Toma­toes is a cook­book cel­e­brat­ing the fruit that food lovers, gar­den­ers, and cooks con­sid­er the jew­el of sum­mer. Suc­cu­lent, ripe and deli­cious, so I treat them with sim­plic­i­ty and grace. While the book’s focus is on the South, the first place in the Unit­ed States they were eat­en, once it was accept­ed that they weren’t poi­so­nous, the recipes go glob­al. Mat­bucha, Abruz­zo Green Toma­to Pas­ta Sauce, Heir­loom Toma­to Jam with Lemon, and Baby Plum Toma­to and Olive Tape­nade. Toma­toes also includes an intro­duc­tion on the com­plex his­to­ry of toma­toes includ­ing Jew­ish his­to­ry. Some Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ties read­i­ly adopt­ed toma­toes; oth­ers shunned them. First cul­ti­vat­ed in Cen­tral Amer­i­ca, toma­toes were car­ried to Spain after the Con­quest, spread­ing to Italy and the Mediter­ranean. They became pop­u­lar with Sephardic Jews, though avoid­ed by Aske​naz​im​.In my Penn­syl­va­nia gar­den I grow bushels of toma­toes. My book offers tech­niques for get­ting the most enjoy­ment from the har­vest. Yet since fresh toma­to sea­son is fleet­ing, I’ve includ­ed recipes that bring out the best in super­mar­ket or good canned tomatoes.