A friend of mine who has a lot of allergies told me one time that eating tomatoes kind of triggers allergic reactions. Not to tomatoes but to other things.
I cannot imagine this luscious and Vitamin C filled fruit being the cause of my allergies. But looking back, I believe that she is right. My parents recall having a vegetable patch on the front yard of our apartment back then. My father planted many things, including tomatoes. They said that when I learned to walk, I would pick tomatoes right off the plants and bite them off. It was a good thing that our plants then were organic.
I really love tomatoes that even when I became older, I would eat tomatoes like appetizer. I would slice tomatoes, squeeze lemon or calamansi juice over them, and put soy sauce. It is already viand and I could eat a lot of rice with it. Sometimes, I would make salted egg salad. I would chop a couple of salted eggs, put diced tomatoes and chopped onions on it and season it with a little salt, soy sauce, and still some calamansi juice. Awww…I could devour a whole lot of rice with it.
The same is true with grill eggplant salad. We would grill eggplants and remove their peel. Then we would toss in some diced tomatoes, onions, spring onions, and season the mixture with spicy vinegar, soy sauce and salt. Wow! This can really move heaps of rice!
That is why I felt saddened with the report that tomatoes can causes allergies, or at least trigger allergic reactions for other foods. I could not appreciate sweet tomatoes coupons because I no longer buy a lot of them.
It is true that we eat salads from time to time and we do add tomatoes, but it is not very often that we do that. I don’t give as much to my little girl as well because I don’t want her developing allergies like I did. Thankfully, she is not allergic to foodstuff that I was allergic to before, like pork, chicken, and eggs. I have not tried her on the shellfish however. I was very much allergic to crustaceans so I am delaying her consumption of rich seafoods. But I did let her eats foods that have been mixed with shrimp, just not the shrimp itself. So far, no reaction, thank God.
Oh luscious tomatoes! When can I have you again?