|
|
Post by willyswoodpile on Feb 9, 2011 18:14:45 GMT -5
Why is the U.S. [maybe the world] only accustomed to red tomatoes...and a maybe a small minority of those like or talk about green ones?
I mean, you go into a grocery store and you see only red tomatoes; once in a while some green ones. But never black/purple, pink, yellow or orange.
Is it possible, if one believes that all tomatoes originated from one set of parents i.e. God created Adam & Eve so all humans sprang from this first pair--God created the first "pair" of tomatoes so all tomatoes sprang from these first parents, that the very first tomatoes were Red? Thereby the dominant color is red?
Is there any literature out there about the history of the tomato? And if there is is it a default positions to assume that they are always talking about reds?
|
|
|
|
Post by dogwoman on Feb 9, 2011 18:17:38 GMT -5
|
|
grunt
Breeder in Training
Posts: 160
|
Post by grunt on Feb 9, 2011 18:32:26 GMT -5
Actually the first tomatoes taken back to Europe were yellow.
|
|
|
|
Post by darthslater on Feb 9, 2011 18:42:51 GMT -5
Its been a struggle for P.K.S to break that mold, but we are gaining ground every year. Now they want our different tomatoes
Specialty resteraunts are the people we target.
I have offered alot of tomatoes for tasting.
It is suprising what a Cherokee purple can do!
Darker tomatoes are really popular now along with the stripes.
We are even getting alot of requests for green when ripe.
|
|
|
|
Post by willyswoodpile on Feb 9, 2011 19:09:14 GMT -5
Actually the first tomatoes taken back to Europe were yellow. It says that the first "wild" ones were green. Then, at an unknown domestication time, they were yellow or gold. Very interesting, yet at the same time I am surprised at the lack of information, provenance. |
|
|
|
Post by willyswoodpile on Feb 9, 2011 19:21:18 GMT -5
Its been a struggle for P.K.S to break that mold, but we are gaining ground every year. Now they want our different tomatoes Specialty resteraunts are the people we target. I have offered alot of tomatoes for tasting. It is suprising what a Cherokee purple can do! Darker tomatoes are really popular now along with the stripes. We are even getting alot of requests for green when ripe. Well you sure have broken my mold. And your variety-of-color display is very intriguing...and mouth-watering. |
|
|
|
Post by willyswoodpile on Feb 9, 2011 21:37:48 GMT -5
If you want to read an exhaustive scientific review of the history the tomato being introduced to Europe see:
McCue, G.A. 1952 The History and use of the tomato: an annotated bibliography. Ann. of the Missouri Botanical Garden 39 289-348.
It's hard to get a handle on exactly where in Central America or South America (Mexico or Peru) the tomatoes that were introduced to Europe originated. It's also hard to tell exactly when, where or even what color(s) arrived in Europe. There are several texts from different collectors/botantists from around 1540-1580 that note or have drawings. Yellow is presumed based on the earliest mention in text (Italy1544) that said gold in color. However, the same author also notes in later work gold and red. Another collector in Germany (1553) noted both red and yellow fruits. Another German text from 1561 notes red, yellow and white. Though most mention fasciated segmented fruits there was also some variability noted for shape (smooth round). Some early text suggested "Cherry" tomatoes arrived with the others. Another source suggested cherry tomatoes did not arrive in Europe until about 1625. So it's possible a range of fruits types and colors were introduced after the conquest of Mexico City (1519) and/or the conquest of Peru (1531). That could also mean that several sources as well as several types arrived in Europe before 1540. Unless new documents are discovered we may never know. There is also some psychology to color preferences by consumers and cultures. I have witnessed "group think" involved in preferences. Ever been told by someone a tomato "is not supposed to look like that" when introducing a "black" or even a yellow? If you would have shown me a black/purple, pink, white, or brown tomato a few years ago; I would have dismissed them out of hand. Today I cannot wait to try them. |
|
|
|
Post by littleminnie on Feb 9, 2011 22:41:04 GMT -5
I thought it was to match the Italian flag colors. They prefered red sauce. Maybe I am getting that mixed up with the Dutch making all carrots orange to match their flag colors.
|
|
tomato
Tomato Gardener
Posts: 58
|
Post by tomato on Feb 9, 2011 23:48:05 GMT -5
If you go back to the genetics, the original tomatoes were green. It is only in the diaspora from the primogenitors that you see the colors show up. Yellow and red and blue from carotenes, lycopene, and anthocyanin and even a few odder colors. Ever seen a Zeigler's Fleisch? (translates as Bricklayer's Skin).
Tomato
|
|
|
|
Post by reubent on Feb 10, 2011 20:25:05 GMT -5
I saw a commercial crop of yellow tomatoes in MI some years ago. And I have seen them in stores on rare occasions. But never the other colors. I have several colors and combinations to try this year, maybe I can find out which one sells better if they're all lined up on a display wagon.
I have heard of the opinion that all tomatoes are supposed to be red, but I assume such opinion originates from the ignorant and uninformed.
|
|
tz
Tomato Gardener
Posts: 73
|
Post by tz on Feb 10, 2011 20:52:45 GMT -5
Why the world likes red tomatoes probably has more to do with marketing than anything else, IMO. Red tomateos were less likely to split (better shipping, shelf life etc. Livingstones's varieties became very popular for "perfect" looks (most were red) so they, and those like them flooded the market. Soon people were unused to other colors. www.archive.org/details/livingstontomato00livi |
|
|
|
Post by willyswoodpile on Feb 10, 2011 21:01:11 GMT -5
If you go back to the genetics, the original tomatoes were green. It is only in the diaspora from the primogenitors that you see the colors show up. Yellow and red and blue from carotenes, lycopene, and anthocyanin and even a few odder colors. Ever seen a Zeigler's Fleisch? (translates as Bricklayer's Skin). Tomato I have never seen a Zeigler's Fleisch. I found that it is a Large Red from Austria: Indet. Any pictures? |
|
|
|
Post by blane on Feb 10, 2011 22:00:32 GMT -5
Alot of folks that are used to seeing a red tomato, know just that.
When they see a purple...(which looks more like a mohogany color)...they think its rotten.
Like Darth has mentioned before....It takes time, and you really need to give folks a "Blind Taste" test...
Im gona have this problem this year too, selling all the different colors to people down here...
However, I plan to to have my Taste testing table set up at my local grocier....Word shall get around!
|
|
|
|
Post by rintintin on Feb 10, 2011 23:22:44 GMT -5
Here is a drawing by Hans-Simon Holtzbecker dating from 1649-1659  By seattle_john at 2011-01-25 |
|
jcm05
Administrator
Posts: 1,685
|
Post by jcm05 on Feb 11, 2011 10:57:14 GMT -5
Why the world likes red tomatoes probably has more to do with marketing than anything else, IMO. Red tomateos were less likely to split (better shipping, shelf life etc. Livingstones's varieties became very popular for "perfect" looks (most were red) so they, and those like them flooded the market. Soon people were unused to other colors. I agree with much of this. However I think there is more to it than just marketing. Most supermarket hybrids are red for a reason. Red flesh and yellow skin color are the dominant traits. Nowadays colors other than red have become more commonplace but people have just become so used to red that growers risk losing sales if colored hybrids are bred. |
|
