Tomato - Snack Varieties
Whether jungle-reared or bio-engineered, tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum ) are probably the most popular ”vegetable” grown worldwide. Botanically they are fruits, not vegetables and belong to the nightshade family. Although some of the members of the nightshades are poisonous, they are frequently employed in the manufacture of medicines.
The flavor of tomatos depends to a large degree on the way they are stored. Tomatos are best kept in a cool place. If they have previously been stored in a refrigerator, it is better to continue storing them this way. However, to enjoy tomatos at their best, allow them to gain room temperature.
Fruit or Vegetable?
An interesting aspect of the tomato’s history is the classic debate about whether the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. This depends on who you ask. By definition a fruit is “the edible plant structure of a mature ovary of a flowering plant, usually eaten raw”. Some of these are sweet like apples, but the ones which are not sweet, such as tomatos, cucumbers and peppers are referred to as vegetables.
Botanists define it as a fruit (“any fleshy material that covers the seed of a plant”), whereas horticulturalists claim tomatos are vegetables. This led to a fierce debate in America in the late 1800’s. Tomatos were classified as fruit and were therefore free from taxation. However the Surpreme Court ruled that tomatos were a vegetable and had to be taxed accordingly. Whether the tomato is a tax-avoiding fruit or a taxable vegetable does not matter today. It has overcome its reputation as a poisonous plant and is today considered a healthy food that enjoys worldwide popularity
- Cherry/Cocktail on the Vine
Cherry and Cocktail are the smallest of all tomatoes and perfectly round shaped. These tomatoes vary (believe it or not) from pea sized to golf ball sized. They are very colourful, ranging from deep yellow to dark red and make a beautiful addition to any salad. Apart from their looks, they are deliciously sweet can be considered a perfect (irresistible) snack. Cherry tomatoes are the smaller ones and usually sold in punnets, Cocktails are slightly larges and mostly sold on the vine.
- Baby Plum/ Cherry Roma
These Cherry Plum tomatoes have a distinctive oval shape. The uniqueness of the variety lies mainly in its good tasting and texture of the fruit and its nice appearance. Their flesh is firm and they have less liquid in the centre, therefore they are the natural choice for snacks and salads, and ideal for the barbecue!
- Baby Plum on the Vine
Wild forms of tomatoes grow abundantly on the slopes of the Andes of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. The different altitudes and micro-climates resulted in a wide variety of tomatoes, both wild and cultivated. Presumably the cultivated species of tomato were carried north into Central America and Mexico in a similar way as maize. Scientists believe that this migration took place in relatively recent times – maybe within the last 2000 years, due to the fact that relatively few simple forms of tomato are found here, compared to the number in South America. Because of the highly perishable nature of the fruit, it seems likely that the tomato was among the last of the native American species to be adopted as a cultivated food plant by the Indians and that it remained of little importance until after the arrival of the Europeans. Lack of evidence of its use by North American Indians further suggests its rather late movement from South America.
Since the first written evidence in the 16th century, tomatoes have been introduced to all countries of the world. Spanish conquistadors brought both yellow and red tomatoes back to Seville in the 1520s. Mediterranean cooks soon discovered the tomato's ability to transport the savory taste of garlic, onions and olive oil.
Tomato cultivation and cookery swept from Seville to Spanish enclaves in Italy, North Africa and onward to the Middle East. Voyagers on Spanish galleons obeyed a royal decree to disseminate New World plants on every shore they touched. This ensured a reliable supply of healthful, fresh food for far-flung Spanish seafarers. The fact that the Spanish in the Pacific suffered far less scurvy than their British and Dutch rivals is testament to the tomato's and other fruits' bounty of vitamin C.
The French loved them and referred to them as "love apples." In Germany they were revered as "apples of paradise." At first, the British rejected tomatoes because they believed them to be poisonous. The early New England colonists held this belief until 1812 when the Creoles of New Orleans happily showed them how tomatoes enhanced their gumbos and jambalayas.
By the mid 1800's tomatoes were also cultivated in the “New World” and widely grown in kitchen gardens in North America.
This spring, as the Northern Hemisphere leans once more into the hot embrace of summer, millions of amateur gardeners-from the prairies of Illinois to the Siberian taiga- will begin their annual quest to grow succulent red tomatos. The humble tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum (Latin for edible wolf's peach), has become one of humanity's most ubiquitous crops. Indeed, more home gardeners grow tomatos than any other food under all kinds of conditions. In the Canadian Arctic, for instance, Stan Hutyra, a retired gold miner, raises juicy Red Beefsteaks in plastic tubes. Meanwhile, at an American research station at the South Pole, workers grow tangy cherry tomatos in a greenhouse.
The mistaken idea that tomatos were poisonous probably arose because the plant belongs to the Nightshade family, of which some species are truly poisonous. The strong, unpleasant odor of the leaves and stems also contributed to the idea that the fruits were unfit as food
Serving size: 100 grams
Surprise your family with a healthy snack during a birthdayparty.
Very easy to use as a schoolsnack for your children.