Europe until the 18th century.
10. The first cultivated tomatoes were yellow and the size of the cherry. They became known as golden apples.
11. When tomatoes first arrived in Europe they were also called Peruvian apples.
12. Elizabethans thought the red color signified danger and that they were poisonous.
13. Most of the tomato scent comes from the leaves and the stem rather than the fruit, which is why vine tomatoes have a stronger aroma.
Are you a fan of tomatoes? Do you like them raw or cooked best?
did not know that about cooking I eat them every day
I think cooking intensifies the flavor. I eat one most days too.
I love tomatoes but they don’t love me anymore. My county, Botetourt, Virginia, USA, was once the second-largest tomato producer of the nation, back in 1900. We produced and packaged more tomatoes than anywhere else. Then we had a blight come through and that was the end of that.
http://www.botetourthistory.com/2013/05/botetourt-canning-history.html
That’s interesting about the blight. Is it the acid that reacts with you or something else?
I grow them. Funny that potatoes also originated in Peru.
Now that I come to think of it – yes it is :)
They must have good soil there.
I tend to eat a lot of marinara sauce, and I like tomato in my soup, but otherwise I’m not much of a fan.
Marinara sauce is a most delicious food!
A good post. Lots of interesting information. I read somewhere that tomatoes are the most popular plant gardeners grow.
I enjoy tomatoes, but my son loves them. He eats them like apples–raw.
http://www.miaceleste.com/?p=526
There’s nothing like the scent of fresh tomatoes, still warm from the sun. Homegrown ones are better because most gardeners leave them to ripen for longer than commercial growers.
Well I never would have guessed China. Huh! That’s a crazy number of varieties too. Had no idea.
Yes, that was a bit mind boggling, the number, I mean.
I love tomatoes and I like them raw or cooked. I made some crab stuffed cherry tomatoes the other day and will have the recipe up on my blog in a few days. They were so good.
That sounds delicious, Mary. I look forward to the recipe.
I’m not a fan of raw tomatoes unless they are diced small in salads or on sandwiches, but I prefer them cooked. I love them in soups, stews, casseroles.
They’re certainly very versatile when it comes to cooking.
I can’t stand raw tomatoes but I loved this TT. When I first started reading, I didn’t think you’d come up with 13 but you did! And I find the lycopene slant very interesting.