It’s difficult to imagine life without the tomato; the fruit/vegetable that launched a thousand takeaway empires. But it wasn’t always a much-loved staple ingredient - in fact until fairly recently it was either admired as a pretty ornamental plant or shunned as a deadly poison. Wild. Here’s where it all started…

Jump to:

• Where do they come from?
• What did they first look like?
• Why are they called tomatoes?
• The history of tomatoes in Europe
• When were tomatoes first brought to the UK?
• Killer tomatoes?
• Tomato folklore
• The invention of tomato soup
• Some of the earliest varieties

Where do tomatoes come from?

Tomatoes originally came from South America and Central America, with the earliest records found in what is now Mexico. It’s thought that tomatoes had been cultivated and even traded there by the ancient Aztecs and Mayans since 7000 BCE.

What did the first tomatoes look like?

Early tomatoes, it’s safe to say, bore little resemblance to the uniformly shaped and coloured supermarket stalwarts of today. They were the size of peas and most of them were yellow, with a taste that was more sour than sweet. Think of a smaller tomatillo without the husk and you’d be along the right lines.

Why are tomatoes called tomatoes?

The fruit/vegetable we know and love has gone by a fair few names in its time. In the 17th century there were two conflicting genus names as no-one knew quite what to make of this strange and scary plant. 

In 1753, father of taxonomy Carl Linnaeus gave it the name we use today, Solanum lycopersicum (wolf peach nightshade), although in 1768 the English botanist Philip Miller renamed it Lycopersicon esculentum (edible wolf peach), conceding that it was actually quite tasty and giving it its own genus. Both were used until genetic testing became available, when it was confirmed that tomatoes did indeed belong to the Solanum genus and the Linnean name stuck.

The first recorded use of the English word ‘tomato’ comes in 1595. It’s derived from the Spanish tomate, which in turn comes from a European interpretation of the Nahuati (Aztec language) words xictomatl (red tomato) and tomatl (tomatillo or yellow tomato).

The history of tomatoes in Europe

Although it’s thought that Columbus may have brought some back to Spain with him in 1493, the first documented tomatoes appeared in Europe in 1519. Conquistador Hernán Cortés discovered tomatoes growing in Montezuma II's gardens and in true renaissance explorer style, basically nicked them. Back in Spain, the first tomatoes were grown as weird exotic ornamentals, with no one thinking to eat the fruit. 

In France, the tomato was seized upon as a cool new aphrodisiac and named Pomme d’amour (love apple). Alas, there’s no data from the time to prove or disprove the theory. Meanwhile, in Naples, the invention of pizza in 1880 led to the widespread popularisation of tomatoes (or pomodori – golden apples) because let’s be honest, no one loves white pizza. Spain swiftly followed the trend, which must have come as a relief for tapas bar owners. By the 19th century the tomato had pretty much conquered the culinary world.

When were tomatoes first brought to the UK?

Although tomatoes had first been brought to the UK in the 1590s, they didn’t really take off as food until the 18th century. In fact they were shunned and treated with suspicion, with Jacobean physician John Gerard complaining of their ranke and stinking savour, toxic foliage and corrupt fruit. Don’t hold back John, tell us what you really think…

Attack of the killer tomatoes

As tomatoes are part of the Solanaceae or nightshade family, they were long thought to be as poisonous as their relatives, Belladonna (Deadly nightshade), Mandragora (Mandrake) and Datura stramonium (Jimsonweed). 

It took over a century for Brits to brave eating them, then it all went wrong in the late 1700s, with rumours of deadly tomatoes spreading throughout Europe. Where did this tall tale come from? Stories abounded of a spate of deaths amongst the aristocracy, who ate from pewter plates. When the acidic tomatoes reacted with the metal, they absorbed lead from the pewter, which caused several fatal poisonings.

