Tomatoes like love letters too!

My dearest Tomato,

How are you!

I hope this letter finds you in fine form today, and that the weather is to your liking.

I know that maintaining your lovely orange/pink/red/yellow supple skin, your juicy wet seedy tender interior of deliciousness, perfectly enclosed within your delicate wonderfulness, is not an easy task.

I know also that the weather wreaks havoc on your beauty, day after day subjecting you to wind, rain, sun, light and darkness. Humans bite into your succulence and chop you to pieces boiling and cooking you to unholy high temperatures to sate their never-ending appetites. Well, who can blame them, you are gorgeously tasty and delicious.

But enough of singing your praises.

I am just writing to let you know that there a few things about you that everyone should know, a few historical facts which will explain how you came to be here with us. They will hopefully learn to appreciate you more for the lovely edible berry of the plant Solanum lycopersicum, commonly known as the tomato plant, which you are.

Granted they may end up eating a lot more of you, so let me just apologize in advance for any faux pas and hurt feelings which this letter may eventually cause.

Well, first off, you originated in western South America (hope the western/southern thing does not confuse you) and Central America. The indigenous peoples of Mexico may have cultivated and domesticated you as food.

The Mexican Nahuatl word tomatl gave rise to the Spanish word tomate, from which the English word tomato derived. The Aztecs used tomatoes in their cooking at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, and when the Spanish encountered the tomato for the first time after their contact with the Aztecs, they brought the plant to Europe, in a widespread transfer of plants known as the Columbian exchange. From there, the tomato was introduced to other parts of the European-colonized world during the 16th century.

The Spanish first introduced tomatoes to Europe, where they became used in Spanish food. In France, Italy and northern Europe, the tomato was initially grown as an ornamental plant. It was regarded with suspicion as a food because botanists recognized it as a nightshade, a relative of the poisonous belladonna. This was exacerbated by the interaction of the tomato's acidic juice with pewter plates. The leaves and fruit contain tomatine, which in large quantities would be toxic. However, the ripe fruit contains a much lower amount of tomatine than the immature fruit.

A nickname for the fruit was 'poison apple', because it was thought that aristocrats got sick and died after eating them, but the truth of the matter was that wealthy Europeans used pewter plates, which were high in lead content. Because tomatoes are so high in acidity, when placed on these particular tableware, the fruit would leach lead from the plate, resulting in many deaths from lead poisoning. No one made this connection between plate and poison at the time, the poor tomato was therefore picked as the culprit.

Not to worry though, very few pieces of pewter survives today from the days when lead was used, if they do, these pieces would have a very dark to black appearance. If one had pewter made after the 1970's they should be safe.

But you are not alone dear tomato, potatoes are also members of the nightshade family.

Are you not also called the 'love apple' due to your comely figure and aphrodisiacal qualities. The French called the tomato pommes d’amore, (meaning “apples of love”).

My dear tomato you are good for the blood and aid greatly in circulation of this blood through our bodies. The Italians use a great deal of tomatoes, and it is included in many curries and seasonings all over the world.

Yellow Roma tomatoes are less acidic. In general, yellow tomatoes are less acidic and have a sweeter taste than red ones. This flavor balance is due to the absence of lycopene, the pigment that gives tomatoes their red coloration.

Look for the ripest tomatoes. Tomatoes lose some of their acidity as they ripen, so avoid tomatoes which are not mature.

Heavier means more juice, which means more ripeness. Tomatoes that are soft but not mushy are more ripe than hard tomatoes.

You can also learn the smell of a ripe tomato versus the smell of an unripe tomato.

Cook with fresh tomatoes. The process of canning tomatoes ends up increasing the acidity, so you can reduce acid in your dishes by only cooking with fresh tomatoes. You’ll have to buy fresh tomatoes more frequently than canned ones as they will not last as long.

Some orange and yellow tomatoes are almost acid-free. These are ideal for people with stomach disorders.

Well Tomato, that is all I have to say for now. I shall be eating a lot of tomatoes from now until we speak again. Know that it is purely out of an abiding love for you!

Sorry.

Your gormandizing lover and eater of tomatoes,

Anonymous.