A LOT OF TOMATOES, REBELLION IN THE GARDEN BY SOBREMESA MAGAZINE

2024/09/24

The popularity of the tomato as a food vegetable present in all kinds of markets in the four corners of the world can hardly be compared to that of the potato. And curiously, like the latter, it also has its origins in American lands. It was in Mexico, where it was cultivated by the Aztecs, that it was discovered by the Spanish and Italians who brought it to Europe, although its origin must be placed in the Andean lands of present-day Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia.

The conquest of Europe

Its incorporation into the European diet was slow, uneven and laborious, surrounded by caution and misgivings, perhaps due to the dedication to medicinal uses with which it was associated in the first centuries of its presence in the old continent, probably due to kinship with other plants of the Solanaceae family such as mandrake, belladonna or henbane, producers of toxic alkaloids. It was not until the incorporation into Mediterranean cuisine (Italian and Spanish, above all), already at the end of the 18th century, of sauces and soups made with this fruit-vegetable that not only eliminated any suspicion but also discovered the multiple and varied culinary and food applications of the tomato fruit, which since then did nothing but spread throughout the rest of the world, both for consumption raw and in different forms of cooking and diverse culinary preparations and, later, also preserved and semi-preserved.

The great popularity and familiarity with which it is found on all tables and kitchens, especially in the Mediterranean cultural sphere, has probably caused a certain trivialization and unconscious disdain in its gastronomic consideration (and again the comparison with potatoes seems inevitable) so that the consideration of the quality of its attributes, so familiar, was taken for granted, without devoting greater efforts to its improvement and selection. Only when the inevitable globalization of its consumption and the consequent industrialization of its wholesale cultivation seemed to impose a standardized product lacking the flavors and aromas so deeply rooted in our generational memory, a dull and growing protest from consumers set off the alarm bells in the face of the gustatory depreciation of the product.

The consumer rebellion

As in the case of wine or oils, we did not realize the treasure we had until we lost it. Those home gardens in our village (when we all had a village) with those traditional tomatoes (of which we were unaware of the variety, type and affiliation), rich in aroma and full of flavor, became history and what we found in the fruit shop or the supermarket excited our appetite less and less. Whether due to the demand of the most demanding segments of consumers, or due to the expansion of the range of possibilities that the agricultural revolution has promoted in the methods of cultivation and in the selection of seeds and plants, the fact is that for some time now we have found ourselves with the pleasant surprise of a variety of types, shapes, colors, sizes and appearances on the counters that, that is what is important, correspond to a suggestive diversity of nuances of aroma, flavor and texture, which adapt in a versatile way not only to the whims of taste but to multiple possibilities of gastronomic combination.

For all tastes

This tomato revolution has reached neighbourhood fruit shops, markets and large supermarkets with force. Thus we find the famous Raf, of overwhelming commercial success, a lucky product of artificial selection in industrialised greenhouse crops, based on the traditional Muchamiel, to better resist certain pests in certain forced climatic conditions (Raf is the acronym for Fusarium Resistant); the Cherry or Cereza, previously popular in the Canary Islands; the characteristic Pera, of great production for sauces and purees due to its abundant pulp; the en Rama or Ramillete, of medium size and very tasty for salads, among the most common. These are classifications more for home use than for clearly identifying the product, but they serve to clear the field. In Spain, local produce is still preferred, whether from Almería, the Huerta Murcia, certain regions of Valencia or Mallorca, Rioja or Navarra, over those that arrive from the import of exogenous crops, perhaps cheaper at source but more standardized in their properties.

A seal of distinction

It is paradoxical that, as we indicated above, this emergence of diversity is, to a large extent, an achievement of the advances in industrialized and greenhouse crops, which have also managed to overcome the seasonality of consumption, since with products of one type or another they supply the market practically for twelve months of the year, by managing to make the natural vegetative cycles more flexible. However, an alternative offer is still alive, which respects the traditional methods and rhythms of the Mediterranean garden, adapted to the current demands of the market. These are the organic gardens that reject non-organic fertilizers and techniques and obtain products with the green seal, and with the genuine nutritional and taste attributes of a natural process without industrial additives.

Nutritional properties of tomatoes

Although its health-giving properties are not as miraculous as its Aztec or Mayan cultivators predicted, the tomato fruit-vegetable, although low in energy (less than 20 calories/100 g), does provide numerous vitamins, minerals and microelements that are essential for a healthy diet and even for combating a wide variety of deficiencies in the human body.

It is an interesting source of fiber, minerals such as potassium and phosphorus and vitamins such as C, E, provitamin A and other B vitamins, such as B1, niacin or B3.

Its high content of vitamins C (26.6 mg/100 g) and E (0.9 mg/100 g) and the presence of carotenes such as lipotene (natural red pigment) make tomatoes an important source of antioxidants. Vitamin C also plays an important role in the formation of collagen, the regeneration of red blood cells and the protection of bones and teeth. It promotes the absorption of iron from food and increases resistance to infections.

Vitamin A, also present in tomatoes, is essential for vision, helps maintain healthy skin and hair, and contributes to the proper functioning of the immune system.

Niacin or vitamin B3 promotes the functioning of the digestive system, the nervous system and the metabolism of food to generate energy.

Signed by Sobremesa Magazine

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