Tomatoes & Hernando Cortez
It is thought that sometime in the mid-1500’s, Spanish conquistador (who conquered the Aztec empire), returned to the Old World from Mexico and brought with him a small, fleshy, yellow sphere-shaped fruit which Italians named the pomo d’oro (golden apple). In the course of the next two hundred years, thanks to the magical Italian soil, cherry-like fruits evolved into larger, lusher, ruby colored tomatoes, much juicier and sweeter than their ancestors. Now the tomato, or pomodoro, is a key ingredient in Italian dishes. They may be served stuffed with rice and beans, sliced and alternated with slices of mozzarella for a nice antipasto, or pureed and seasoned for use as tomato sauce over pasta.
