[Sca-cooks] Fitzgibbon on Pomedoro

[Terry Decker]

Try "pomi d'oro,"  golden apple.  AFAIK, the first person to publish this 
term in reference to tomatoes was Petrus Andreas Matthiolus in the 1554 
edition of Della historia e materia medicinale.  The tomato was described in 
the edition of 1544, but not named.  Presumably, this is the first published 
description of the tomato.

I've done some looking and I can't find any reference to Fra Serenio or his 
trip to China.  There's not much between Andrew of Perugia and the Jesuit 
mission in the latter half of the 16th Century.  I think this reference may 
be apocryphal.

Take 1421 with a salt shaker.  It's fun to read but the author is shaping 
facts and history to fit his view.  I would have preferred a serious study 
of the Great Treasure Fleets.

Bear

> Here is her rather controversial assertion...
> "pomidoro, Italian for tomato, which has been used extensively in many 
> form in Italy since the 15th century, when seeds from China were first 
> brought back and grown by an Italian monk, Fra Serenio."
>
> I haven't found any reference to pomidoro in the Italian I've worked with, 
> though I'll have to check out this Fra Serenio now. The reference to China 
> is intriguing. I am aware of the new book about China's expedition to the 
> New World...1421: The Year China discovered America. I haven't read it, 
> and am interested to hear what others think.
> Rachaol