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The irresistible raise of tomato
Tumatl, who knows if the Aztecs native word had any magic meaning? We don ´t know, but we suspect it. Yes, we are talking about it, the tomato: the most famous vegetable in the world, taken away from its historic anonymity, by the Spanish conquerors who violating the magnificent Aztecs isolation, took it to Europe. In fact, the ordinary, familiar and daily tomato has a non - trivial history. It was discovered in the Aztecs territory and taken to Europe in Spanish galleons, it was quickly spread alon the Mediterranean valley, to such a point that it constituted one of the most typical crop in the area. In fact, one of the own characteristics of ‘ Aurea poma ‘ ( called like that because of its original golden yellow color ) it is its adjustability to the most different environments. From the Peruvian Andes, to the Mediterranean plains: there are almost no places where this plant can not find hospitality. The tomato was not adopted in Europe because of its height nutritious qualities but because of its aesthetic and ornamental ones. For a long time, in many cases for a really long time, there was a mixture of fear and superstition because of which it was considered poisonous. It is an Italian merit to have separated the ‘ Aurea poma ‘ from the ornamental ghetto and to have helped to fight that undefeatable superstition. Its nutritious use was known in the XVIII century and mainly in Italy. A decisive impulse for the world wide success of our vegetable was yet to come, irony of the history, of the ‘ New World ‘, and more specifically in the United States of America where by the middle of the XIX century the belief that this vegetable was poisonous was still spread. And because of this, a group of conspirators tried to kill the president Abraham Lincoln, with the tomato! The personal cook of the White House was bribed , and he was convinced to prepare a tomato - based dinner, with the obvious intention to poison the president. Conclusion: the cook repented and killed himself leaving a letter reporting the fact, in that way Lincoln found out the conspiracy and he became a great taster of this vegetable, in that way he helped in its huge success in the United States of America. Thus, the tomato, an almost unknown food became the number one in production and consume in the United States of America. In general, the changing nutritious customs and the extreme adjustability of Lycopersicon Esculentum ( scientific name ) that made its huge spread possible, have made it become undoubtedly king of the world wide food. An enlightened and tolerant sovereign, that accompanies democratically every kind of food. |
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| #03 | 1996 |
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© 2007 PIOLA. All rights reserved. PIOLA name, logos, and related marks are trademarks of PIOLA S.N.C. |
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