Subtitle: The Story of America's Favorite Food
Authors: Andrew F. Smith
Subject: New Jersey/American Culture
Cloth ISBN 0-8135-2752-X
Pages: 256 pp., 16 b&w illus.
Description: How the New World tomato and the Old World soup combined to create America's favorite food

Do You Know That . . .

- the tomato is among the top three most commonly eaten fruits or vegetables in the world?

- the Rutgers tomato seeds once produced 70 percent of the processed tomatoes in the United States?

- the Campbell Soup Company is the largest soup manufacturer in the world?

- Andy Warhol's mother served him tomato soup for lunch for twenty years which was why he painted tomato soup cans?

For decades, countless children across the U.S. have eagerly consumed bowls of a steamy reddish-orange liquid that is as easy to make as it is comforting to eat: tomato soup. In Souper Tomatoes, culinary historian Andrew F. Smith tells the definitive story of how tomato soup has become a regular staple in practically every American kitchen. This saga, he writes, "is a juicy tale filled with unexpected twists and turns. It is action packed, peopled with seedsmen and farmers, grocers and scientists, commercial artists and hard-hitting advertisers, and just plain old every-day consumers-all of whom have contributed to the transformation of tomato soup into one of America's favorite dishes."

Smith explores the prehistoric origin of soup and traces its development through the nineteenth century. He then focuses on how the tomato was introduced in Europe and America. Now America-and New Jersey-take center stage, as Smith examines the rise of the canning industry, particularly in New Jersey, and the complex distribution and advertising networks that transformed tomato soup into a household staple. The reader will learn how a scientific whiz at the Joseph Campbell Preserve Company in New Jersey produced the world's first successful condensed soup and persuaded American homemakers to make this bit of canned wizardry a staple food product.

In the evolution of the business from a mom-and-pop shop to a fully automated global business, the tomato has evolved as well. New varieties of this fruit were bred to have traits making them perfect for canning. One of the leading breeds? The Rutgers tomato.

Souper Tomatoes concludes with an investigation of tomato soup as an icon of American life. Over one hundred historical recipes for soups including tomatoes as an ingredient make this book a culinary, as well as a historical, delight.

Andrew F. Smith teaches culinary history at The New School University in Manhattan. He is the author of The Tomato in America: Early History, Culture and Cookery and Pure Ketchup: The History of America's National Condiment.

"Andrew Smith has squeezed out of New Jersey every last drop of tomato lore and history to fashion a readable tale that is as refreshing to read as a cold Bloody Mary on a hot summer day. This book will forever establish New Jersey, not as the Garden State but as the Tomato State."--Joseph M. Carlin, Food Heritage Press