As I read this book, I wondered about the uniqueness of the tomato’s place in Italian history . While the tomato makes an admirable protagonist, one could argue that there is little that is surprising or unexpected about the tomato’s success in Italy . If one thinks about how resourceful…and hungry…Italians were, it seems reasonable to think that they would find a way to make an initially bitter and unpleasant fruit into something more palatable . Most subsistence cultures find ingenious ways to transform the ordinary, the unattractive, and even the potentially poisonous, into cuisine . One could, I suppose, write a similar book about many Italian (or Mediterranean) foods, though I do not know if a book titled Anchovy! would be as marketable as this book . —Carol Helstosky, University of Denver Ripe: The Search for the Perfect Tomato Arthur Allen Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2010 304 pp . $26 .00 (cloth) GaStroNomica The tomato is an American culinary icon: It’s omnipresent in our daily meals, from soups and salads to sauces and condiments, and a key ingredient in thousands of our favorite foods—pizza, pasta, hamburgers, tacos, and salsa among the best-loved . More Americans grow tomatoes than any other vegetable, and heirloom tomatoes are the darlings of backyard gardeners, truck farmers, and the most discriminating chefs . Dozens of varieties are now available at farmers’ markets and even some upscale grocery stores . The tomato is also an important commercial crop: the United States is the largest commercial tomato producer in the world . The tomato has also become a symbol of what’s wrong with the American food system . It’s not just the greenpicked supermarket tomatoes that taste like cardboard and chew like Styrofoam: It’s also salmonella outbreaks, agricultural mechanization, migrant labor problems, fast-food chain boycotts, Mexican imports, and genetic engineering— to name just a few of the hassles in which the previously humble and uncontroversial tomato is now embroiled . Who can make sense of this complex of controversy and confusion? Arthur Allen, the journalist and former foreign correspondent for the Associated Press, has taken on the task in his book, Ripe: The Search for the Perfect Tomato . The title suggests that the author’s exploration of the subject will culminate in his discovery of the apotheosis of tomatoness, but in fact, he begins his story by rhapsodizing over a mouth-watering specimen he found in Mexico . The problem was that the growers didn’t have the means of transporting this delicious but delicate item to market, 1,200 miles away, and the buyers in the United States were unaware of its existence . As a tomato lover, I was tempted to put the book down, head to the airport, and catch the next plane to San José del Cabo, just to taste this marvel; instead, I just kept turning the pages, and I’m delighted that I did . Allen chronicles a lively story meshing recent history, science, economics, labor strife, big business, and—most important—flavor . He starts off with a brief history of the tomato from its origins in South America to its cultivation in Central America and its slow introduction into Europe and North America . He then turns to the tomato’s evolution from a luscious, seasonal garden jewel to a seasonless factory-farmed product that comes to market hard as a rock and just as tasty . To illustrate the story, he picks tomatoes with migrant farm workers in Florida, attends a protest demonstration at Burger King headquarters in Miami, discusses tomato breeding with university professors, visits tomato farmers in Italy, investigates price-fixing charges in California, limns the lives of prominent tomato personages, chats with plant geneticists, interviews tomato growers and processors, and tours the tomato-growing regions of China, now the world’s secondranked tomato grower . The details of his adventures yield a delicious story that weaves these diverse topics into an intelligible and fascinating whole . Many recent culinary and agricultural publications deal with some of these topics, but none cover such a broad range of issues as well as Arthur Allen’s book . What’s most surprising is Allen’s fairness in dealing with the different sides of controversies . Take the question of why supermarket tomatoes are tasteless . It’s simple: Hard tomatoes with thick skins travel better, suffering less damage in transit, so growers and supermarkets reap higher profits . Yes, heirlooms can be found in many farmers’ markets, but only during the growing season . Supermarket tomatoes, on the other hand, are available year round, and to the extent that they are eaten in the off season, they have added to the nutritional quality of the American diet . Odds are that those glossy green “baseballs” will survive, along with the boutique heirloom tomatoes grown by home gardeners and “boutique” farmers . As one plant geneticist says, most Americans really don’t care about the flavor of their tomatoes . But many breeders are doing their best to breed that old-time tomato flavor back into commercial varieties . Until they succeed, I prefer to grow my own and perhaps visit San José del Cabo in the off season . —Andrew F . Smith, The New School w i Nter 2 012

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