除了橄榄油，意大利菜里最具标志性的东西或许就是番茄了。从慢烤小番茄，到菜品中的红酱，似乎只有在一些海鲜菜色中才看不到番茄的身影。就美食而言，意大利可能是最具热情的人群，单在番茄上就有几百年的研究。
Besides olive oil, tomatoes may be the most iconic ingredient in Italian Cuisine. From roasted tomatoes to red sauces, it seems that only in some Italian seafood dishes people cannot see tomatoes. As for food, Italians may have the greatest passion, who had spent hundreds years in tomato usage in meals.
几百年前的欧洲并不存在番茄这种东西，直到西班牙征服者们探索美洲时，才发现了这种秘鲁安迪斯山脉的神奇食物。当16世纪哥伦布们将番茄带回欧洲时，人们竟然在200多年的时间里都不敢吃番茄，他们觉得只要在嘴唇上沾上一点，就能把自己给毒死，甚至有传言说，番茄是一种“媚药”。后来，人们才开始慢慢尝试起番茄来，并有了正确的认识。
The tomato most likely originated in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Hundreds years ago, there was no tomato in Europe, until it was first "discovered" by the Spanish Conquistadors and then came with Columbus and other explorers introducing the tomato to Europe. However, there was about 200 years of skepticism before the tomato gained acceptance there--again, it was thought one touch of a tomato on the lips would kill you and rumor said it was an aphrodisiac. Fortunately, people realized what tomatoes really are at last.
由于番茄也有黄色的品种，当时的意大利人将其称之为“pomo d'oro”，即金苹果的意思。意大利宜人的气候给予了番茄生长的土壤，番茄也慢慢开始在意大利占据了自己的土地。根据相关记载，早在1692年时，那不勒斯就已经有与番茄相关的食谱。
At that time, tomato was called pomo d'oro (golden apple) in Italian, because Tomatoes do come in a wide variety of colors, including golden yellow. In Italy, the tomato more than likely prospered because of its near-tropical climate. According to related records, tomatoes were used as ingredients in a cookbook from Naples, as far back as 1692.
番茄进入意大利菜肴还要感谢西班牙人，他们除了资助身为意大利人的哥伦布找到番茄之外，还教会了意大利制作番茄的办法，将其与茄子、洋葱等一起油炸，制成面包与肉类的调味汁。不过由于意大利南部缺乏肉类与其他蛋白质产品，番茄也成为当地素食产品的重要酱汁。
It is actually Spain, who led the way, "teaching" Italians to fry tomatoes up with eggplant, squash and onions, and used the dish as a condiment on bread and with meats. The cuisine of Southern Italian peasants, who often lacked meats and other proteins on a regular basis, developed into a mostly vegetarian diet in which tomatoes and olive oil, spices and vegetables were eaten with bread, rice or polenta.
到了18世纪时，那不勒斯的农民开始将番茄放在扁面包上食用，这也是如今披萨的雏形。渐渐地，这种食物也开始在欧洲流行开来。与此同时，意大利人也开始在意面中使用番茄制成的酱汁。到1889年意大利成为了一个统一国家，皇后玛格丽特厌恶了旧时的法国菜，于是就让那不勒斯最著名的披萨师傅制成了如今闻名于世的“玛格丽特披萨”。
By the late 1700s, the peasants of Naples began to put tomatoes on top of their flat breads, creating something very close to the modern pizza. It gained popularity, especially with the elite of Europe. In the same time period we find the first recorded evidence of tomatoes used in sauces and preserved condiments and pastes. In 1889, after Italy became one nation, Queen Margherita was bored with the same old French cuisine, called for the most famous pizza-maker in Naples to command him to make pizza for her. That is how “Pizza Margherita” is created.
与番茄的发展史同步，意大利慢慢地形成了自己的菜系，成为世界上最著名的美食之一。或许这就是他们喜爱番茄的原因。
Symphonized with tomatoes, the Italian cuisine has become one of the most famous in the world. That's how tomato became part of Italian Culture.
