The tomato, which originated on the continent of South America, was brought to Europe by Spanish explorers or Columbus, who transported them to Spain. They are said to have been discovered by Cortez in Montezuma’s garden, but other historians believe that Columbus first encountered them while exploring for pepper and a new spice route.

In the early 16th century, potatoes, corn, and tomatoes were brought to Europe. Because they are both members of the nightshade family Solonaceae, the tomato and potato are related. The potato and tomato, as well as the eggplant and eggplant, were viewed with suspicion due to their potentially lethal relationships. Even their Latin botanical name, Lycopersicum, is a reference to Galen’s description of the wolf peach, which was a poison used to kill wolves and came wrapped in a package that looked like it was full of delicious food.

They were initially grown for their ornamental value, and the Italian name “pomo d’oro” would suggest that the first tomatoes were golden yellow. Because it was believed that they were aphrodisiacs, they were referred to as the Love Apple or pomme d’amour in France.

In 1544, an Italian herbalist named Pietro Matthioli wrote that tomatoes were poisonous, but that he had heard that some people ate them after being fried in oil. There were red, yellow, golden, and orange tomatoes by 1623. Depending on how the author of the text saw colors, the yellow and gold varieties might have been the same thing. In 1700, the large red tomato, which was probably an ancestor of the Mediterranean “beef” tomatoes that we have today, is mentioned.

In France, where they were originally consumed only by the king and his court, they retained their mystique for a significant amount of time. In Italy, be that as it may, they were nourishment for all, appreciated by nobility and lower class similarly. They prospered in the locale among Naples and Salerno and the main known recipe for Spanish pureed tomatoes, Salsa di Pomodoro alla Spagnola was written in a cookery book from Naples in 1692.

They were clearly getting more and more popular in Italy during this time, as Lazzaro Spallanzani was experimenting with ways to preserve them by 1762. He boiled them and stored them in containers, but food canning was not widely practiced until the 19th century. American Joseph Campbell created the first cans of condensed tomato soup in 1897. Naturally, canning helps because we know that heating releases the lycopene that makes tomatoes and other fruits red. The pomme d’amour might be a kind of aphrodisiac because lycopene is thought to help prevent prostate cancer, increase male libido, and aid in erectile dysfunction.

It is accepted that the Neapolitans made the main tomato pies (the antecedents of the pizza) by adding them to yeast mixture. Naples had pizzaiolo, or pizza makers, by the 17th century, and tomato pies were sold on its streets. The Neapolitans were additionally adding the new natural product to their conventional dishes.

In the 18th century, Queen Maria Carolina, the wife of Naples’ King Ferdinando IV (1751-1821), had a custom pizza oven built for her chef in the summer palace at Capodimonte, where she served pizza with tomatoes to her guests.

The Margherita pizza was created in 1889 for Umberto I, the Italian king’s wife. Raffaele Esposito, Naples’s most well-known pizzaiolo, was summoned to Queen Margherita di Savoia’s palace, where he prepared three distinct pizzas for her. She preferred the pizza with her name on it, which is made of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil in the colors of the Italian flag—red, white, and green.

Although tomatoes aren’t used in every dish in Italy, they are very popular; When I was in the Marché region, lunch consisted frequently of fresh tomato, cucumber, and mozzarella salad with olive oil and fresh basil or spaghetti with a plain passata topped with a sprig of basil. Fresh tomatoes are peeled, sieved, heated, and then blended into passata.) Tomatoes were always on the daily menu, whether or not they were present in dinner. Tomatoes are a staple in Greek and Spanish cuisine, despite the fact that we frequently associate them with Italy.