Why Do Kids Love Ketchup and Pizza But Hate Raw Tomatoes?
It's one of life's little mysteries: Why do children love tomatoes in creamy form--sauce, soup, ketchup--but despise the raw fruit? To be fair, tomato hate isn't limited to minors. George Carlin once cracked that "tomatoes look lovely on the outside but you look inside and something is wrong... it looks like it's in the larval stage." And the fruit even inspired a series of campy Attack of the Killer Tomatoes horror flicks.
But when it comes to dissing tomatoes, kids have the sauciest insults. Here's how some children describe their dislike for the much-maligned fruit. --Raven Snook
Raven Snook is a writer and mom who edits the website MommyPoppins.com about the best things to do in NYC with kids. She regularly freelances for numerous publications and websites, including Time Out New York, New York Magazine, TDF Stages and iVillage.com.
1/9Marlena, 8
I ate a raw tomato at school once. They used to give us these weird salads, and I was like, 'Oh my God, this tastes bad! What's in that?' And then I ate everything in the salad separately to figure it out and found out it was the tomatoes.
Can you describe the taste?
You know how your saliva tastes when it's been there for a few days? That's sort of it. It's really gross. I hate them
.
2/9Benjamin, 6
I don't eat tomatoes because I don't like them at all.
What bothers you about them?
Well, I guess maybe I've never eaten one, but they look spicy.
Do you eat anything made from tomatoes?
Ketchup. I love ketchup! I eat it on french fries and chicken nuggets and I lick it off my plate. I even put it on cake once.
How did that taste?
A little weird. I didn't do it again.
3/9Rowan, 8
I like tomatoes in the saucy way but not in the round way.
Can you give an example?
Like spaghetti sauce and sauce on pizza. But otherwise I don't really like them. I don't remember how they taste exactly because I haven't eaten one in a really long time, but I know that I still don't like them.
Does your mom ever try to sneak raw tomatoes into your food?
Once. She put a raw tomato in my pizza, and I said, 'What's that big lump?' and she said, 'It's just an air bubble.' But I looked and it was a tomato and I yelled, 'Mom! What are you doing? You know I don't like tomatoes!' And I made her pick it out.
4/9Emilio, 8
When I bite into a tomato, it feels like a big glob of hard squishy bladders and tongues and intestines inside, which is the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted in my life! It's a little better if you just take a nibble of it.
Do you like anything made from tomatoes?
Tomato soup and that's it.
How about ketchup?
Oh, yeah, I put that on my hot dogs.
Or pasta with tomato sauce?
I like that, too. Okay, maybe tomatoes aren't all bad.
5/9Lincoln, 6
I like tomato sauce and ketchup but I don't know what the real thing tastes like.
You've never tried a raw tomato?
No. My mom gave me a tomato at dinner once, but I didn't eat it and she put it back in the refrigerator. So in the middle of the night I got up and took it out and was about to bite it, but it slipped out of my hands and smashed on the ground.
Your parents must have been angry.
No. I just cleaned it up by myself. They didn't even know. I guess now they will.
6/9Lucy, 8
tasted a tomato at farm camp, I think. It was weird.
Do you like anything made from tomatoes?
Pizza! But that's just tomato sauce. Tomato sauce is mashed tomatoes.
Why is that better?
I have no idea.
7/9Sebastian, 8
They're one of my favorite fruits! Tomatoes aren't vegetables; they're actually fruits, you know.
How did you learn that?
I was a little baby and my teacher told me or something. Yesterday at camp I had tomato soup for lunch and it was really very good.
Do you ever eat raw tomatoes?
You mean like the ones that come out of the box? Sometimes the baby ones. They taste sort of sour, though. I really like tomato sauce and salsa and tomato juice and ketchup. One time I didn't like my macaroni and cheese, so I put ketchup on it.
Did that make it better?
No. It was pretty disgusting!
8/9Emily, 8
I can't eat them raw. The taste isn't appealing to me. It just makes me feel sick. I'm talking about the big tomatoes. I do eat the little cherry tomatoes. Our neighbor grows them in his backyard and gives us a ton all the time.
Do you like anything made from tomatoes?
A lot! Ketchup, tomato sauce, pickled tomatoes, salsa, tomato soup--I love all that. Tomatoes are able to make so many different things because they have so many different parts: the seeds, the flesh and skin, and the juice. Some people even drink that.
9/9Sophie, 9
Actually I love tomatoes, especially cherry tomatoes. They're really delicious. I buy them at the farmers' market and usually eat them right there because that's when they're fresh. My dad is a vegetarian so we eat a lot of veggies and fruit like pineapple and kale.
You eat kale willingly?
Yes! I feel really good doing that because I know they're all good for me. I'm not vegetarian though, but I'm still pretty happy.
