Tomato, множественное число tomatoes [təˈmɑːtəʊz] — помидоры — фрукты это или овощи? Вопрос этот возникает потому, что помидоры потребляются различными способами: сырыми и вареными, в разных блюдах, соусах, салатах и напитках. В то время как помидоры являются фруктами (ботанически они классифицируются как ягоды), в кулинарии они обычно используются в качестве растительного ингредиента или гарнира. В этой статье вы найдете два небольших рассказа на эту тему на английском языке и их перевод на русский. Некоторые английские рецепты блюд с томатами, например, пицца Маргарита, вы можете найти на странице британских рецептов.
Tomatoes — текст первый
Вечный вопрос
The age-old question actually has an answer — it’s both! Tomatoes are fruits that are considered vegetables by nutritionists. Botanically, a fruit is a ripened flower ovary and contains seeds. Tomatoes, plums, zucchinis, and melons are all edible fruits, but things like maple “helicopters” and floating dandelion puffs are fruits too. For some reason, people got hung up on tomatoes, but the “fruit or vegetable” question could also work for any vegetable with seeds.
Точка зрения кулинарии
Now, nutritionally, the term “fruit” is used to describe sweet and fleshy botanical fruits, and “vegetable” is used to indicate a wide variety of plant parts that are not so high in fructose. In many cultures, vegetables tend to be served as part of the main dish or side, whereas sweet fruits are typically snacks or desserts. Thus, roots, tubers, stems, flower buds, leaves, and certain botanical fruits, including green beans, pumpkins, and of course tomatoes, are all considered vegetables by nutritionists.
There is no hard-and-fast rule that clearly designates a botanical fruit as a vegetable, but, given that tomatoes are generally not used in desserts and are closely related to other fruit-vegetables (e.g., eggplants and peppers), it is not too counterintuitive for tomatoes to be classified as vegetables. So go ahead and call a tomato whatever you want — it’s super tasty either way.
Tomatoes — текст второй
Видео про tomatoes на английском
The confusion about whether a tomato is a fruit or vegetable arises because of the differences in usage between scientists, and cooks.
Точка зрения науки
Scientifically speaking, a tomato is definitely a fruit. True fruits develop from the ovary in the base of the flower and contain the seeds of the plant, although some cultivated forms may be seedless. Blueberries, raspberries, and oranges are true fruit, and so are many kinds of nuts.
As far as cooking is concerned, some things which are strictly fruits, such as tomatoes, or bean pods, may be called vegetables because they are used in savoury, rather than sweet cooking. The vegetable is more generally used to describe other edible parts of plants, such as cabbage leaves and celery stalks.
Occasionally the term fruit may be used to refer to a part of a plant which is not a fruit, but which is used in sweet cooking, such as rhubarb. So the answer to the question is that while tomato is technically the fruit of the tomato plant, it’s typically considered a vegetable in cooking.
Источники: Britannica.com, Oxford Dictionary.