Homegrown Tomatoes
A Reason To Smile
Among the great joys of the season is a homegrown tomato. It’s tempting to call it a simple pleasure, but there is nothing simple about the delectable dance of flavor and texture.
In the sweltering heat of this summer, a line from an old favorite song by the late Texas country/folk singer/songwriter (and luthier) Guy Clark lingers in mind:
Only two things money can’t buy
That’s true love and homegrown tomatoes
This truth comes from an ode Clark composed to the marvelous fruit, aptly titled “Homegrown Tomatoes.” What more needs to be said?
One of nature’s most precious gifts, the tomato has an interesting history. It is a beloved ingredient in food around the world, but it is actually native to Central and South America. (The word “tomato” comes from a Spanish version of its Aztec name.) So that means that before the so-called “Age of Exploration,” there was no red sauce in Italy, no gazpacho in Spain, and no shakshuka in North Africa. Greeks probably had salads, but they were missing a key ingredient of their modern form.
Even when tomatoes were introduced to Europe, they didn’t exactly sweep the continent in glory. They were primarily grown as ornamental plants, prized for their beauty. For centuries they were actually considered dangerous, known as “poison apples” because aristocrats who ate them sometimes got sick and died. It was likely the acidity of the tomato leaching lead out of pewter plates that was to blame.
In the end, you can’t keep a great ingredient down, and tomatoes have taken their rightful place as a revered food, although one sometimes misunderstood. They are, of course, a fruit, with seeds and all. But they have been mislabeled often. Some of the confusion could be blamed on the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously in an 1893 tariff case that tomatoes are vegetables:
Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas. But in the common language of the people, whether sellers or consumers of provisions, all these are vegetables which are grown in kitchen gardens, and which, whether eaten cooked or raw, are, like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, and lettuce, usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup, fish, or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert.
The truth is, you can eat tomatoes any way you please. And maybe one thing in these divisive times on which we can all agree is that homegrown tomatoes are “A Reason To Smile.”
As Guy Clark says in his song:
If I’s to change this life that I lead
I’d be Johnny tomato seed
Cause I know what this country needs
Homegrown tomatoes in every yard you see
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My dad was well known for growing delicious tomatoes as well as an abundance of produce that kept his family well fed year round and neighbors gifted with the excess. As he aged his bum knee and failing heart restricted his gardening but he just planted his beloved tomato plants in the flower bed just outside the back door. April of 1995 he planted them early and not on Good Friday as was his usual custom because of a scheduled medical procedure. The procedure was done, he was discharged home in good spirits. On Easter Sunday night he went to bed and took his final breath at age 85. But his tomatoes grew and produced. The last one was ceremoniously eaten in August and though delicious it brought full knowledge that we had tasted the last of his handiwork which brought him much pride.
I’m a biology teacher, and every year I have to have this discussion with my freshmen - botanically speaking, a fruit is the ripened ovary of the flower containing the seeds, whereas in culinary terms, “fruit” and “vegetable” have more to do with the sweetness of the flavor and how we use it in cooking. Either way, this Texas girl is with you, Dan - homegrown tomatoes are the best! If I wasn’t the only one in my family who would eat them, and if my thumb were green rather than brown, I’d be growing them myself! My favorite summer lunch when I was a kid and my grandmother was living with us was fresh sliced homegrown tomatoes from my dad’s garden and Grannie’s hot water cornbread, hot from the skillet with butter. My mouth still waters at the memory!