Tomatoes Were Considered Sinful – Until the Salem Tomato Trial in 1820

The most controversial thing about the tomato today is whether it is a vegetable or a fruit. But things are not always like that. As recently as 200 years ago tomatoes were associated not only with sin, but also with an obstacle to safety.

While opinions differ on how exactly people met the juicy food during the meal, it is believed that the relationship originates in historical Mesoamerica. The word tomato “comes from the Uto-Aztecan Nahuatl word, ‘tomatl,’ meaning ‘the swollen fruit'” according to an article on the History Channel website.

It was an ingredient for people like the Aztecs, but the idea that it was suitable for consumption by Europeans and other cultures took time to catch on.

In fact you are more likely to see tomatoes as part of an ornamental display than as a tasty food. Look but don’t touch. But why is this? The answer lies in part in the eating habits of wealthy Europeans.

At first, while they believed that the tomato was edible, it was only grown to enjoy its beauty as a garden plant. A 2013 piece for Smithsonian.com wrote, “In the early 16th century, Spanish conquistadors returning from expeditions to Mexico and other parts of Mesoamerica are believed to have first introduced the seeds in southern Europe. Some researchers credit Cortez with bringing the seeds to Europe in 1519 for decorative purposes.”

In the late 1700s that changed dramatically – people were afraid to eat tomatoes because the fruit gained a reputation for being poisonous. The unusual factor is the actual dish. It turns out that the pewter plates of the rich have a high lead content. The acid in the tomatoes carried this poison and people died.

However, no one realized that the cause was a chemical, and the humble tomato was blamed – it was nicknamed “apple poison” and avoided at all costs.

The website Tomato And Health mentions that “Until the end of the eighteenth century, doctors warned against eating tomatoes, fearing that they would cause not only appendicitis but stomach cancer from the skins of tomato stuck to the lining of the stomach.”

That’s why the salad friend gets the worst raps. And this is just the latest installment in a long-running feud with the red fruit. The 14th century physician and naturalist Pietro Andrea Mattioli went on to categorize it not only as a source of poison but also of sinfulness. He thought the tomato was a nightshade, “a poisonous family of Solanaceae plants that contain toxins called tropane alkaloids” (from Smithsonian.com).

The element of sin comes from another discovery by Mattioli — that the tomato is a mandrake: “The mandrake has a history that begins in the Old Testament; it is mentioned twice as the Hebrew word dudaim, which roughly translates to “love apple.” (In Genesis, mandrake is used as a love potion).”

From there the tomato went down in history as an aphrodisiac.

The 1597 book Herbalwritten by barber-surgeon John Gerard, further tarnished the tomato’s reputation for research nonsense.

Smithsonian.com spoke with Andrew F. Smith, author of The Tomato In America: Early History, Culture and Cooking (1994) stating that “much of the information (which was inaccurate to begin with) was plagiarized by Gerard…

The History Channel attributed Gerard’s belief that tomatoes “have low levels of the toxic chemical tomatine. Tomatoes, in fact, have low levels of this glycoalkaloid with fungicidal properties, but the levels are so low that they are not dangerous.

Something had to happen to end the madness… and it did, in Salem, New Jersey, in 1820. A Colonel named Robert Gibbon Johnson was determined to break the cycle of mistrust of popular foods. Thus began the so-called Salem Tomato Trial.

Tomato And Health writes, “he brought the tomato home from abroad in 1808. He offered a prize every year for the largest fruit grown, but most considered the tomato an ornamental plant. than one for food.”

Since no one would bite, so to speak, he chose to take a basket of tomatoes and stand in front of the Salem courthouse. In front of a horrified public he continued to eat his way through “killer” bloat to prove the point and drive it home.

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Those expecting a violent death fun were disappointed. Colonel Johnson lived to tell the tale, and New Jersey residents welcomed the tomato to their plates. Since then the tomato has become more reliable and more widely accepted in American households. It took an act of theater to get the message across, but thanks to his extraordinary efforts the tomato was finally redeemed in the eyes of hungry Americans.