Everyone has heard this contradictory question, and everyone has an opinion on it. Is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Scientists and chefs have differing opinions on this, and before the 19th century, it had just been thought of as a vegetable. Before then, scientists had never thought to explore the possibility that it could be a fruit. But, botanists started classifying specifics, and discovered fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower, and have seeds within the plant. Tomatoes do fit into this category. According to Oxford Dictionary, the confusion surrounding a tomato’s classification stems in its usage in the culinary field. The tomato is not used in sweet cooking, but rather in savoury cooking, and because of this, sometimes cooks refer to tomatoes as vegetables.
Another reason the tomato is confused as a vegetable stems from a decision made in 1886 in the supreme court. There was a tax implemented on tomatoes, and it was called “foreign vegetables.” A large load of West Indian tomatoes had been sent to the New York ports. And, according to national geographic, a botanist stepped into the situation and objected to the name, arguing the point that the tomatoes were not a vegetable. He had the idea that since the tomato was a fruit scientifically speaking, they shouldn’t have the tax on them at all.
When the case finally landed in the supreme court, the justice decided in favor of the defendant. The justice had the thought that the tomato was used in the kitchen as a vegetable. They are served with the main dish, and not the dessert, as most fruits traditionally are. There are also many states who use the tomato as their state fruit or vegetable. Some states picked it as both their fruit and vegetable, and others used it as one or the other.
There are actually many other vegetables like this in the culinary field. The tomato may be the most popular, but tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, corn kernels, and bean and pea pods are all fruits scientifically. There are even some fruits out there that are normally thought of as vegetables. The classification of both the watermelon and rhubarb have been argued upon. Oklahoma’s state vegetable is actually the watermelon. So, the issue of whether the tomato is a fruit or vegetable depends on what field you are focusing on. Scientifically speaking, you have a fruit. Flipping the tables to culinary and political fields, your tomato turns to a vegetable.