Tomatoes are actually a type of berry, and were called “love apples’ in the 16th century. Varieties include baby plum, beef-steak, cherry, plum, vine, vine, and yellow cherry.

Equally delicious raw or cooked, tomatoes are low in calories and rich in vitamins and other healthful substances. One medium-size ripe tomato contains only 26 calories, together with about 23 mg of vitamin C and 20 mcg of folate.

Tomatoes, like potatoes, sweet peppers, and eggplants, belong to the nightshade family. Brought to Europe from Central America by the Spanish during the 16th century, tomatoes were grown as decorative plants in northern Europe, where it was feared that the poisons in the leaves might be present in the fruit as well. Colonists emigrating from that area imported this misconception to the New World. Meanwhile, the Spanish and Italians discovered that tomatoes were indeed edible, and as they immigrated to North America, they brought their taste for tomatoes with them. Today, the tomato is one of the world’s leading vegetable crops, although botanically the tomato is a fruit.