Excerpt from Celebrating the Tomato By Daphne Rozen

The tomato’s central role in American culture and cuisine is evident in the many regional celebrations held in its honor each summer.

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The tomato may not be native to North America, but—like the diverse human immigrants to this land—it has certainly made itself at home in the melting pot of cultures and cuisines that we call the United States. Welcoming the tomato with open arms—and mouths—Americans have, arguably, adopted the tomato as the national vegetable, although purists might insist it is the national fruit (see sidebar, “Fruit or Vegetable,” on page 25).

“I think that Americans have probably enjoyed more of a diversity in tomato flavors and varieties than any other country,” says Gary Ibsen, a well-known tomato grower and author of The Great Tomato Book.

As a long-time tomato aficionado, Ibsen attributes the tomato’s popularity to its sheer beauty and delectable taste. “It's a wonderful fruit to celebrate,” he said. “It’s such a colorful, beautiful food to look at, and it has a romance about it.” It can offer us “a variety of taste sensations from very sweet to jump-up-and-shout tomato flavor.”

This national love affair with the tomato would have seemed inconceivable 300 years ago when European colonists first brought tomatoes to America. At that time, tomatoes were widely considered to be poisonous and even morally objectionable— Puritans regarded them as a “forbidden fruit.” But in the intervening years, tomatoes have gradually emerged as an integral part of American cuisine and culture. In addition to becoming a valuable commercial crop and a favorite of backyard gardeners, they are now touted, ironically, for their health benefits as rich sources of antioxidants as well as vitamins A and C.

EARLY HISTORY

The ancestral wild tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) bears little resemblance in appearance or taste to the ones we grow today. Native to the Andes mountains and coastal highlands of South and Central America, the wild tomato plant is scrawny and yields clusters of small, undistinguished green fruits.

The Aztecs and other indigenous peoples, nevertheless, recognized their culinary potential and passed this knowledge along to the Spanish conquistadors who arrived in South America in the early 16th century. Seeds taken back to Europe flourished in the Mediterranean climate and the tomato quickly became integrated into the cuisine of countries such as Spain and Italy.

Not so in England, however, where tomatoes continued for some time to be viewed with suspicion because of misguided assumptions about their family ties with deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) and other plants in the nightshade family (Solanaceae). …

… Many historians cite the turning point for the tomato in America as 1820, when Robert Johnson, an eccentric resident of Salem, New Jersey, was reported to have made a very public spectacle of eating a bushel of tomatoes on the steps of the Salem Courthouse. But Andrew F. Smith, author of The Tomato in America, regards this colorful story as apocryphal.


CULTURAL ICON

Now, more than 150 years later, the legacy of the “Great Tomato Mania” lives on through its place in our popular culture. After all, how many vegetables have been the subject of a cult movie like Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1974)? But the tomato’s true role in American culture is exemplified by the abundance of late summer and fall festivals that celebrate tomato harvests throughout the country.

DUELING TOMATOTOWNS

In three American cities—Carmel Valley, California; Pittston, Pennsylvania; and Reynoldsburg, Ohio—the tomato is not only celebrated but it is at the center of a friendly rivalry over which city has the right to stake its claim as the tomato capital of America.

In his hometown of Carmel Valley (population: 10,000), Gary Ibsen is once again hosting the annual Carmel TomatoFest (September 12), which attracts thousands of tomato lovers and some top-names in the restaurant business. Now in its 13th year, the Carmel TomatoFest has been proclaimed the world's largest tomato tasting arena, featuring more than 300 tomato varieties from around the globe and an ever-changing buffet of tomato dishes created by some of California's best chefs. Visitors can also pick up hundreds of varieties of tomato seeds, including some rare heirlooms.

The TomatoFest, which started as a family get-together, continues to provide a family-friendly atmosphere fueled by live music and dancing. “I want to keep it a community event that has a sense of a quality experience,” said Ibsen, who estimates he turns away an average 1,000 visitors each year in order to maintain the festival’s original small-town feel. “It’s a great experience for the family to share.”
In addition to being a fun celebration, the Carmel TomatoFest serves as a community fundraiser. Since 1999 the annual event has raised in excess of $160,000 for local children's charities.

On the opposite side of America, in Pittston, Pennsylvania (population: 8,000), residents also gather to honor their town’s claim to being the “Tomato Capital of the World,” which it earned in the 1930s by meeting the high demand for tomatoes from New York City. “We’re proud of what we do,” said Lori Nocito, a chairperson for the Pittston Tomato Festival Association. “We’re into making it bigger and better each year.”


Photo Credit: Tomato-tasting at the Carmel TomatoFest courtesy of Carmel TomatoFest. 'Aunt Ruby’s German Giant’ heirloom tomato by David Cavagnaro.

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