Food They Thought Was Poison

There were rules about food throughout history that we don’t think of today. There tons of foods and food preparations that were happening everyday 200 years ago that we would turn our noses up to today. On the other hand, we eat food items all the time now that folks would have been afraid to eat in the time period. Learn about the ever-dangerous TOMATO in this episode. The most dangerous food in the world!

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[PossumReviews]

It's my understanding that people thought tomatoes were poisonous because people actually did get sick from eating them, but that was because they were cooking them in copper pots. What they didn't know is that the acid in tomatoes reacts with copper and creates toxic compounds.

[josephbrown]

The tomato is a berry, which in other nightshades would be more concerning than roots or leaves. Potato berries are toxic even though the tuber is (usually) not. So even folks who had accepted eating potatoes would be leery of tomatoes.

[piscesplayer]

Good morning! I have heard the acid in tomatoes reacted with lead in the pewter plates people used and they thought tomatoes were poisonous.

[rigues]

In Brazil we have some native wild solanums (Solanum capsicoides) that look similar to a small tomato, but are EXTREMELY poisonous. One of the popular names for them is "Arrebenta Cavalo" (Horse Breaker), since a horse could die from eating them. Maybe those were mistaken for being tomatoes, and the fame spread.

[fugu]

It was exactly the same thing with potatoes in Sweden during the 18th century.
People considered it as dangerous but now a days we measure how long you can survive in a crisis based on how much potatoe you have in storage.

[natviolen]

I learned at school that people tried to eat potatoe berries in stead of the tubers when they first were introduced to Europe. People then of course got terribly ill. Due to the similarity in appearance between potatoe berries and unripe tomatoes nobody would then touch the latter either.
I don't know whether it's true, but it seems to make sense.

[Willy_Tepes]

The smell of a tomato plant is strong and it also resembles and is related to many poisonous plants already known in Europe like the Bittersweet nightshade, Belladonna, and Mandrake. Both tobacco and potato are poisonous plants even though the tuber of the potato is edible. There were several highly publicized cases of nicotine being used as a poison.
The Solanaceae family is very easy to recognize by it's flowers.
The "golden apple" probably refers to Physalis alkekengi or Alkekengi officinarum.

[TheBookOwl]

I couldn’t stand tomatoes for 35 years, and now I like them. It is weird how our tastes change over the years!!

[thebandplayedon..]

Rank smelling? Wow, tom plants are one of my absolute favorite smells of summer ❤

[theganozone]

I remember reading that people ate off of dinnerware made of lead or some alloy containing lead, the acid from the tomato would strip the lead out and cause lead poisoning.

[olddawgdreaming]

Thanks Ryan for sharing some History about the Tomato and for the great recipe you prepared. It looks delicious . Fred.

[grapicusdrinktus]

Tomatoes react with the pewter used in American/English cutlery. Pewter back then used lead in it. The tomato acid leeched out lead in a form that would make people "seem dead" similar to a wake from lead-alcohol poisoning so people thought that the tomato was poisonous.

[LaineyBug]

My favorite thing about nightshades is that any nightshade can be grafted onto a potato stalk and you can grow potatoes under them in the garden. Great space saver and way to bulk everything up with enormous amounts of potatoes. If you use the little gem potatoes with all the colors for more diverse nutrients, it's a really great scarcity method of gardening, especially when used with a 3 Sisters garden!

[TnT_FX]

I started identifying common weeds around the yard a few years back...
Turns out the berries I played with as a kid were two deadly forms of Nightshade.
Ignorance is bliss... until it kills you.

[robzinawarriorprincess]

Yay, Ryan! I'm finally off my deathbed after a week of illness, and it's so good to hear your cheerful voice. Blue Lion Coffee rules!

[cliffwoodbury]

Like always - amazing video. Watch every one you make and hope you make many more of them. Reminds me of early childhood memories at colonial era houses at tourist sites, and the music makes it as real if not more real than being there physically.

[bartsquared]

Ryan really knows how to bring these topics to life. Fantastic video!

[anophelesnow]

Second best food channel on the internet after Ordinary Sausage. I upvote every time before watching, never disappointed. Nice one, Ryan.

[gorilla_with_jetpack]

Another name for tomato from antiquity is the "Wolf Peach".

Since it's part of the poison nightshade family it can cause sickness if grown in soil with heavy Lead or Arsenic concentrations, potatoes were also considered bad during the same time period.

Oddly enough a similar thing goes for Asparagus - during crop rotation they would plant asparagus to remove heavy metals and poisonous materials from soil before planting a crop of wanted vegetables or fruit.

[ImhulluWind]

It would be easy to think that on the townsends channel you need townsend himself, but i love this host. He's such a joy to watch and we would be friends in real life. Keep being awesome.