The Not So Humble Tomato

Tomatoes are a truly amazing vegetable.

Well, technically they’re a fruit, it’s only that tomatoes are often used in savoury dishes rather than sweet that many of us consider them a vegetable.

A colourful history

Tomatoes originally grew in the lower Andes on the west coast of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia and they were first cultivated by the Aztecs and Incas around 700AD. Explorers returning from Mexico introduced the tomato into Europe around the mid 16th century but they didn’t reach popularity as a raw vegetable in England until the late 19th century.

The scientific name for the common tomato is lycopersicon lycopersicum, which means “wolf peach”, though the Germans and French were more charitable with their descriptions of “the apple of paradise” and “the apple of love”.

The first plants in Australia were spotted in the convict gardens around Parramatta in 1793. These are said to have arrived on British ships that stopped at Rio de Janeiro for supplies before landing in Australia.

The tomato is the cousin of the eggplant, red pepper, ground cherry and potato and amazingly come in more than 10,000 different varieties. Today the tomato is one of the world’s most popular fruits, with more than 60 million tonnes of tomatoes being produced and enjoyed annually¹.

All shapes and sizes

With over 10,000 different varieties there’s plenty to choose from. Here are some of the more typical tomato varieties².

The Common Tomato		Roma or Egg Tomatoes		Cherry, Cocktail or Tearcup Tomatoes
Is round in shape, flat topped, with pink to red flesh. The stem and leaf-like calyx are sometimes left on to help sell them as gourmet vine-ripened tomatoes. Other large red tomatoes have names like Beefsteak, Oxheart and Grosse Lisse		Are normally red and have a slightly firmer skin than the common tomato. The Roma Tomato has a sweeter, juicier flesh and can be used both fresh and for cooking. A yellow variety also exists in this egg shape.		They can be red, yellow or orange-skinned with pink to red or yellow flesh and are often used in their natural form to preserve their petite beauty.

A sun loving fruit

Tomatoes are grown all year round with a peak picking period in the heart of Summer between December and
February².

This sun loving fruit is best planted and grown in well-drained soils in the ground, though the kitchen window sill remains a popular starting point in many Australian households. It’s important to remember that it will take about six weeks from seed until they’re ready to plant in the garden. The tomato plant is weak-stemmed, so often they are grown on trellises for support.

 

Selecting the best

Tomatoes are best eaten when they are bright red. If you’re not planning on eating them right away, select a tomato that is pale pink in colour and ripen them at room temperature until they are slightly soft. Once ripe pop them in the fridge to keep longer. Tomatoes are best eaten at room temperature, so if they do spend some time in the refrigerator it’s good to take them out an hour before eating.

Did you know?

• Tomatoes gain weight as they ripen – even after being picked.
• They are one of the most popular ‘vegetables’ in Australia. Potatoes are number one.
• We processes over 50,000 tonnes of Tomatoes every year at our Echuca factory.
  
  

¹ Fresh For Kids, Tomato, viewed on 27 September 2010, http://www.freshforkids.com.au/veg_pages/tomato/tomato.html .
² Did you know?, Tomato is world’s most popular fruit, viewed on 27 September 2010, http://didyouknow.org/tomatoes/ .