Specific Soups and Stews: Tomato Soup

Tomatoes have been grown in the United Kingdom since the late sixteenth century, but they did not become popular as a food until the late eighteenth century. The early culinary use of tomatoes in Britain was as an ingredient in soups. Tomatoes provided coloring and an acidic flavor unmatched by other fruits or vegetables. While references to tomatoes in soups appeared in English medical, agricultural, and botanical works, early recipes titled “Tomato Soup” were really vegetable soups, of which tomato was an ingredient. As the nineteenth century progressed, the amount of tomatoes increased and other vegetables decreased, so that by mid-century, tomatoes had become the major ingredient.