67 Once Poison, Now a Food

Would you eat a bacon, lettuce, and love apple sandwich? You probably have eaten many of them. Love apple was the name used many years ago for the tomato.

The tomato was originally an American plant. It was found in South America by early Spanish explorers. The word tomato comes from the native Nahuatl word tomatl. But when it moved north, the plant earned a different name. Remarkably, the settlers in North America thought it was poisonous. They believed that to eat it was surely to die. It was said that jilted suitors would threaten to eat a tomato to cause their cold-hearted lovers remorse. Because of this legend, the settlers called the tomato a “love apple.” While people enjoyed other native plants, such as corn and sweet potatoes, everyone avoided the tomato.

No one knows who first dared to eat a tomato. Perhaps someone was brave enough, or lovesick enough, to try out the truth of the rumors. Of course, whoever ate this fruit was perfectly safe. No one died from eating a love apple. Still, it was many years before the people fully believed that the tomato was a safe, and even good, food. But its use did become common, and the plant was sent across the ocean to become part of many traditional European dishes.

67 曾經是毒物，如今是食物

你會吃培根、生菜和愛情蘋果三明治嗎？你或許已經吃過很多次了。“愛情蘋果”是多年前人們對番茄的稱呼。

番茄原本是美洲的植物。早期的西班牙探險家在南美洲發現了它。“tomato”這個詞來源於納瓦特爾語（當地原住民語言）中的“tomatl”。但當它傳播到北方後，這種植物有了另一個名字。值得注意的是，北美殖民者認為它是有毒的。他們相信吃了它肯定會死。據說被拒絕的追求者會威脅要吃番茄，讓他們冷酷的戀人感到懊悔。由於這個傳說，殖民者把番茄稱為“愛情蘋果”。儘管人們喜歡玉米、甘薯等其他本土植物，但所有人都避開番茄。

沒有人知道誰第一個敢吃番茄。也許有人足夠勇敢，或者足夠為愛癡狂，去驗證這些謠言的真假。當然，任何吃了這種水果的人都完全安全。沒有人因為吃了愛情蘋果而死亡。儘管如此，過了很多年人們才完全相信番茄是一種安全甚至美味的食物。但它的使用確實變得普遍起來，這種植物被跨洋運送，成為了許多傳統歐洲菜餚的一部分。