5.5. Why Italians feared 🍅 tomatoes and how Heinz and 🍕 Margherita changed that - history for the future of food

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Tomatoes used to be something scary; many Italians feared tomatoes believing they were poisonous. People were killed because they ate tomatoes, especially women. Yes. It sounds absurd nowadays. But the success of the tomato was a turbulent journey that took over 300 years.

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In Germany, there is the saying, "What the farmer doesn't know, he won't eat." During the 15th century, many foods came to Europe as immigrants.

Christopher Columbus and his crew set sail west in August 1492. He hoped to get his hands on gold and spices in America. When he returned to Europe, his clients, the Spanish kings, were disappointed. Instead of gold and spices, Columbus returned with seeds, grains, tubers, and dried leaves from these four journeys.

His crew ate cooked potatoes on the way back to Europe, which saved them from scurvy. What looked so unimpressive would turn out to be crucial. These ingredients would shape Europe's eating habits for decades to come.

This is what historians call the Great Columbian Exchange.

For the first time in history, potato and tomato plants ventured beyond the Americas.

While both of these vegetables are now a basic ingredient of our diets, they didn't have such a warm welcome in Europe. People were (and still are) easily suspicious of unknown foods. The reasoning is just different. Back in the day novel foods were often associated with witchcraft and poison. But fortunately, not everything was lost. Eventually, people came around, so let's find out why.