Xitomatl is the Aztec name for tomatoes, who originated, it is believed, in Peru. The translation can be found in today’s title. And if you still wonder whether they are vegetable or fruit, all I can say it depends who you ask. Botanists will tell you they are a fruit, since they are sacs containing seeds.

A legal scholar, on the other hand, will point you to Nix vs. Hedden (1893) http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/149/304.html a Supreme Court decision that classified the plump things with navels as vegetables. (As so often, the case was ultimately about money – avoiding tariffs on imported vegetables.) The court ruled according to function: we eat tomatoes in salads, soups and main courses, NOT dessert…… (if it is a really clever legal scholar s/he will hasten to point you to Robertson vs Salomon (1883) as well. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/130/412/case.html Here the Court decided beans were not vegetables but seeds. Oh the glory of our Supremes….

The only things Americans eat more of than tomatoes are potatoes, lettuce and onions. However, 3/4 of our tomato consumption happens in processed form, ketch-up or salsa and sauces. I happen to be one of those who like to slather ketch-up on her spaghetti. However, I can only do that when I eat alone, or the screams of disgust and protest by my loved ones would result in premature deafness. Mostly I like to photograph tomatoes, all kinds and all stages.

Luis Melendes, Still Life with Tomatoes, 1780