By Michelle Fabio

We talked about the origins of the Bloody Mary in Part 1, but now it’s time to get down to the good stuff—the recipe.

Here is a basic Bloody Mary (and remember, you can even make your own tomato juice!):

• 3 parts top-quality tomato juice
• 3 parts top-shelf vodka, depending on strength of drink
• 1 teaspoon horseradish
• 6 shakes Tabasco Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• Juice of ½ lemon or lime
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (preferably sea salt)
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or cayenne pepper
• Celery stalk
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By Michelle Fabio

Now that Halloween is approaching, perhaps you’re thinking about the perfect drink to serve at your party.

Although a Bloody Mary is traditionally served in the morning, there’s no reason you can’t turn this creepily-named and colored mixture into a ghoulish evening pleasure as well.

Before we get to the recipes though, let’s talk history.

The origins of the Bloody Mary are disputed, but there are two main contenders.

The first, and the one accepted by TABASCO®, is that the drink was invented by Fernand Petoit, a bartender at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris in the 1920s. He mixed tomato juice and vodka and said that “one of the boys suggested we call the drink ‘Bloody Mary’ because it reminded him of the Bucket of Blood Club in Chicago, and a girl there named Mary.” Some say, though, that the rich, red cocktail was named for Bloody Mary herself, Queen Mary I, persecutor of Protestants.
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By Michelle Fabio

If you want to impress someone (including yourself) with the best pasta sauce, San Marzano tomatoes are the way to go.

They are a type of plum tomato that grow in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius in the region of Campania, Italy and benefit from the rich, fertile volcanic soil. They are generally thinner and pointier than the Roma tomato, and have a stronger, less sweet, less acidic taste.
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By Michelle Fabio

In the English language, we know our favorite fruit as a tomato, but the Italians call it something completely different: “il pomodoro.” Doesn’t it just roll off your tongue?

But where does that name come from?

First we need to go back to the beginning. Although tomatoes are a relatively new addition to the dinner table, the Italians were some of the first to regularly use (and love) these strange fruits brought from The New World to Europe–the English and Americans still thought they were poisonous for another couple hundred years.

And so it is only fitting that the Italian name for the tomato reflects its golden status in the culture’s cuisine. One theory is that the reference to “oro” (gold) comes from the color of those early tomato skins or from the verb “adorare” (to adore).
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By Michelle Fabio

It’s one of America’s greatest treasures, immortalized by Pop Art icon Andy Warhol in the 1960s, and enjoyed by countless children (and adults) alongside grilled cheese sandwiches every day.

We’re talking about tomato soup.

Although an Internet search will come up with hundreds of different recipes and variations from “bisque” to “gazpacho” to “cream of”, the one that many of us could probably pick out of a taste test was the idea of a 24-year-old European chemist—in 1897.
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By Danny Thompson

Here’s an interesting thought that stuck me just the other day.

The tomato was introduced to Europe in the 15th century, taking hold especially in Italy before spreading throughout the continent.

It just so happens that something else interesting began in Italy in the 15th century and spread throughout Europe - The Renaissance.

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