Not surprisingly, farm-fresh tomatoes have made it onto the top summer crop list for 2018, compiled by our own Farmer Lee Jones. When he picks the first ones of the season, he admits that he “plunks that very first handful” into his mouth. And, as the juice dribbles down his chin, he says this experience absolutely screams summer to him. “As I smell the tomato leaves as I walk towards the vines,” he shares, “and as I smell the soil and feel the sun on my back, the experience is purely spiritual. It’s about that miracle that happens when God gives us a seed, and then it turns into such a majestic, glorious gift.”
Fresh tomatoes truly serve as a signal that summer has arrived, as Lee so poetically described. By June and July, The Chef’s Garden team is in full tomato production mode. And, because of the marvelous diversity of our tomatoes, you can enjoy a different flavor every day, along with a rainbow of colors, textures, and more (and, what about this tomato champagne??).
Before we go any further, we can’t resist weighing in on one of the world’s commonly asked questions.
Is a Tomato a Fruit or a vegetable?
Going forward in this post, we will refer to tomatoes as vegetables, a designation the encyclopedia agrees with. Their reasoning: “Given that tomatoes are generally not used in desserts and are closely related to other fruit-vegetables (e.g., eggplants and peppers), it is not counterintuitive for tomatoes to be classified as vegetables.” And we have the Supreme Court on our side. In 1893, the top law of the land ruled that “in the common language of the people,” tomatoes were vegetables. Here is part of their ruling: “Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas. But in the common language of the people, whether sellers or consumers of provisions, all these are vegetables that are grown in kitchen gardens, and which, whether eaten cooked or raw, are, like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, and lettuce, usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup, fish, or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert.”Now, here’s more of the tomato’s backstory.A Look Back in Time
The earliest domesticators of the tomato were Mayans and other Mesoamericans, and a mutation likely created the first large tomatoes. How they made their way to the British colonists in North America isn’t entirely known, but possibilities include the following:
- After the Spanish brought tomatoes back to their country (from Mexico) in the 1520s, they may have also brought them to their settlements in Florida. Perhaps tomato seeds were taken into today’s Georgia and the Carolinas, where British colonists lived.
- Or, maybe the colonists and/or the French Huguenots brought them to the Carolinas.
- As a third idea, tomatoes from the Caribbean could have made their way to the American colonies. (Many historians favor this idea.)
Of course, the true story may forever remain a mystery. What we do know is that tomatoes arrived in the Carolinas by the mid-1700s.
As early as 1812, wealthy Spanish and French immigrants began featuring tomatoes in their Creole recipes in New Orleans, Louisiana. (In fact, the use of tomatoes is considered, even today, to be a key distinguisher between Creole cooking and “proper” Cajun food.)
However, this lovely vegetable took a little longer to be widely used in the United States.
How One Brave Man and His Tomato Changed the World!
Once the belief spread about tomatoes’ dangers, it was hard to refute that “fact.” But, the story goes, a man named Robert Gibbon Johnson was living in Salem, New Jersey, where he grew tomatoes and believed them safe to eat. He’d gotten his seeds from South America, and to demonstrate the safety of eating this luscious crop, he intended to eat one – in public, mind you. Johnson was a well-known man in his community, and word of his daring plan spread far and wide. People came from all around to witness this deed. It was said that when Johnson first sank his teeth into his tomato, people fluttered in shock, and some even fainted. But after he survived this adventure, people in America began to eat tomatoes. Thank you, Mr. Johnson!As more people began growing and eating tomatoes, restaurants started including them in their menus, and recipes containing this juicy vegetable were published. Then, in 1834, a man named Dr. John Bennett wrote an article describing tomatoes’ health benefits—and America hasn’t looked back since.
Thank you, Dr. Bennett!
European Cuisine
Long before the tomato became popular in the United States, it was appreciated in Europe by people who didn’t believe it to be dangerous. Italians began growing them around 1550, with people living in the southern portion of Europe, particularly Italy and Spain, using them in increasing numbers. The first Italian tomato sauce recipe known to be published was Lo scalco alla moderna in 1692, credited to the Spanish viceroy’s chef.
However, what caused tomatoes to take center stage in Italian cooking didn’t happen until 1889. That’s when Raffaele Esposito, a Neapolitan pizzaiolo, created a dish to honor Queen Margherita of Savoy: the Margherita pizza. This pizza was so popular because it included ingredients resembling the Italian flag, something people appreciated since Italy had been united for only 28 years. Ingredients used were:
- Tomato (red)
- Mozzarella cheese (white)
- Basil (green)
Notice that we didn’t say Esposito invented this dish. A similar recipe was published as far back as 1866 in Customs and Traditions of Naples by Francesco DeBouchard. Still, Esposito’s version caused the fresh tomato to become firmly entrenched in Italian cuisine.
