[ath0]

Because this is Hacker News, the discussion would be incomplete without a link to the Supreme Court case Nix v. Hedden[1].

After the Tariff Act of 1883 taxed vegetables (but not fruits), produce seller John Nix — no relation to the package manager — sued to get tomatoes classified as a fruit.

The court held that the “common meaning” mattered more than the botanical one:

“Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas. But in the common language of the people, whether sellers or consumers of provisions, all these are vegetables which are grown in kitchen gardens, and which, whether eaten cooked or raw, are, like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, and lettuce, usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup, fish, or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert.“

If you’re in New York, you can celebrate Nix’s memory by eating at a fancy vegetarian restaurant[2], or, of course, you can just use the package manager or operating system.

[1] https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/149/304/ , or see the wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nix_v._Hedden [2] http://www.nixny.com/

[lhotiuerpoiu]

I eat tomatoes like apples (with salt, I'm not a monster). No kink-shaming please.

[sk0g]

You eat apples with salt?!

Then again, this is an actual thing in India, albeit with _black_ salt, which is more tangy than bitter and salty.

[davchana]

I carry an apple to work every day with black pepper & salt pouches from Taco Bell, & my american co-workers have asked me why I sprinkle salt on fruit? I explain them we sprinkle salt on apples, banana, guava, pineapple, watermelon, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, oranges and many other things.

Black salt is not tangy like lemony, it is just rock salt. Sometimes fruitsalts are salts peppered with ground black pepper and or lemon juice. Black salt on its own is earthly salty like ocean water.

[gramakri]

guava + black salt is an incredible combo. Sadly, it's very hard to get good guava here in bay area. If anyone knows a good place, I am all ears. I love the the green raw guava more than the white-ish ripe ones.

[davchana]

Any Indian Grocery Store in bay area, in Guava season like summer. Some example chain stores are New India Bazar, India Cash & Carry, and many other single store. I sold these all of this last year as a Cashier, and in cheap as Apples.

[davchana]

Apart from green raw, white ripe, we also had pinkish ripe guava in India. Eating Guava or chewing Guava leaves helped me in mouth sores when I was a kid.

[steverb]

Try a little salt and black pepper on your cantaloupe. It's amazing.

[ojosilva]

Cantaloupe with jamón (cured pork ham) for lunch and tostada con aceite y tomate (tomato rubbed on a toast with olive oil) for breakfast are both everyday treats in menus in Spain.

[davidw]

Funny story: my first night in Italy (a country where I would go on to spend years, get married and have kids) they served "prosciutto con melone" - cured ham with cantaloupe at the place I was staying.

To this day I love prosciutto, and I like melons, but I can't stand the taste of them together.

That first evening there, I was really worried that all I had heard about how good Italian food was maybe not true - perhaps it was all strange things like what they'd just given me?

[davidw]

My friend from Guadalajara swears by Tajin seasoning on a lot of stuff, including cantaloupes and watermelon and I think kind of everything...

[deaddodo]

This is pretty common in SoCal. Any puesto de frutas will give you fruta y chamoy y tajin.

[stronglikedan]

watermelon too

[UI_at_80x24]

Yes watermelon! Not enough people know about this.

[nzmsv]

You can also pickle watermelon: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/russian-style-pi...

[stjohnswarts]

Some Americans, particularly in the South, will salt their apple slices. It's not bad, but I prefer them straight. I do like salt on melons though

[edgyquant]

I put (kosher) salt on Apples and Watermelon and it is delicious.

[fishnchips]

What’s special about kosher salt?

[shliachtx]

It has larger grains. It is called "kosher" salt because larger grain salt (typically coarser than even typical kosher salt) is used to drain the blood from meat and fowl, a necessary step in rendering it kosher by Jewish law.

Edit: basically, it is just coarse salt.

[dannypgh]

It's a larger crystal, which makes it easier for the salt to pull water out of the watermelon, versus (I'm guessing) just making its way into the watermelon as a dissolved solid.

My understanding for the mechanism by which the salt makes the fruit sweeter is by increasing the concentration of sugars in the flesh that's now surrounded by salted water.

Kosher salt is named for the application of drawing water from meat (which is itself part of the kosher preparation of meat) so it's not too surprising that the salt is also well suited for drawing water from fruits like watermelon.

