From the Americas to our table

by Editorial Staff | Apr 15, 2020 | Food products & ingredients | 0 comments

Have we ever really stopped to imagine our diet without the contribution of the New World? It is worth knowing that [approximately 60% of the food consumed globally today comes from the New World. “The greatest contribution of Native Americans to our civilization, according to numerous experts, lies in their patient cultivation and domestication—out of the wild—of plants that today represent more than half of our agricultural heritage.”][1]

Among these, one in particular stands out for its characteristics and global spread: the tomato.

Origins, name and early misgivings

The plant appears to have originated in the mountainous Andean region spanning Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. It is widely known that the tomato “came from South America, together with potatoes, maize, tobacco, eggplants and peppers, as well as various exotic fruits.”[2]

South American peoples were the first to cultivate it and select the varieties that European invaders later encountered. Its Italian name pomi d’oro (“golden apples”), coined by the Sienese botanist Pier Andrea Mattioli, derives from the yellowish color typical of the fruits imported from the New World.

Initially brought to Spain in the 16th century and only later to Italy, the plant met with strong European distrust and for centuries was relegated to a purely ornamental role—like several other members of the Solanaceae family. At first it was thought this fruit caused ailments and disorders, enough to earn the name “Lycopersicum,” that is, “wolf peach.” Only much later, once its qualities had been established, did it finally receive the epithet “esculentum,” meaning edible/delicious.

From historical cookery to typical varieties

We therefore have to wait until the 18th century to see its use in the kitchen, as evidenced by “a text from 1811 by Count Filippo Re. The first printed cookbook to mention tomato sauce dates to 1839 and is by Ippolito Cavalcanti, who describes in Neapolitan dialect the ‘vermicelli with tomatoes’.”[3]

In the same period the marriage of pizza and tomato was also achieved; even so, the use of this fruit remained confined to southern Italy. Only with industrial production in the early 1900s did tomato sauce sweep across Italian tables.

Depending on the region, Italians have managed to get the best from this plant, developing a great many varieties far beyond the classic fruits we find at the supermarket. After careful research and selection, it has become possible to recover many of these varieties—with unique organoleptic traits—and reintroduce them to our menus thanks to careful anthropological studies.

There are thousands of tomato varieties, some of which—once sown and developed over the years—have become emblematic of Italian terroirs: such as San Marzano and the tomatoes of Pachino, respectively PDO and PGI.

Identity, terroir and references

In culinary terms, Italian gastronomic tradition is inextricably linked with this splendid fruit gifted to us by the “New World.” However widespread it is today, rediscovering local varieties and dishes tied to their native regions can lead us back to the origins of the places we visit—helping us rediscover flavors and aromas from another time. Why use a “foreign” tomato when a local one is available?

Lorenzo Terzoli Bergamaschi
Anthropologist

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[1] Park, Sunmin, Nobuko Hongu, and James W. Daily III. “Native American foods: History, culture, and influence on modern diets.” Journal of Ethnic Foods 3.3 (2016): 171-177. [author’s free translation]

[2] Delsante, Ubaldo. “La zappa e la caldaia.” I pionieri della col.

[3] Ibid.