The wondrous Wolf Peach
By tony leather, 14th Jul 2012 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutNewsOff Beat
Northern European cultures, in the middle ages, associated this plant with
poisonous members of the Solanceae family, specifically henbane, mandrake
and deadly nightshade, which bore morphological resemblance
The wondrous Wolf Peach
Are you superstitious about your food? I mean, would you cheerfully tuck
into a 'wolf peach', knowing that it was thought to have hallucinogenic
properties, and might even lead to your becoming a werewolf?
No way, you might cry, but you have probably done that very thing, thousands
of times in your life, and never given it a second thought.
Northern European cultures, in the middle ages, associated this plant with
poisonous members of the Solanceae family, specifically henbane, mandrake
and deadly nightshade, which bore morphological resemblance. Deadly
nightshade is a poisonous plant which has been used as both a hallucinogenic
drug and a beauty aid in different parts of Europe.
Wolf Peach 2
The Latin name "belladonna" literally means beautiful woman, in reference to
the practice of ladies in medieval courts who would apply a few drops of
nightshade extract to their eyes to dilate their pupils, a look considered
most fashionable at the time.
The hallucinogenic properties of the plant, comprised of visions and the
sense of flying, most likely led to the association of nightshade with
witchcraft. Of course, just because this particular food is from the same
plant family as 'Deadly Nightshade', has never put you off, though if you
were to be presented with bright yellow or purple varieties, you might think
twice before biting into them.
Wolf Peach 3
No need though, because Lycopersicon, to give it the botanical name, is also
known, variously, as pomodoro, love apple, Moor's apple, stinking golden
apple, or even amorous apple, though you will know it as the tomato, the
world, and America's favourite meal accompaniment.
Renaissance botanists, relying on Greek and Roman texts, misidentified and
miss-classified the tomato, thinking it poisonous. Their errors were copied
by popular 16th-century English herbalists, such as John Gerard, who saw no
contradiction in writing that while Spaniards and Italians ate tomatoes, the
plant was nevertheless "of ranke and stinking savour."
In fact, people were eating tomatoes well before the fruit made its way to
Europe early in the 1500s. Native to the coastal highlands of western South
America, the tomato emigrated to Central America and then to Mexico. The
Aztecs, according to a contemporary account, mixed tomatoes with chilies and
ground squash seeds, a combination that sounds suspiciously like the world's
first recipe for salsa.
Wolf Peach 4
The first cookbook to contain tomato recipes was published in Naples in
1692-but suspicion of tomatoes persisted into the 19th century in both
England and the United States. Early American colonists not only brought
tomatoes with them, but also all the popular prejudices. While a few grew
tomatoes, like Thomas Jefferson, who first mentions planting them in 1809,
they were not widely cultivated until after 1830.
Doubts about the safety of the tomato were supposedly put to rest in 1820,
when Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson announced that at noon on September 26,
he would eat a bushel of tomatoes in front of the Boston courthouse.
Thousands of eager spectators supposedly turned out, to watch the poor man
die after eating the poisonous fruits, and were shocked when he lived. The
story is probably untrue, but tomatoes began to steadily grow in popularity
after that time.
Wolf Peach5
If controversy over tomato toxicity weren't enough, debate was rife about
whether it is a vegetable or a fruit. In 1887, the question went all the way
to the U.S. Supreme Court in 'Nix v. Hedden'. The real issue was money and
protection for American growers. If tomatoes were vegetables, they could be
taxed when imported under the Tariff Act of 1883.
The Court ruled on the side of American farmers. Botanically speaking
tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans and
peas, even if, in the common language of the people, all these are
vegetables. Known as love-apples by the French, the humble tomato may have
been the real culprit that got Adam and Eve kicked out of Eden.
Fresh, ripe tomatoes are a very seductive food, and rich in the
phytochemical lycopene, which can help prevent prostate cancer. It seems
that the French coined the phrase 'love apples', associating them with
Valentine's day, though there is little doubt that sinking your teeth into a
fresh, red tomato is quite sensual, and very intimate, somehow.
OK. They came in all shapes and sizes, ranging in colour from black to
bright yellow, but the taste is always wonderful. No matter what the
ancient superstitions were, the tomato has rightly taken its place as the
number one fruit/vegetable in the world today. They contain powerful
anti-oxidants that help the immune system, and are full of vitamins.
It is quite amusing to offer dinner guests some marinated 'wolf's peach' as
a side salad, and raises a few eyebrows, but once they see what is actually
being offered, they gleefully get stuck in. Though not officially
classified as being aphrodisiac, there is something about them that gets
people going. In my book, any food that can do that has to be a big part of
my daily diet. How about you?
Comments
14th Jul 2012 (#)
Tony wonderful I heard I don't know if it is true that Henry the VIII would not allow any court members to eat tomatoes.
Best Wishes
Steve
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14th Jul 2012 (#)
That was an interesting reading about the Wolf Peach dear Tony! I am impressed to read how people were afraid of consuming tomatoes then and also the reason why Tomatoes have been categorized under the fruits! Nice article!
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