Cooking with tomato leaves
07. Jul, 2010 
9 Comments
This picture shows the tomato plants in my garden back when they were still healthy. Unfortunately, they’ve since succumbed to a fungal infection (fusarium wilt has been implicated) so we had to pull them all out.
Which is sad not just because it means I don’t get to eat the tomatoes, but also because I’d been hoping to try the tomato leaves. Yes, the leaves!
Ever since seeing Heston Blumenthal add a tomato vine to his pizza sauce on the series In Search of Perfection, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of using tomato greens to add a punch of tomato-y flavour to dishes. This was only reinforced when I read a Harold McGee column last July, and again when eating a tomato dish at Alinea last August where tomato vines were used as an aromatic centrepiece.
Common wisdom has it that tomato leaves are toxic, but McGee argues the scientific evidence of this is slim: while many of the greens in the tomato family are toxic, the compound in tomato greens (also found in green tomatoes, which are commonly eaten) seems not to be. Although others dispute the edibility of tomato greens on the basis of cultural evidence, I’m sufficiently convinced that I’m willing to give it a try. Alas, it was not meant to be, at least not this year.
Have you ever cooked with tomato greens? What did you think?
Matthew Kayahara
You’re welcome to experiment with the leaves from my plants. I’m not sure I’m as adventurous as you.
Haven’t eaten tomato leaves, or even thought about it. I think this is one where you have to grow your own, which we don’t. I’ve never seen tomato leaves sold.
@Lana: Thanks for the offer! I’m not sure I’d eat them as a vegetable, but I feel pretty confident using them as a herb.
@Melissa: Agreed; I’ve never seen them sold, either. The closest thing would be the tomatoes you can get “on the vine” here. Even toxicity aside, I can’t imagines those vines are good eats.
Remember, early Europeans thought tomatoes themselves were toxic.
It seems that while tomato vines, leaves and unripe fruits might contain a small amount of toxic material (tomatine), it’s the concentration that would determine whether it’s harmful to people.
Also, some people deal with the toxicity of unripe tomatoes by frying them.
If you ever get your hands on a rotovap you might want to try distilling some of your tomato leaves. Apparently the tomatine does not come through in the distillation, so you’re left with tomato leaf flavored (and scented) spirits. The technique is described here under “Other Ideas”:
http://www.cookingissues.com/primers/rotovap/
Thanks, Rob, that sounds like a fascinating idea! A rotovap isn’t really in my budget, but I do know a few people who work in labs and who might be able to get me access. The only issue is how food safe the product would be.
Sorry for the (long) delay in responding!
Unfortunately most lab rotovaps are so contaminated that the amount of cleaning required isn’t worth it for only a couple of distillations. I don’t have one either, but I plan to work on fashioning a device that works off of the same principle but costs much less. We’ll see how it goes!
No problem, Rob; thanks for getting back. From what I’ve read, hacking together a cheap rotovap is tough. If you haven’t already read it, you should take a look at Dave Arnold’s post on his efforts to build one. I guess I’ll just have to wait until I win the lottery and can afford to buy a professional one!