TOMATO

The history of the tomato begins in the Andes of South America and Central America, more precisely among the populations of Peru, Colombia and Mexico. Places where indigenous populations had harvested the fruits for centuries. The word tomato (or tomato in English) derives, in fact, from the Aztec word xi-tomatl which generically defined a rounded and swollen thing. It was the Aztecs, during the Spanish occupation, who introduced Hernan Cortes to the fruits of this extraordinary plant.

The first traces of the tomato in Europe date back to the first half of the 16th century when it arrived, according to contemporary evidence, in the port of Seville. The first tomatoes imported into Europe were yellow, small and pear-shaped, and were used mainly as ornaments. They were not very popular as a food because they were considered poisonous as they were found to be in the Solanaceae family, a poisonous plant.