With baffled aristos not suspecting their fancy tableware, the tomato got the blame. Maybe someone should have asked the Mexicans who’d been cheerfully eating them for centuries – although I guess if some coloniser stole my tomatoes and claimed to have discovered them, I probably wouldn’t return his calls either…

Tomato folklore

Since they arrived in England during the reign of James I, it’s no wonder tomatoes got mixed up in the general witchcraft panic. After all, if you couldn’t even trust the nice old woman down the street with the black cat and the herbal remedies, you sure as heck couldn’t risk any weird new foreign food!

The fear of poisoning by witches was rife, and the innocent tomato got mixed up with the poisonous nightshades reputed to be their favourite ingredients. Then there was that name – lycopersicum. Sounds a lot like lycanthrope, AKA werewolf, and you didn’t want to tangle with one of those.

You’d think by the twentieth century, these myths and misunderstandings about tomatoes would have been long gone, but as late as 1990 there was yet another tomato panic – this time about tomato seeds that had been into space. Variously feared to be toxic, irradiated or mutated, there was so much suspicion of the resulting tomatoes that NASA, fearing an opportunistic lawsuit, advised against eating them.

When was tomato soup invented?

One of the most popular uses for tomatoes (yes, an insalata caprese is a thing of heartbreaking beauty, but try getting a miserable child to eat it), tomato soup’s first recorded mention comes in the 1872 Appledore Cookbook by Maria Parloa.

Campbell’s condensed version arrived on the market in 1897 to immediate popular acclaim, perhaps as it omitted the two pounds of beef and the boiling for three hours that Maria recommended. Since then, no self respecting store cupboard has been without a tin or two.

Early tomato varieties

Tomatoes have gone from the myriad varieties of the Aztecs to the mass produced round red, uniform fruit of the twentieth century and back around again, as interest in heritage or heirloom tomatoes has boomed in recent years.

Now there’s a huge demand for yellow, purple or striped tomatoes in a variety of shapes and sizes, especially amongst home growers. Their origins can be even more varied, with some even being brought back from extinction by dedicated plant breeders. Here are just a few great tomatoes you can grow – what would the Jacobeans think?

San Marzano

The San Marzano plum tomato is one of several classics which originated in the rich volcanic soils of Italy, along with Roma and Piennolo del Vesuvio. Grown in Campania since the 1700s, San Marzano tomatoes are highly prized for use in purees and sauces. Given their proximity to Naples, these were also likely to have been the original pizza tomatoes.

Brandywine

This heavyweight beefsteak tomato is one of many varieties that originated in the Amish communities of the US, and is named after the Brandywine river. We’ve got Doris Sudduth Hill to thank for this one, as her family had been growing Brandywines for generations, but it was she who collected the seeds and made them widely available in the early 1900s.

Blaby Special

During World War II, any tomatoes you could get your hands on in the UK were likely to be these, grown at Shoults’ tomato farm in the Leicestershire village of Blaby. Their day in the sun ended abruptly when the war ended, however, and the farm closed down.

The Blaby Special then vanished until 2006, when a dedicated scientist, Russell Sharp, brought it back into cultivation and the tasty heirloom was saved. He’s since brought back another, the Manx Marvel.

Tigerella

Striped Tigerella is one of the most striking tomatoes in the patch. It’s thought to be a descendant of the 19th century Tiger Tom tomato, which disappeared at some point between WW1 and WW2.

This heirloom is so good it’s been revived twice – once in the 1930s in Ohio, and again after the seeds were lost (!) then rediscovered here in the UK. If you get your hands on some of these, keep them safe… they seem to have a habit of escaping.

Cherry tomatoes

Although we can’t be entirely sure what the small, yellow tomatoes of the Aztecs were like, we can get pretty close with the cherry tomato. These small, round fruits make a great snack food, cooking ingredient or addition to a salad. Even better, you can get them in red, yellow and even black. 

Want to try your hand at growing your own tomatoes? There are so many benefits – but watch out for the full moon…