You’ve heard of the placebo effect. In medicine, there’s also the “tomato effect.” Coined by Dr. James Goodwin in 1984, it refers to when a treatment is ignored or rejected in culture, even though it is highly effective.
A tomato a day may not keep the doctor away, but it wasn’t always readily embraced. In fact, tomatoes were long considered poisonous, often confused with an actually poisonous relative, deadly nightshade. And though it’s true that the stems and leaves (and unripe fruits) of tomato plants contain tomatine, a toxic alkaloid, that can cause rashes, it would take large quantities to cause any true ill effects.
Today, we eagerly await tomatoes every summer and eat them with greed, but did you know that there’s a little trick to make your tomato dishes taste even more of tomatoes? (You may see where I’m going with this.)
Recipe: Brothy Tomato Rice Soup
For bigger, bolder flavor, try cooking with their vines. While you’re at it, if you grow your own, save some of the leaves the next time you prune your plants and add them to your dishes. Both lend a surprising depth to brothy curries, soups and braises, accentuating the fruit’s aroma. Just be sure to toss them before serving, as you would bay leaves or a tea bag.
Thanks to those leaves and vines, this quick, nourishing soup captures the acidic-sweet brightness and floral aroma of fresh tomatoes. Fragrant jasmine rice lends body and thickens the broth just enough, but any rice you love works well here. The perfect lunch or light dinner, it reheats beautifully to a texture not dissimilar to congee or juk and tastes like peak tomato in soup form. (I promise it won’t kill you.)
When I planted my first tomato plant this year, I didn’t know how much the journey from seed to fruit would test my patience. But now that I can reap the rewards of my amateur gardening attempt — a regular bounty of small grape tomatoes, plus their aromatic vines and leaves — I feel rich with time. It’s like Christmas morning on loop: Every other day, a new constellation of glinting red fruit shines against the winding green vines.
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Eric Kim has been a food and cooking columnist for The Times since 2021. You can find his recipes on New York Times Cooking.
The post The Secret Ingredient That Makes Tomatoes Taste More Like Themselves appeared first on New York Times.
