Tomato Timeline Trivia.
1690s: Tomatoes, which originated in the Americas, find their way into sauce in Italy. The world has been tastier ever since.
1600s – 1700s: Rotten tomatoes are thrown at people in the stocks in Europe and the colonies. Puritans may have been upset at the waste of food, but the acid helped clean the cobblestones.
1893: As if to settle the matter once and for all time, the US Supreme Court ruled the tomato a vegetable, though botanists would wish to appeal that ruling were it possible (it’s a berry). While the justices did acknowledge it was a fruit, the issue wasn’t botany; it was tariff collection.
1897: Joseph Campbell comes out with condensed tomato soup; grilled cheese sandwiches have an enduring winter lunchtime partner. (He may have been inspired by Maria Parloa’s 1872 The Appledore Cookbook.)
