The recorded history of tomatoes in Italy dates back to at least 31 October 1548, when the house steward of Cosimo de' Medici, the grand duke of Tuscany, wrote to the Medici private secretary informing him that the basket of tomatoes sent from the grand duke's Florentine estate at Torre del Gallo "had arrived safely". Tomatoes were grown mainly as ornamentals early on after their arrival in Italy. For example, the Florentine aristocrat Giovanvettorio Soderini wrote how they "were to be sought only for their beauty", and were grown only in gardens or flower beds. The tomato's ability to mutate and create new and different varieties helped contribute to its success and spread throughout Italy. However, even in areas where the climate supported growing tomatoes, their habit of growing to the ground suggested low status. They were not adopted as a staple of the peasant population because they were not as filling as other fruits already available. Additionally, both toxic and inedible varieties discouraged many people from attempting to consume or prepare any other varieties. In certain areas of Italy, such as Florence, the fruit was used solely as a tabletop decoration, until it was incorporated into the local cuisine in the late 17th or early 18th century. The earliest discovered cookbook with tomato recipes was published in Naples in 1692, though the author had apparently obtained these recipes from Spanish sources.

Unique varieties were developed over the next several hundred years for uses such as dried tomatoes, sauce tomatoes, pizza tomatoes, and tomatoes for long-term storage. These varieties are usually known for their place of origin as much as by a variety name. For example, Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio is the "hanging tomato of Vesuvius", or the well known and highly-prized San Marzano plum tomato grown in that region.

so jrzy will be happy to know tomatoes are going to conquer space...

A Software Update Will Instruct Space Tomatoes to Sprout

For humans, a trip to the Red Planet would be much improved with a certain red fruit

 miamizsun wrote:
 
Europeans feared potatoes at first as well.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
No, ketchup is evil.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote:

When Tomatoes Were Blamed For Witchcraft and Werewolves

 Coaxial wrote: 
Imma blame buzz for not turning the compost enough 

 kctomato wrote: 
Thanks...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viviparity

 Coaxial wrote: 
Vivipary 

St Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri, August 25, 1907 

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
their tasting notes for a good tomato are spot on,...
... University of Florida scientists have identified chemical compounds that offer tomato its distinctive sweet, earthy, slightly grassy.
good luck to them

University of Florida Scientists Working on Improving Taste of Tomatoes

Tomatoes are Evil
 
 
 
 

The Troubled History Of The Supermarket Tomato

 jadewahoo wrote: 
Well, at least with those, people can't count how many knuckles you're in.

 RASPUTIN wrote:  So yer saying those are all nose pickers?

 jadewahoo wrote: 
  Why Jrzy does her pickin' in disguise.

• The tomato is native to western South America and Central America.
• French botanist Tournefort provided the Latin botanical name, Lycopersicon esculentum, to the tomato. It translates to "wolfpeach".
• The English word tomato comes from the Spanish tomati, which was derived from the Aztec tomatl.
  
• Up until the end of the eighteenth century, physicians warned against eating tomatoes, fearing they caused not only appendicitis but also stomach cancer from tomato skins adhering to the lining of the stomach.
• Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson of Salem, New Jersey, on September 26, 1820 once and for all proved tomatoes non-poisonous and safe for consumption. He stood on the steps of the Salem courthouse and bravely consumed an entire basket of tomatoes without keeling over or suffering any ill effects whatsoever.
• Green tomatoes contain large amounts of tomatine, a toxin in the same alkaloid family as solanine which may be found in green potatoes, another member of the nightshade family.They should be eaten only in moderation.
• Botanically-speaking, the tomato is a fruit and can be further classified as a berry since it is pulpy and has edible seeds.
• In 1893, an importer claimed the tomato as a fruit in order to avoid vegetable import tariffs imposed by the United States. This dispute led to the Supreme Court ruling for taxation purposes that the tomato be classified as a vegetable, since it was primarily consumed in the manner of a vegetable rather than a fruit which was usually used in desserts.