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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By Danny Thompson

My ancestry is 75% Irish and 25% British.

I have to like potatoes and black-eyed peas and leeks, or my family will disown me.

Shame will follow my children’s’ children through eternity.

Irish and British food is hearty and rib-sticking (it has to be, the islands are damp, cold, miserable places to live—at least they were up until the advent of modern indoor climate control systems).

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By Danny Thompson

Imagine, a single genetic line guarded closely, it’s secret passed quietly from generation to generation while the masses are blissfully unaware of the simple yet profound truth.

No, it’s not a best-selling novel or blockbuster movie.

It’s the history of the Heirloom Tomato.

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