On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 482

tomatoes were fruits, and so under the
regulations of the time, not subject to import
fees. The customs agent ruled that tomatoes
were vegetables and imposed a duty. A
majority of the Supreme Court decided that
tomatoeswere“usuallyservedatadinnerin,
with, or after the soup, fish, or meat, which
constitutetheprincipalpartoftherepast,and
not, like fruits, generally as dessert.” Ergo
tomatoes were vegetables, and the importer
hadtopay.
The Key Distinction: Flavor Why do we
customarilypreparevegetablesassidedishes
to the main course, and make fruits the
centerpiece of the meal’s climax? Culinary
fruits are distinguished from vegetables by
one important characteristic: they’re among
thefewthingsweeatthatwe’remeanttoeat.
Many plants have engineered their fruits to
appeal to the animal senses, so that animals
will eat them and disperse the seeds within.


Thesefruitsarethenaturalworld’ssoftdrinks
and candies, flashily packaged in bright
colors, and test-marketed through millions of
yearsofnaturalselection.Theytendtohavea
highsugarcontent,tosatisfytheinnateliking
for sweetness shared by all animals. They
haveapronouncedandcomplexaroma,which
may involve several hundred different

chemicals, far more than any other natural
ingredient.And they soften themselves to an
appealingly tender, moist consistency. By
contrast, the plant foods that we treat as
vegetables remain firm, have either a very
mildflavor—greenbeansandpotatoes—or
else an excessively strong one — onions and
cabbage — and therefore require the craft of
thecooktomakethempalatable.
Theverywordsfruitandvegetablereflect
thesedifferences.Vegetablecomesfromthe
Latinverbvegere,meaningtoinvigorateor
enliven.Fruit,ontheotherhand,comesfrom
Latinfructus,whoseclusterofrelated