Tomatoes are now an essential part of Italian cuisine. However, did you know that their introduction into Italian dishes is surprisingly recent?
The tomato is native to South America, particularly around Peru and Mexico. In the 16th century, during the Age of Exploration, it was brought to Europe by the Spanish (during Japan's Sengoku period, when figures like Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were active, and firearms and Christianity were introduced). Initially, tomatoes were treated as ornamental plants in Europe and were rarely used as food. The ripe red fruit was thought to be poisonous and harmful to the body due to its striking appearance.
Tomatoes were introduced to Italy around the 16th century, but they began to be widely used as food in earnest only after the 18th century (during Japan's mid-Edo period, when merchant culture flourished, and ukiyo-e and kabuki reached their peak). In southern Italy, particularly around Naples, tomatoes started to be combined with bread, pasta, and pizza among the common people, gradually becoming a staple ingredient.
In the 19th century, the creation of preserved tomato sauce (during Japan's turbulent Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration periods, when the country opened up and modernization progressed) revolutionized Italian cuisine. Tomatoes, being inexpensive, highly nutritious, and thriving under the strong sun of southern Italy, perfectly matched the local food culture.
Today, tomatoes are used in many classic Italian dishes, such as Pizza Margherita and Pasta Pomodoro. The meeting of Italian cuisine and tomatoes can truly be considered a miraculous accident.
Next time, we will introduce the story behind the creation of the iconic tomato dish, "Margherita Pizza."
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