Part 2/9:

The saga of the tomato intertwines with the history of colonization, which has shaped many of the quintessential foods we associate with Europe today. Just as fine Belgian chocolates and Irish potatoes came to the continent through colonization, so too did tomatoes, making their triumphant entrance into Italian cuisine.

The history of this vibrant fruit begins in the Americas, specifically in the Andean regions of present-day Peru and Ecuador. It was here that wild tomato plants thrived for over a millennium. Farmers across South America, Central America, and Mexico cultivated and perfected these fruits through selective breeding. By around 700 CE, the Aztecs had already embraced the tomatl — as it was known in their native Nahuatl language — as an integral part of their culinary heritage.