The Tomato in America: Early History, Culture, and Cookery [Paperback]

Did you think that tomatoes were not in this country before the 1880s? And did you think that this was because they were considered to be poisonous or aphrodisiacal? Since 1987, writer and lecturer Smith has been researching references to tomatoes. After examining 50,000 sources, which he says does not by any means exhaust the material, Smith traces the history of this most popular fruit/vegetable-one that is now grown by more home gardeners in this country than any other food. The evidence he presents, drawn from newspapers, letters, diaries, and cookbooks, refutes the popular myths and supports his thesis that the tomato was cultivated for culinary and medicinal uses from early Colonial times and was introduced to the American colonies on numerous separate occasions. Smith also includes a selection of recipes from early cookbooks and magazines. Chapters are supported by extensive references. The book concludes with a classified bibliography and a list of heirloom seed sources and tomato organizations. While lacking the narrative appeal and readability of other books about individual plants, this is a thorough and useful reference, making available masses of material not otherwise available. (Index not seen.)-Carol Cubberley, Univ. of Southern Mississippi
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

"Finally, a reliable work on the history of the tomato in America! The author, a thorough researcher and delightful writer, presents facts with authority and myths with exposure... The definitive study on the subject." -- John F. Swenson, Chicago Botanic Garden "Andrew F. Smith easily qualifies as the major-domo of tomato history." -- Chicago Tribune "At last, at long last, the true history of the tomato in the United States is being told." -- Karen Hess, Food Heritage Press "Smith's work is fascinating reading... This volume immerses us in tomato lore and whets our appetite for a juicy bite of that scarlet fruit." -- Wilson Library Bulletin "A thorough and useful reference, making available masses of material not otherwise available." -- Library Journal

From the Americas to Australasia, from northern Europe to southern Africa, the tomato tickles the world's taste buds. Americans along devour more than twelve million tons annually of this peculiar fruit, variously considered poisonous, curative, and aphrodisiacal. In this first concerted study of the tomato in America, Andrew F. Smith separates myth from historical fact, beginning with the Salem, New Jersey, man who, in 1820, allegedly attracted spectators from hundreds of miles to watch him eat a tomato on the courthouse steps (the legend says they expected to see him die a painful death). Later, hucksters such as Dr. John Cook Bennett and the Amazing Archibald Miles peddled the tomato's purported medicinal benefits. The competition was so fierce that the Tomato Pill War broke out in 1838. "The Tomato in America" traces the early cultivation of the tomato, its infiltration of American cooking practices, the early manufacture of preserved tomatoes and ketchup (soon hailed as "the national condiment of the United States"), and the "great tomato mania" of the 1820s and 1830s. The book also includes tomato recipes from the pre-Civil War period, covering everything from sauces, soups, and main dishes to desserts and sweets. Now available for the first time in paperback, "The Tomato in America" provides a piquant and entertaining look at a versatile and storied figure in culinary history.