Sapiens del tomate

This work is the first monographic study undertaken by Bullipedia dedicated to one specific unelaborated product: the tomato. It has been realised through applying the Sapiens methodology, created by Ferran Adrià and the elBullifoundation.

The aim of this Sapiens is to analyse the tomato from a holistic perspective, studying all the processes and systems that it is involved in. Is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Is it created or produced? Is there a particular tomato that is ideal for making a salad?

To begin with, we examine the complex etymology of the term, and then see how it has evolved in the Spanish language to arrive at its current meaning. We approach our study from academic, gastronomic and botanical perspectives. This section of the book also presents some definitions at a scientific and colloquial level.

We then situate the tomato in the world of gastronomy through the use of comparison, in which we contrast our object of study to other fruits according to various criteria: texture, shape, colour, chemical composition, etc.

Our objective is to classify the tomato plant, its fruit and its leaf. Applying the Sapiens method, we order the available information about the reality of the plant, a necessary condition in order to generate new knowledge.

In this way, for example, we see that the tomato can be viewed from different angles, such as the harvesting season, the state of ripening, its colour or the type of processing it undergoes.

Millions of years ago, long before humans appeared on Earth, the first wild tomato plants began to grow in the Andes. Without them we would not be eating tomatoes today. The tomato plant probably started being cultivated for the fruit it provided and, through genetics, we reaped its full potential, managing to obtain (or is it create?) a wide range of varieties. Clearly, both agriculture and botany have played a key role in the taste, shape and size of the tomatoes we eat today.

If we make a salad at home using tomatoes, are we cooking for nourishment or to appreciate their taste? In these pages we explain the differences between these two concepts, which are opposing but complementary at the same time. Once we have clarified these matters, we look at how we can cook, nourish ourselves and savour the taste of elaborations made with tomatoes.

We explore the role of the tomato in all the organisational and operational systems of the restaurant, as well as in the diner’s experience. The kitchen is lucky to count on the food industry as an indispensable ally. Thanks to it, we have tomato products that can simplify and minimise the time spent on preparing elaborations. We examine these products and investigate how the industry can help us when it comes to cooking.

Finally, we explore the concepts of creation and innovation in terms of the tomato.