THE LOVE APPLE – Taos, New Mexico
If the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century had had its way, the tomato might not be a ubiquitous ingredient in the cooking of many cultures today. So, just what is it about the seemingly innocuous tomato that once earned it a scurrilous reputation in the Church, the type of reputation which made it the Paris Hilton of the nightshade family? Brought to Europe by the Spanish conquistadors, it was initially viewed with apprehension, thought not to be edible but purely decorative–and poisonous. Leave it to the French to change that perception by ascribing aphrodisiac properties to what they called pomme d’amour or love apple. This prompted the Roman Catholic Church of the time to declare the tomato the “fruit of the devil,” a sinful indulgence. >The scandalous tomato, its sensuous red color and sweet-tangy flesh spurting with red juiciness, was even believed to be the fruit Eve offered to Adam. Because of its role in original sin, the Church believed the tomato to have been cast off to the furthest reaches of man (the new world), where it could no longer be the tempting source of transgression (sins of the flesh). Leave it to the Spanish explorers to…