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Tomato talk
Tomato Talk:
1. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that's good for the heart and effective against certain cancers. (It's also what makes tomatoes red.). Cooked tomatoes are better than raw ones: The heat that causes more of the antioxidant properties to be released.
2. Don't store tomatoes in the fridge! The cold damages their delicate membranes, and they become mealy. Instead, leave them at room temperature. Another trick? Put them stem side down to keep them from rotting too quickly.
3. Long thought to be poisonous, the leaves of the tomato plants can actually add a vibrant "fresh tomato aroma" to pasta sauces, according to renowned food scientist Harold McGee. He recommends using them like fresh basil.
4. Despite their relatively low sugar content compared to, say, a banana, tomatoes are indeed fruits --- just don't tell that to the Supreme Court. To settle a customs case in 1893, the justices unanimously ruled that tomatoes are, legally speaking, veggies so they could be taxed under customs regulations.
5. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans eat about 86 pounds of tomatoes per person each year. (More than half of that is ketchup and tomato sauce.)
6. Eating cooked tomatoes may act as a kind of internal sunscreen, according to researchers at the universities of Manchester and Newcastle, England, by helping block UV rays. But don't toss the sunscreen away yet: Tomatoes are only a supplement to lotions, not a replacement.
7. Though the definition is open for debate, an "heirloom" tomato typically means a variety that was open-pollinated (non-hybrid; common prior to WWII), with the seeds passing from gardener to gardener. Some people grow heirlooms because they like knowing the history of a particular line, others because they feel heritage tomatoes have superior flavor.
8. Tomato is a nightshade vegetable (from the Solanaceae family), a cousin of eggplants, peppers, and potatoes. The term "nightshade" may have been coined because some of these plants to grow in shady areas, and some flower at night. Some people think nightshade veggies are potentially harmful because they are related to the deadly nightshade, an in edible weed (also part of the Solanaceae family) that produces a toxic alkaloid called salanine. You can rest easy: Nightshade veggies are perfectly safe to eat. They do produce sola nine, but in very tiny, harmless amounts.
9. La Tomatina festival (Buņol, Valencia, Spain), held on the last Wednesday in August, attracts tens of thousands of visitors. The highlight is the tomato fight, in which 50,000-plus participants throw an estimated 125,000 kilograms of overripe tomatoes (125 metric tons) at each other.
10. Tomatoes did not arrive in Italy until the mid-1500s, where they were originally grown not to eat but for garden decoration. Pasta sauce as we know it today didn't apparently for another 300 years or so.
----------allrecipes. (allrecipes.com)
1. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that's good for the heart and effective against certain cancers. (It's also what makes tomatoes red.). Cooked tomatoes are better than raw ones: The heat that causes more of the antioxidant properties to be released.
2. Don't store tomatoes in the fridge! The cold damages their delicate membranes, and they become mealy. Instead, leave them at room temperature. Another trick? Put them stem side down to keep them from rotting too quickly.
3. Long thought to be poisonous, the leaves of the tomato plants can actually add a vibrant "fresh tomato aroma" to pasta sauces, according to renowned food scientist Harold McGee. He recommends using them like fresh basil.
4. Despite their relatively low sugar content compared to, say, a banana, tomatoes are indeed fruits --- just don't tell that to the Supreme Court. To settle a customs case in 1893, the justices unanimously ruled that tomatoes are, legally speaking, veggies so they could be taxed under customs regulations.
5. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans eat about 86 pounds of tomatoes per person each year. (More than half of that is ketchup and tomato sauce.)
6. Eating cooked tomatoes may act as a kind of internal sunscreen, according to researchers at the universities of Manchester and Newcastle, England, by helping block UV rays. But don't toss the sunscreen away yet: Tomatoes are only a supplement to lotions, not a replacement.
7. Though the definition is open for debate, an "heirloom" tomato typically means a variety that was open-pollinated (non-hybrid; common prior to WWII), with the seeds passing from gardener to gardener. Some people grow heirlooms because they like knowing the history of a particular line, others because they feel heritage tomatoes have superior flavor.
8. Tomato is a nightshade vegetable (from the Solanaceae family), a cousin of eggplants, peppers, and potatoes. The term "nightshade" may have been coined because some of these plants to grow in shady areas, and some flower at night. Some people think nightshade veggies are potentially harmful because they are related to the deadly nightshade, an in edible weed (also part of the Solanaceae family) that produces a toxic alkaloid called salanine. You can rest easy: Nightshade veggies are perfectly safe to eat. They do produce sola nine, but in very tiny, harmless amounts.
9. La Tomatina festival (Buņol, Valencia, Spain), held on the last Wednesday in August, attracts tens of thousands of visitors. The highlight is the tomato fight, in which 50,000-plus participants throw an estimated 125,000 kilograms of overripe tomatoes (125 metric tons) at each other.
10. Tomatoes did not arrive in Italy until the mid-1500s, where they were originally grown not to eat but for garden decoration. Pasta sauce as we know it today didn't apparently for another 300 years or so.
----------allrecipes. (allrecipes.com)
. Jo, I love to add it to grilled cheese, and my pizza is thin crust cheese and chopped tomatoes! Also good chopped into green beans and bacon bits (real), or in mixed veggies.
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