[Sca-cooks] Tomatoes

[Terry Decker]

Ahh.

I tend to go with 1527 and the end of the Mexican Conquest or 1528 and 
Cortez's return to Spain.  Cortez, IIRC, burned his ships at Vera Cruz after 
landing his men in Mexico in 1519.  The earliest probable date for a tomato 
in Europe would be 1521 (as Grewe suggests) after Cortez captured Panfilo 
Narvaez and presumably gained control of the transports that delivered 
Narvaez's men to Mexico.

The Cox article appears to be accurate and correct, but his arguments are 
based on the genetics and the natural history of the tomato.  He does not 
look at the culinary history, so his arguments and comments about culinary 
uses are open to question.  Grewe's article deals more with the culinary 
history.

The key question is not "When did tomatoes arrive in Europe?" but "When did 
tomatoes come into common use in Spanish kitchens?"  Arrival and use are two 
seperate issues.  Grewe suggests that they were a common foodstuff by 
mid-17th Century.  Considering Gerard, it may be possible to push that back 
to 1596 or 1597.  I tend to think that tomatoes may have been a taste 
acquired by Conquistadors, that slowly became a common food in Spain and 
spread at a slower rate than turkeys or maize.  So your 1600 date is as good 
as any for their general introduction into paella..

Bear


> Been doing research actually into Paella checking out recipes and led me 
> to tomatoes, everything else is well documented. So my last question was 
> tomatoes.
> The last I read was an article By Sam Cox , December 2000 ya I know a web 
> address.
> http://lamar.colostate.edu/~samcox/Tomato.html
> I been looking around and basically I beginning to believe anywhere within 
> 1492 -1600 has a chance of being correct. More likely towards 1600 rather 
> then earlier . Basically I saying some where around 1600 give or take a 
> few years.
> Da