When Mr. Basil Got Hitched to Mrs. Tomato

At some point in the hazy past, a marriage occurred between two unlikely denizens of the soil. My friend the basil plant somehow managed to win the affection of the beautiful tomato, a fruit that was at once time thought to be deadly.

Basil came on the scene relatively early in this history of man. It was first noted in India over two thousand years ago where the seeds soon spread to places like Egypt where it was used as one of the embalming herbs in mummies. In ancient Greece it was thought as a cure for the bite of a dragon called a basilisk and so perhaps that’s where it got is modern name.

The tomato, on the other hand is thought to be native to North America. The first records of its appearance were in Aztec records dating about 700 A.D. It got introduced to Europeans in the 1500’s and became an accepted addition to southern European tables from that time on. However, in the northern part of Europe, the wealthy thought it to be poisonous for two reasons; one, it resembled the wolf peach and two, by the effect it had on flatware. Let me explain a bit more about that. It seems that well to do people in that time used flatware made of pewter, which has a high-lead content. Foods high in acid, like tomatoes, would cause the lead to leech out into the food, resulting in lead poisoning and death. Poor people, who ate off of plates made of wood, did not have that problem, and hence did not have an aversion to tomatoes. The first written mention of the tomato in Italy was in 1544; it was often fried and eaten with salt and pepper. This is essentially the reason why tomatoes were only eaten by poor people until the 1800's, especially Italians. Gee could pizza be far behind?

The answer to that question is yes, exactly! What changed in at that point in history was the mass immigration from Europe to America. With this movement came a large blending of cultures. Many Italian-Americans ate tomatoes and brought that food with them. But also, and perhaps equally as important, was the invention of pizza. There is no pizza without tomato sauce, and pizza was invented around Naples in the late 1880's. And so the love affair with the tomato began.

Only in recent times was it discovered that when you bring basil together with sliced tomatoes or in sauces you have two flavors that were just made for each other. So, there you have it. The story of a beautiful, if poisonous lady who married a dragon slayer. A tale for the ages.