I use table salt on watermelon and it's great too. I can believe that kosher salt would be better, but I doubt most people would consider the difference immense. But palates vary, so, if you've got both salts around might as well use the bigger crystal.

[ska]

> My understanding for the mechanism by which the salt makes the fruit sweeter ...

Is that correct? AIUI the primary way that salt makes foods taste sweeter is due to the fact it attenuates our sense of "bitter".

[ska]

It's a coarse salt, as mentioned.

But also it doesn't have additives like table salt (e.g. iodine and anti-caking agents). Iodine at least has a definite flavor.

It's also very consistently made (though not between manufacturers) unlike some sea salts, and relatively inexpensive so it's the go-to kitchen salt (as against finishing salt) for a lot of cooks; you know what you get in a pinch every time.

[edgyquant]

It's not special (though it does have bigger granules,) my family is just Jewish.

[globuous]

Yes !! Tomate à la croque au sel as we call'em !! First time I ate a tomato like that in the US, my american friends made so much fun of me "yo, no way brooo ! he's eating a tomato like an apple, da'fu !! Weird frenchman !!".

I still eat my tomatoes like that every so often, it's so good ! Although I think I end up eating quite a bit of salt when I do that which isn't so good...

[nkozyra]

In my head the biggest problem with this is that tomatoes are very liquidy and that seems like a very messy proposition.

Obviously, sliced tomatoes with salt is a relatively common breakfast side item, so the idea of just eating tomato with salt isn't that uncommon in the U.S.

[kljrewpoioepi]

Eat enough of them, and you'll develop the proper technique - do the initial bite slowly and carefully, while gouging the internal pressure. You might need to try another spot. Then immediately suck the interior. Then proceed eating them one pocket at a time, while occasionally sucking any free floating liquid.

[ilikehurdles]

They're no worse than peaches in that regard. I only eat peaches over a sink.

[edgyquant]

I've been eating tomatoes in the US my whole life and definitely most people I've met think it's weird eating them plain.

[Shivetya]

fyi

Waffle House, one of the larger chains of grill made food offer sliced tomatoes as a side in place of hash browns. I have no found that offering elsewhere. So it makes me wonder how it made to the menu

[nkozyra]

Interesting, I've found it to be a pretty common side item at breakfast places and delis.

[tracker1]

Salt is fine... in general you're more likely to get too little salt than too much, and the difference in your blood pressure between the two isn't that significant.

[arminiusreturns]

I love tomatoes. They are seriously one of the best foods that exist, but I do find they can be messy, so I really enjoy a large plate of thinly sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper more evenly distributed as an alternative to this. Very cool to learn the French name for this though!

A few other things great with salt and pepper: grapefruit, watermelon, cantelope, cottage cheese, buttermilk.

[zerkla]

My Irish auntie also adores a tomato dipped in salt! I haven't been brave enough to try, however.

[UnFleshedOne]

Try tomatoes with mayo, you will never go back :)

[zamadatix]

Dumb question but do you take a bite then add salt on the exposed portion as you eat? Or does salt just stick to tomatoes better than I think?

[marzell]

If it's just large tomatoes, people often cut them into slices and then salt them. Or cube them along with cucumber, or halve them if they are cherry tomatoes

[kljrewpoioepi]

You add salt as you eat on the exposed portion. You can try putting salt on the initial bite spot, most of it will fall away, a bit will remain though.

[stjohnswarts]

you take a bite first. Salt obviously won't stick to tomato skin.

[farisjarrah]

Slice up some green apple and put some balsamic vinegar on it. Super tasty.

[asiachick]

and in South East Asia avocados are eaten as a fruit more than a savory thing like in Mexico. Avocado smoothies are delicious!

Also there are tomatoes that are much sweeter than your average USA tomato. In Japan they are called Fruit Tomatoes.

[dv_dt]

The average US tomato was bred for mass shipping and tastes like wet cardboard. Try an heirloom tomato, or something else less mass produce at a farmers market - they taste completely different.

[Digit-Al]

My mum grows her own tomatoes and they are absolutely amazing. So lovely and sweet.

[stjohnswarts]

YEah store tomatoes are terrible. I only like the ones I get at the farmers market. They actually have some taste.