[Sca-cooks] Period Tomatoes

[Terry Decker]

Nothing in this statement provides that the strains are different.  The 8 
Turkish strains could be a subset of the 13 Peruvian ones.  Simply counting 
strains proves little.  I'm much more interested in how they cross breed 
with wild varieties and an analysis of the genetic differences.  I will 
point out C.M. Rick describes the cross breeding of wild and domestic 
tomatoes in South America.  I've not seen any information for this from 
Turkey.  Are any of the Turkish strains wild?

One might also check Taylor, I.B., 1991.  Biosystematics of the tomato;  in 
Atherton and Rudich, The tomato crop; A scientific basis for improvement, 
pp. 1-22.

The botanist Edgar Anderson believes that the Turks were early adopters of 
the tomato and responsible for spreading it into the Levant and the Balkans 
early in the 16th Century.  The tomato is still a major crop in Turk and 
there is quite a bit of tomato cultivation research in Turkish.  With almost 
500 years and the experimental agricultural background of the Turks, I'm a 
little surprised that there are only 8 strains.

It should also be pointed out that tomato seeds are found in archeological 
digs is South America.  I have yet to see any cataloged in a Turkish (or 
even Levantine) dig.  If the tomato is truly indigenous to Turkey, then I 
would expect to find evidence of prehistoric use.  BTW, I have an interest 
in seed counts and descriptions from digs.  It helps me understand the 
spread of baking in early cultures.

While I haven't read it, Grewe, Rudolf, The Arrival of the Tomato in Spain 
and Italy:  Early Recipes;  The Journal of Gastronomy 3:67-81 (1988), might 
prove enlightening to anyone interested in the early history of the tomato 
in the Old World.

Bear

> My friend with the tomato problem just posted this to the Meridian Tavern 
> Yard:
> "If you wish to explore this from a scientic point of view you will
> find that the decision to place S.A. as the source of the 'modern
> tomato' is based on the work of a Russian Scientist who held the
> view that the 'area with the greatest number of indiginous strains'
> of any plant is the most likely source. Peru won out with about 13
> varieties -- Turkey was second with about 8. This indicates several
> things:
> 1) strains of 'tomatoes' exist in Turkey that do not exist in Peru
> 2) the decision to grant Peru as the absolute 'source' is not
> scientifically 'proved'"
>
> Bear?  Any comment?
>
>
>
>
> Pat Griffin
> Lady Anne du Bosc