How Tomatoes Went From A Wild Andean Berry To The World’s Most Consumed Vegetable
Updated March 25, 2026 The history of tomatoes is a five-century story of suspicion, trade, and cultural accident that moved a small Andean berry into every kitchen on Earth. In 1544, Italian botanist Pietro Andrea Mattioli described the tomato as edible but added nothing more. Two centuries later, southern Europe could not cook without it….