The tomato was thought to be poisonous in late-1700s Europe (2013)
smithsonianmag.com
smithsonianmag.com
The obvious kinship is probably best demonstrated visually.
The common tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gc5_tomatoes.jpg
The currant tomato, also edible and close wild relative of the tomato (Solanum pimpinellifolium): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Botanisk_tidsskrif...
Belladonna, toxic (Atropa belladonna): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atropa_belladonna_...
Datura, toxic (Datura stramonium): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Datura_stramonium_...
Mandrake greens and flowers, toxic (Mandragora autumnalis): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mandragora_autumna...
Mandrake fruit, toxic: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mandragora_autumna...
I have only a layman's interest in botany so I lack the vocabulary to describe it well. But a tomato plant has the overall structure of a datura plant, bushy, similar stalks, similar pattern. The leaves look a lot like belladonna, datura or mandrake. The flowers look like diminutive mandrake flowers. The fruit looks a lot like mandrake fruit.
If I had never heard of tomatoes, the close family resemblance would make me very reluctant to eat one.
I came across these on a trek in the woods, and thought they were wild tomatoes at first. Fruit looks identical. But of course, I knew never to eat a nightshade. It's not surprising that Europeans thought tomatoes were poisonous. Nightshades are no joke.
Aubergine (or 'Eggplant'), Solanum melongena [1]. It is edible but does contain a relatively high amount of Nicotine just like its relative:
Tobacco (Lat. Nicotiana) [1] - also a Nightshade and probably the one with the largest body count of them all.
Chili pepper (Lat. Capsicum) [3] which also belong to the Nightshade family.
Quite a large and useable family even if some of its members are better left alone...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggplant
So far it seems the fear of lectins is an orthorexia related to those who use terms like toxins and antinutrients.
I figured it out when peeling some potatoes and my skin started itching horribly. Turned red and all.
Tried to avoid potatoes and it's a night and day difference for my overall health.
Also: Sweetpotatoes are not potatoes :)
Based on a comment here I tried eliminating mammal products to see if Neu5gc was a possible culprit and that seems to have helped as well.
Really wish I could eat normal food, but I’ll deal with the limited diet if it means I’m not miserable and in pain every day.
Pasta was introduced to Italy earlier than tomatoes, but the toppings were pretty strange compared to today’s tastes.
The tomato was feared in Europe for more than 200 years (2013) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29131410 - Nov 2021 (182 comments)
The Tomato Was Feared in Europe for More Than 200 Years - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13052405 - Nov 2016 (8 comments)
Aside from the notable tomato and potato, there's also cashew, eggplant, tobacco, chili and bell peppers, gooseberry, goji and huckleberries, and a few others.
Huckleberries are not nightshades. You are confusing the garden huckleberry (solanum nigrum) with the actual huckleberry, which is a member of the Heath family (Ericaceae). Actual huckleberries are incredibly difficult to grow and only grow on mountains. The garden huckleberry is a tomato relative that has similar looking fruits and some say a similar taste and is easier to grow. Hence the name.
Cashews are also not nightshades. Cashews are members of the cashew/mango family. All plants are highly allergenic. Many people have cashew problems, and many many people have reactions to the outer skin of the Mango. Poison Ivy is in the mango/cashew family. They are part of the Anacardiaceae family.
Gooseberries... you are thinking of the cape gooseberry. The cape gooseberry is a nightshade. Real gooseberries are members of the currant family Grossulariaceae. Gooseberries are very distinct from a cape gooseberry. The two plants are actually not very similar looking at all. Cape gooseberries, like many nightshades, grow in a husk (like a tomatillo). Real gooseberries do not.
The rest are indeed nightshades.
Sorry for the pedantry, but these are all very different plants.
I really doubt they (particularly the Spaniards) weren't eating tomatoes from the start. The confusion emerged later, the premise of all Europeans thinking that tomatoes were poisonous is wrong; some of them did but others did not.
Related popular food myth: Lobsters being gross. Lobsters were known to be delicious by Mediterranean people since Roman times. The premise of lobsters being disgusting poor people food developed much later, in America, when immigrants from inland regions of Europe encountered lobsters for the first time, had no cultural background with them, and prepared them poorly.
I spent years pursuing a cure for chronic illness, and at one point I crossed paths with a homeopath of sorts. Among other things, she gave me a fairly strict diet, and I still remember one sentence: "No tomatoes. They're poisonous nightshades."