[Sca-cooks] Tomatoes was Re Pasta Experiment Update

[Terry Decker]

>
>>  Tomatoes were just being introduced in the last century
>>  of our eras and only being written about in the last half
>>  of the last century that we cover.
>
> I keep forgetting that tomatoes were treated with much the same attention 
> as
> Nightshade and Hellebore. :)
>
> Thank you for reminding me.

This is an assumption that may be unwarranted.  The fact that something is a 
member of the Solanacea does not automatically relegate it to non-use in 
period, as is proven by eggplant and tobacco.

The first mention is in Matthiolus around 1534 with a full discourse in 
1544.  IIRC, tomatoes also appear in Fuchs 1545.  The use of the tomato in 
the New World was well documented in the 16th and early 17th Centuries.  In 
reference to Europe, Castore Durante (1585) states, "They are eaten in the 
same way as eggplants..."  He wasn't fond of them, so they got panned. 
Gerard gives a similar review.

A tomato and chili peppers appear in a painting from the School of 
Caravaggio around 1607.  A tomato, two eggplants and a type of pumpkin 
appear in Murillo's The Angels Kitchen (1646).

Latini's Lo scalco alla moderna (1692) provides several recipes for 
tomatoes, all labelled alla spagnuola, in the Spanish style.  One of them is 
for a dish combining tomato, eggplant, and pumpkin.

I suspect what you have with the tomato is similar to the problem with 
maize.  We know it was there.  We know it was used.  But we don't have 
enough evidence to define the scope and speed of its spread and use.

Bear