Love Apples, who eats 'em

[bnail]

And to squelch you would-be Seinfelds out there, I'm not talking Horse apples! :huh:
Given the mystique surrounding tomatoes in the eighteenth century, I maintain that people who are truly trying to get into the heart and soul of any eighteenth century character would avoid this food. I've done a bit a reading on it, and it appears (to me anyway) that Tomatoes are a food most would have avoided. There is evidence that it was eaten by some, and Kenneth Roberts has a wonderful scenario of how it could occure. In one of his novels, a sea captain introduces Tomatoes to his family as a delicasy (he has a tasty New England recipe for katchup in the story).
I used to dry my tomatoes and include them with my soup stock for the trail because they really flesh out a soup, but not anymore; I've come to my senses! :thumbsup: This new fangled fad is gonna get someone poisoned!

 

[hawkeye2]

Growing up in Maine starting 60 years ago I had a friend whose father swore tomatoes were poison and wouldn't eat them. If I remember the story someone stood on the steps of the town hall and ate a tomato in front of a crowd who thought he was crazy and surely would die (Philadelphia? Circa 1820?). If you are doing a pre 1800 impression tomatoes shouldn't be included in your diet and you might want to leave them out of any pre 1840's meals. The Colonies weren't exactly "Yuppieville" and fads didn't spread like wildfire. One can still find people clinging to old beliefs here in rural Virginia. An interesting scenario at a living history event would be to stomp some tomatoes underfoot while berating the cook for "Trying to kill us all" Keep your eyes peeled for a copy of "Good Maine Food", Marjorie Mosser, 1939, w/notes by Keneth Roberts, contains many of his favorite recipes

 

[bnail]

I remember Mosser's book, I've never seen a copy of it, but I do remember reading about it.
And I realized a way that Tomatoes are poisonous, if you cook 'em up in an unlined copper kettle, your asking for pure trouble.

 

[3 stinky dogs]

When I lived in Tn. A frend would tak vacation and make Moon Shine and I would get quart for free because he was a frend and he beleved that it kept his karma in good shape.Any way I found that when I put it in a stainless flask it would get a funney tast and I would need to dump it out.Is this what happens to Tomato's if you cook them in an unlined copper pot ?

 

[bnail]

Maybe, the acids in the tomatoes leach out the copper sulfates and you end up poisoning yourself. any acidic food will leach out the sulfates. I think that's the same reason you're not supposed to take from copper vessels with the verdigris (green oxidation) present.

 

[hawkeye2]

I should have included this info in my previous post: "Good Maine Food" by Marjorie Mosser with an introduction and notes by Kenneth Roberts, 1939, 1947, 1974. ISBN 0-89272-038-7, Down East Books, Camden, Maine. You are probably right about the acidity of tomatos causing problems with copper and the lead bearing pewter plates and flatware of the period.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

I get reactions to the acid in mayders, oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit (thank God) and pineapples.

So I cant eat them, any where, not here, not far, not in a camp, nor a car.

 

[graybeard]

I read once about an old-timer who insisted that tomatoes were "love apples" and that they were poison. He contended that nearly everyone who dies gets that way from eating love apples and doesn't know it. Who knows? Maybe he's right. After all, we live in an age where highly advertised medicines can kill us. :boohoo: graybeard

 

[redwing]

History doesn't seem to refer to them{tomatoes} until after the Civil War. Except in the the SW where they were eaten for a very long time.
Catsup was developed as a medicine for diahrea for Union troops. The habit of putting the stuff on food carried on after the war.
It seems in the NE they were grown as flower in gardens. Some one ate a tomatoe in front of a big gathering and everyone waited around to see him die.

Redwing :m2c:

 

[shmrck1]

redwing,
Not real sure how we ever got the name but
there are signs declaring "Reynoldsburg---Birthplace of the Tomatoe" We even have a Tomatoe Festival. I've lived
here almost 30years and the only explanation i have heard
as to why we are the birthplace is as follows. Years ago a
local Dr of the time and i believe he was a DVM(vet)
developed and introduced a tomatoe that he had developed.
Don't know if its true, just a version that i have heard.
I have also heard that it was a local farmer named
Livingston that developed it and that this occured around
the 1870's.
I do know that Reynoldsburg has quite a history
as it was on the old national road, which is now US route
40.
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[redwing]

I don't know where they came from . I think South America but I don't know if wild ones grew in N. America much before the 1850s.
I do know that troops from the Mexican War 1840s, brought back Chili so they they may have brought back the Tomatoes.
You know GIs, you bring home anything you can carry.

:redthumb:

 

[Pittsburghunter]

The sad truth is everyone who has eaten apples and tomatos has eventually died. Same can be said for corn, wheat and beef as well. Face it we are screwed we will end up dead no matter what we eat but we will be dead a lot sooner if we don't eat so I say Bon apet-- heck with that eat up brothers!! ::

 

[redwing]

I checked the history of the Tomatoe. Looks like they came from Italy. The Brits brought them to the New World. I think around 1700. They were grown as flowers. Most thought they would cause "Brain Fever' due to the high acid content. It seems they were first grown in NJ.

:redthumb:
REDWING