9-06-2026 4:50am

Philosophizing About Food With Francine: Roma Tomatoes

Lesley Misko Editor

by Francine Black

Beautiful meaty Roma tomatoes ready to be processed!

The Solanum lycopersicum. aka the tomato, is native to The Andes, home to the Mayan and Aztec peoples. As long as 80,000 years ago, it grew wildly as a vine with small berries and was called “tomatli” by the mysterious indigenous peoples of South and Central America.

When the explorers brought seed samples of the plant to Europe, those folks believed it to be poisonous -- and certainly the fruit made folks die of lead poisoning when served on pewter dishes. The problem was that the acid fruit caused the lead in the pewter to leach out! Science prevailed and the tomato was henceforth served on ceramic dishes.

Today, of course, tomatoes are grown worldwide and star in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Latin American cuisines to name just a few. It is believed that there are over 10,000 known varieties and colors of tomatoes in the world, with new types being grown by gardeners all the time.

Our Roma tomato, also called the plum tomato, was developed in 1955 in Beltsville, MD by scientist William Porte. It was bred from the San Marzano and Red Top varieties to resist diseases and pests. I love it for its dense meaty flesh that makes wonderful sauce and passata.

You may notice that I don’t peel my tomatoes and the reason is that the peels are really good for us. They contain a large share of the fruit’s total nutrients including high amounts of dietary fiber, plant antioxidants, and concentrated levels of lycopene. We can still make a wonderfully smooth sauce by simply using an immersion blender to purée them once they’re cooked down just a bit.

I foresee a delicious Florentine tomato soup, a fragrant pot of Italian meatballs and sauce or maybe a beautifully layered vegetable ratatouille in the future!

High in the mountains above Bally, where the dense groves of treetops seem to touch the sky, is Francine Black, Boyertown’s own version of chef Julia Child. Her daily activities reflect the things she most values: family and friends, music, and lovingly prepared food.