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I remember reading that when they were first brought to Europe via the Columbian exchange people were reluctant to eat them fearing they were also poisonous. No
by yissp 5y ago
I remember reading that when they were first brought to Europe via the Columbian exchange people were reluctant to eat them fearing they were also poisonous. Now it's hard to imagine, e.g. Italian cuisine without tomatoes.
- kyteland 5y agoThey feared that because people were being poisoned. Pewter plates were common at the time and the tomatoes acid leached the lead out causing acute lead poisoning!
- hinkley 5y agoEven the “sweet” tomatoes have pretty close to the same pH, it’s just the sugars covering the tang, like soda or honey. As a bitter taster it doesn’t matter how much sugar you put on the tomato it’s still too much. About the only thing IMO that you can put on a tomato to make it acceptable is a bacon cheeseburger.
- vram22 5y agoThen any other equally acidic food on pewter plates should have caused lead poisoning too? E.g. if they ate salads in those days, with a squeeze of lemon juice?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]