Cherry Tomatoes

History

Cherry tomatoes represent the closest living relatives to the wild ancestors of all cultivated tomatoes, offering a glimpse into what the original Solanum species looked like when they first evolved in the western coastal regions of South America millions of years ago. Archaeological evidence suggests that wild cherry-sized tomatoes were being gathered by indigenous peoples in Peru, Ecuador, and northern Chile as early as 7,000 BCE, making them one of humanity's oldest continuously consumed fruits. The Aztecs called these tiny fruits "xitomatl" and incorporated them into salsas and stews, while the Maya developed early cultivation techniques that spread the plants throughout Mesoamerica. When Spanish conquistadors brought tomatoes to Europe in the 1520s, it was primarily cherry-sized varieties they carried, as the larger beefsteak types had not yet been developed. European botanists initially classified them as ornamental curiosities, and Italian gardeners grew them as decorative plants for over a century before culinary adoption began. The modern cherry tomato renaissance began in Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, when agricultural scientists at the Volcani Center developed extended shelf-life varieties for export. Sun Gold, perhaps the most celebrated modern cherry tomato, was developed in Japan in the 1990s and revolutionized expectations for cherry tomato sweetness with its candy-like flavor profile.