Page 3 of 6
Posted: August 20th, 2008, 7:18 pm
by origami_8
Actually Tomatoes are vegetables since they are not sweet.
Posted: August 20th, 2008, 8:15 pm
by Jonnycakes
Taken from
this site:
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Things
Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
print buttonPrinter Friendly Version
The confusion about 'fruit' and 'vegetable' arises because of the differences in usage between scientists and cooks. Scientifically speaking, a tomato is definitely a fruit. True fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower, and contain the seeds of the plant (though cultivated forms may be seedless). Blueberries, raspberries, and oranges are true fruits, and so are many kinds of nut. Some plants have a soft part which supports the seeds and is also called a 'fruit', though it is not developed from the ovary: the strawberry is an example. As far as cooking is concerned, some things which are strictly fruits may be called 'vegetables' because they are used in savoury rather than sweet cooking. The tomato, though technically a fruit, is often used as a vegetable, and a bean pod is also technically a fruit. The term 'vegetable' is more generally used of other edible parts of plants, such as cabbage leaves, celery stalks, and potato tubers, which are not strictly the fruit of the plant from which they come. 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: rhubarb, for example. So a tomato is the fruit of the tomato plant, but can be used as a vegetable in cooking.
So a tomato is a fruit. And Anna, tomatoes are sweet, just not as much as other fruits. Cherry tomatoes have quite a bit of sweetness to them.
Posted: August 20th, 2008, 9:40 pm
by origami_8
There have also been some legal cases where tomatoes where classified as vegetable.
I think the English term fruit is a little bit misleading. In German there is a differentiation between sweet fruits (Obst), vegetables (Gemüse) and the fruit of a plant (Frucht). This last term "Frucht" is not differentiating between sweet and savoury fruits it is just a botanical term that describes the thing that comes after the flower has been pollinated while "Gemüse" and "Obst" are culinaric terms that describe the usage of the fruit (main dish or sweet desert).
Taking this differentiation a tomato is definitely a vegetable (Gemüse) and a fruit (Frucht) but no fruit (Obst).
I can imagine that this is hard to reconstruct if your language doesn't have this differentiation, but being raised with German as native language it is hard for me to understand how someone would call a tomato fruit meaning "Obst".
Posted: August 20th, 2008, 10:45 pm
by Jonnycakes
I see exactly what you are saying-like that explanation that I quoted in my last post, there is a differentiation based on how it is used, not the anatomy of the plant.
Posted: September 27th, 2008, 12:35 am
by Mars
killar wrote:OMG, CARROT!!! haha though i was thinking of number 10. still amazing anyhow...
btw, my native language is not english and carrot worked on me...cool eh
At least I got carrot.
Too bad I thought of 10, LOL.
That was a cool mind trick though
About the fruit and vegetable debate, my mom said that an easy way to remember what is fruit and what is vegetable is that fruits have seeds and vegetables don't. The only reason why most people think of tomatoes as vegetables is because they treat it as a vegetable (like cooking it and stuff).
Also, when most people think of fruits, they think of sweet things which isn't always the case (well that's the way I see it).
That's my opinion
Posted: September 27th, 2008, 2:31 am
by OrigamiGianluca
I got 10 and zucchini.
I already knew that my brain wasn't normal.
Better my brain is normal, AB normal
Posted: October 4th, 2008, 6:10 am
by Sadarac
i had 6 and tomato( i consider it to be a veggie)
Posted: October 4th, 2008, 10:25 pm
by chesslo
ahh, so some of you guys are among the 2%
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 1:36 am
by unknownfolder
When I first read this I was so surprised to see it here. I had just watched a similar Youtube video online. Anyway I got carrot and seven on that video. The day I watched this I was obsessed with Mind Tricks.
Posted: October 6th, 2008, 2:09 am
by chesslo
wow, great, do you have any good sites then?
Posted: October 7th, 2008, 10:51 pm
by unknownfolder
Ii is really not a hardcore interest in mind tricks. I just think that they are pretty interesting.
Posted: October 20th, 2008, 10:48 pm
by Morgan
i think in america the government considers tomatoes vegatables because of some import-export tax reasons...at least thats what alton brown says :P iim actually not to certain what the deal was....mostly because they could tax more on a vegetable? eh anyway food for thought. oh! and by the way, food for thought comes from the medieval days when the philosophers did not have any money for their trade, and to eat traded food for thought.. hahaha just kidding :P
Posted: October 21st, 2008, 11:36 am
by Moonspinner
7, because 7 is magical, and cabbage is what i chose.
Tomato is a fruit, because it is a seed pod.
Posted: October 21st, 2008, 5:43 pm
by origami_8
So cucumber is a fruit too...
Posted: October 21st, 2008, 9:05 pm
by Mars
origami_8 wrote:So cucumber is a fruit too...
I completely agree
Here is a list of things that people sometimes think are vegetables but are really fruits:
1. Cucumbers
2. Pumpkins
3. Squash
4. Tomatoes
5. Peppers
6. Zucchini
7. Corn
8. Okra
9. Avocado
10. Peas