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The tomato was considered dangerous to eat in Europe because of its relationship to the Nightshade family, so no one ate it. One day, some Italian <unpublishabl
by EucalyptusGrove 7y ago
The tomato was considered dangerous to eat in Europe because of its relationship to the Nightshade family, so no one ate it. One day, some Italian <unpublishable> <unpublishable> decided to cook it into a sauce and give it to a woman, so she would get drugged and he could take advantage of her.
She didn't get poisoned, and he invented what we currently know as Italian cuisine.
So, my guess is going to be "by less than ethical ways".
- Iv 7y agoI am not sure it was as erroneous as people say. In Mexico they grow "tomatillos" which are similar to tomatoes except they are smaller and stay green. They need to be cooked to be safe. It could be generation of breeding them selectively in Europe that made them safe to eat raw.
- Matticus_Rex 7y agoTomatillos aren't very closely related to tomatoes at all (they're a gooseberry) and are safe to eat raw -- you just shouldn't eat them raw when underripe.
- Iv 7y agoThat's what I heard, yet looking at WP it classifies tomatoes and tomatillos in the same family whereas gooseberries are a different order. I am not versed-enough in botanics to know how relevant this is, but I wonder what is true or not in these.
- Matticus_Rex 7y agoAh, apparently its close relative is not the eurasian gooseberry but the cape gooseberry, which is the same genus as the tomatillo. They're also nightshades like peppers and tomatoes, but so is tobacco.
- Ensorceled 7y agoTomatoes were domesticated, and eaten, in South America long before being imported to Europe so I'm guessing the story is, at best, apocryphal. Potatoes have a similar origin and also have poisonous leaves for the same reason (nightshade plants often contain solanine)
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- Qwertystop 7y agoI had heard that the reason tomatoes were thought poisonous in Europe is because the acidity would leach lead from pewter plates.