Where would we be if the Spanish conquerors hadn't discovered South America?
Without the cheery red tomato of course.
Mind you, tomatoes were thought to be inedible back then, and for the first hundred years of their discovery they were treated only as decorative ornaments.
Trust the 16th Century Italians to change all that.
They were the first people daring enough to eat them, by frying them in oil and seasoning them with a little salt.
Why the fruit of love? The succulent red beauties were mysteriously attributed with aphrodisiac powers and were popped into brews and magic potions by alchemists way back in the 500's and 600's.
Now the fruit of love is the fruit we love - for good reason. (Funny though, that only Italy has stuck with the name - a true land of romantics!) Tomatoes can be good for your heart, good for your arteries and even better for your skin.
They're bursting with vitamins A and C, low in fats and are rich in lycopene, a strong natural antioxidant that gives the fruit its colour and protects your skin against direct radiation.
A potted history of the sun-dried tomato.
Speaking of keeping the wrinkles at bay, let's hear it for our sun-dried tomatoes. It takes almost 11kg of fresh tomatoes to make just one kilo of sun-dried ones.
Just picture southern Italy in August. It's hot, it's sunny, and flocks of local people grace our fields to harvest the best ones for drying.
After being gently washed, the tomatoes get cut in half, laid out in the sun again and sprinkled with salt before being protected by nets.
Five more lazy days of lying around in the sunshine and they're whisked off to Asti to work their magic in a jar of Sacla' anti-pasti or pasta sauce. Just a little something to remember the next time you need a dollop of sunshine on your plate.