Tomatoes have become a staple fruit in many cuisines since their introduction to Europe in the mid 1500's. Originally, the tomato grew wild in the foothills of Peruvian highlands in South America, and was transported north to Mexico for cultivation in ca. 500 BCE. The family Solanaceae (which also includes potatoes, eggplant, peppers, tobacco, and nightshade) has a well-documented natural history, and amazingly the origin of the group is nearly exactly the time of the extinction of the dinosaurs, 66-65 million years ago.

Eudicots; Solanales; Solanaceae; Solanum lycopersicum

It's hard to imagine Italian food without tomatoes, and yet the first recorded evidence of tomatoes in the Old World was in 1544. At first, intellectuals scorned the fruit; as a member of the nightshade family (and having the characteristic peppery smell of the plant), they were believed to be poisonous. Since then, nearly 7500 varieties have been cultivated, from the small cherry tomato (likely the size of the ancestral fruit) to the beefsteak tomato 4 inches across. The word "tomato" comes from the Central Mexican language Nahuatl, where the fruit is called tomatl. The specific name lycopersicum means "wolf-peach", as they are a major food source for wild South American canids. Easy to grow and notorious for outproducing the needs of the gardener, tomatoes have become a major world crop, with over a billion tons produced annually. Technically classified as a berry, the tomato has also been adopted into non-eating activities, such as non-lethal protests: since the early 19th century, tomatoes (rotten or otherwise) have been thrown to boo performers off stage, and an annual celebration of La Tomatina in Spain is centered around a city-wide tomato fight.