Appearance of the "red wonder"
The first information about tomatoes dates back to the times of Katherine II. The empress expressed a wish to hear a report “about wonder fruit and unusual plants” on European fields. To do so, the Ambassador of Russia had to wind up with all the matters in Paris and to rush to faraway Russia during the stuffy summer of 1780. In the trunk of a bulky stagecoach there were baskets with fruit never seen in Russia before. Only in 1850 they started to grow tomatoes as a vegetable in Ukraine. The first plantations were in the Crimea, in Georgia and the Lower Volga region. Thus, tomatoes first appeared as food on our tables not more than 150 years ago…
Processed means useful
It’s a common thought that fresh fruit and vegetables are much more useful without any type of culinary processing. It seems like it’s all just the opposite with a tomato.
Scientists have the opinion that tomatoes when cooked in any way are of more benefit that fresh. As a sauce or in a stew they multiply their useful qualities, and therefore are more efficient in defending our organisms against the heart and blood vessel diseases, they help prevent cancer.
Scientists from New York are confident that due to thermal processing the useful elements of a tomato are assimilated easier. Tomato is among three vegetables with the largest content of vitamin A – second after the carrot. For instance, in a glass of tomato juice there is 1 mg of this vitamin, and an individual’s daily need for it is 3,5 mg. Apart from carotene, tomatoes contain many other useful elements: vitamins C, B1, B2, B5, PP, K, folic acid, biotin and large quantities of various mineral salts.
Medicine from the garden
Do you know that licopene, that tomatoes contain, reduces the risk of cancer? Surprisingly, there’s more licopene in tomatoes chopped in a blender or baked in an oven, than in the fresh ones. In order to really feel the use of tomatoes, one needs to eat 10 servings a week (approximately 2 tomatoes = 1 serving).
Minimal norm of tomato consumption per person is approximately 17 kgs a year. They are especially beneficial for people with the diseases of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems, obesity and salt exchange defects. In the folk medicine tomato juice and mashed tomatoes are used for treating purulent wounds and abscesses. Due to high content of potassium and vitamin C tomatoes are necessary for future mothers.
Recently the tomato came in the focus of narcologists’ attention. According to one of the ideas of effectively fighting nicotine dependence, if enough nicotine acid is supplied to the organism, there will be no impulse to smoke a cigarette. And the necessary dose can be delivered by green and red tomatoes. If there’s no effect, the dosage should be doubled!
Tomatoes in a ... beauty box
Nobody’s arguing today the cosmetic effect of fresh tomatoes. For instance, in order to get rid of the edemas at the end of the working day, medicine people advise to put segments of fresh tomatoes to the feet.
Mask made of mashed fresh tomatoes perfectly nourishes dry skin, especially with a pinch of starch, and penetrates the pores in case of acne. On the eve of summer holidays one should remind about the wonderful quality of fresh mashed tomatoes to even the suntan. Moreover, beauticians recommend a tomato diet before sunbathing: the suntan will “stick” better and will be more even. Besides, tomatoes render the tan a delicate pink shade.
The most delicious of tasty
With all the variety or types, tomatoes differ by content of sugar and acid. Cherry tomatoes – red or yellow – are sweet all year round. Yellow tomatoes are not so sour as red ones, but both types can be mixed in a dish for a more delicate taste and brighter look. Plum-like tomatoes are thick and fleshy, they are an ideal choice for pickling, making sauces.
Do not store tomatoes in a fridge – cold kills their flavor. Tomatoes should be stored in a fridge only if they are too ripe. In all other cases they should be stored at a room temperature away from direct sunlight so that they do not get soft. To speed up the ripening or immature tomatoes, put them in a paper bag and put an apple there.
To skin tomatoes, cut a little cross at the bottom, then pour boiling water and leave for 30-60 seconds. Then drain and put them in cold water. The skin should peel off very easily.
Tomato records
The heaviest tomato was grown in 1986 by Gordon Grem from Oklahoma, USA: it weighed 3,51 kg.
The biggest tomato bush was grown in 2000 in Lancashire county, UK. It was 19,8 m long.
Today the world production of tomatoes reaches 400 mln t a year, there are 8 mln registered trade marks of tomato-based products.
Revenge, an Indian way
Tomato is the most widely spread vegetable plant in the world. There’s little information regarding the origins of the tomato and its early history. However, the majority of the researches consider this plant to originate from mountain regions of Peru and Equador.
The history of tomato, just like most plants from the New World, is covered by legends. One of them has it, that the Maya tribe, understanding that in the end nobody will escape from the Spanish conquerors, decided to invent a dreadful and long-term revenge for them.
The oldest man suggested that they show the Europeans tobacco and teach them to smoke it: “The quiet plant will conquer the world of the pale-faced, and then their men, women and children will suffer from illnesses for centuries after our death”.
The conquerors really were attracted by the unusual dope, but while near the tobacco rows the Mayas planted delicious golden-red berries, they decided to borrow a couple of the “golden apples” – pomo de oro.
Delicious and … safe !
Can you imagine, that only 200 years ago tomatoes were considered to be poisonous! Here’s what they wrote about tomatoes in the book “The Comprehensive Gardening Guide”, published in Denmark in 1774: “Fruits are extremely harmful, as they drive those who taste them, insane”.
It is interesting, that in the North America the tomatoes were thought to be a lethal poison. There was an episode in history, when, in order to please the King of England George, his vassals wanted to poison by tomatoes the commander of the rebels in the northern states George Washington, who lived after the “poisoning” many years and became the first President of the USA.
In 1811, in Petersburg, the “Botanical Dictionary” was published, in which it was carefully stated that the tomato “although deemed a poisonous plant, is already eaten in Italy with pepper, garlic and oil, while in Portugal and Bohemia is added to sauces, remarkable for their extremely delicious a little bit sour taste”.