World’s 50 Best Food Dishes
If you ask 100 different people to create this list, you’d probably get at least 200 different answers. But here is the list that was published by CNN’s travel staff. It’s worth noting that nine of them contain tomatoes. They include lasagna and Neapolitan pizza, both from Italy. There are two dishes from Thai cuisine on the list, as well:
- Som Tam Salad, with its garlic, chilies, tamarind juice, fish sauce, peanuts, dried shrimp, lime juice, sugar cane paste, string beans, grated green papaya, sticky rice, and tomatoes
- Tom Yum Goong Soup, that “teems with shrimp, mushrooms, tomatoes, lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves. Usually loaded with coconut milk and cream, the hearty soup unifies a host of favorite Thai tastes: sour, salty, spicy, and sweet.”
Other items that made the list and contain tomatoes are:
- Masala Dosa from India: This “crispy, rice-batter crepe encases a spicy mix of mashed potato, dipped in coconut chutney, pickles, tomato-and-lentil-based sauces, and other condiments.”
- Chicken Parmesan from Australia: The article explains how pub-goers in Australia claim this “ostensibly Italian dish as their own. Since they make it so well, there’s no point in arguing.”
- Chili Crab from Singapore with its spicy chili-tomato gravy
- Arepas from Venezuela, a “corn-dough patty that provides a savory canvas” for delicious toppings
- Chicken Muamba from Gabon: Ingredients of the “proper recipe” include “chicken, hot chili, garlic, tomato, pepper, salt, okra, and palm butter, an artery-clogging African butter that will force you into a second helping and a promise to start using your gym membership.”
Here are 100 other dishes that use tomatoes that could serve as inspiration for your own unique creations – and here is a Huffington Post quote we’re tossing into to the mix because we agree wholeheartedly: “Could there be anything more perfect than a ripe tomato, freshly picked, still warm from the sun? Tomatoes are one of those special foods that make our hearts flutter.”Farmacy at The Chef’s Garden: A Look at Farm-Fresh Tomatoes
An article found at Healthline.com provides an overview of how tomatoes are beneficial in fighting cardiovascular disease (with heart attacks and strokes being the most common causes of death in the world today), preventing cancer, and maintaining skin health. Perhaps the most noteworthy compound, health-wise, found in tomatoes is lycopene. It is most abundant in the tomato’s peel. Meanwhile, the World’s Healthiest Foods site shares the “outstanding antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits from tomatoes. Plus, here’s what LiveScience.com has to say about the nutritional value of fresh tomatoes.
- They’re high in fiber.
- They’re a good source of vitamins A, C, B2, folate, and chromium.
- The vitamins contained in them help stop oxidative stress.
- Minerals in tomatoes help to ensure our bodies function appropriately.
- Rich in potassium, one medium tomato has nearly 300 mg.
- Besides being associated with heart health, potassium also plays a role in “proper nerve and muscle function.”
And here’s one more site that shares the health benefits of tomatoes: MedicalNewsToday.com. The benefits listed include:
- Help to maintain healthy blood pressure
- Can reduce blood glucose levels in people with diabetes
- Can protect your eyes against “light-induced damage.”
- Are linked to healthy hair
- Can boost your energy levels
- Assist people in losing weight
- Fight against constipation
- Provide a natural source of folate, crucial for pregnant women to protect against infant neural tube defects
Farm-Fresh Tomatoes at The Chef’s Garden
If you were to ask Bob Jones, Jr. to list the five most important characteristics of a tomato, ones that determined whether it was successfully grown, he shares this list:
- Flavor
- Visual appearance (we eat with our eyes first!)
- Flavor
- Shelf life
- Flavor
(He’d really rather you ask him for six characteristics, though, because he also wants to add in their nutrition.) “Through variety selection in tomatoes,” he says, “and how you grow them – meaning soil health – you can achieve outstanding nutritional results.”
The Chef’s Garden grows an incredible diversity of fresh tomatoes, varying in flavor, size, color, shape, and texture. We invite you to browse our choices of cherry, currant, and toy box tomatoes.
If you’d like to experience the rainbow of colors that the cherry tomato offers, we suggest you try the mixed box, where you get the best of the day of red, green, white, orange, pink, yellow, and striped tomatoes. Or, try one of our tiniest tomatoes, the ruby-red sweet pea currant. Or, if you’re looking for a rich and sweet, tangy, and flavorful fresh tomato with a soft, smooth, thick, and juicy texture, try our mixed toy box tomatoes.
When you order our fresh tomatoes, we hand-harvest them, picking to order, and then ship them to your kitchen overnight so you receive the freshest, most vibrant, and most flavorful produce available. Our efficiently shipped Earth to Table® promise ensures ultimate freshness, incredible flavor, and prolonged shelf-life, resulting in less waste for your business. We encourage you to compare our direct-from-the-farm products to those with a local supplier who is potentially fulfilling your order with products sourced elsewhere and stored for days in a warehouse before they are delivered to your door. We are confident that you will find our fresh vegetables, including our luscious farm-fresh tomatoes, to be the freshest and most flavorful anywhere.