[Sca-cooks] More musings on nightshade and tomatoes

[rbbtslyr at comporium.net]

Don't forget they are Nightshades and many assumed anything from that family
except for the roots would be deadly.
There are even stories of people eating "Love Apples" and dying from the
1600s, or so I was told by a Professor when I was in College.

Kirk

Meddle not in the Affairs of Dragons for Thou Art Crunch and taste good with
Catsup or BBQ Sauce !!!

KA4PXK location
Liberty Hill, SC (Kershaw)
Longitude: 80° 48' 7" W (-80.8019°)
Latitude: 34° 28' 41" N (34.4781°)
Grid: EM94
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christiane" <christianetrue at earthlink.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 2:55 PM
Subject: [Sca-cooks] More musings on nightshade and tomatoes


> I've always wondered if the reason why the English herbalists disliked
tomatoes was because England has really bad tomato-growing conditions,
therefore the tomatoes they grew tasted like doo-doo. It rains a lot in
England, and tomatoes grow best (and taste best) in hotter, drier climes.
Drier, hotter conditions produce a tomato with concentrated sweetness and
intense flavor. Tomatoes thrive in lots of sun, and produce lots of fruit in
those conditions. Tomatoes and basil go well together not only culinarily,
but in gardens as well (growing basil next to tomatoes helps protect them
from whitefly and other insect infestations).
>
> A water-containing fruit would also be especially valued in the hot, dry
south of Italy and Sicily, where there has been a cultural association
between water=good luck=fertility (and the mal'occhio or jettatura was
attributed to drying out crops, cows, semen, and a woman's ability to
conceive). Plus, the volcanic soils of the region would produce superior
tomatoes.
>
> That's just my theory as to why tomatoes took so long to catch on in
England, but were adopted earlier in the Meditteranean.
>
> Gianotta
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