Tomatoes are definitely an essential ingredient in Spanish cooking. We enjoy fresh tomatoes many ways—in salads, sliced on French bread or cut in half and eaten like an apple, but with a pinch of salt.The tomato wasn't always essential in Spanish cuisine or any other European cuisine! As you may remember learning in school, tomatoes are natives of the New World and were brought back to Europe by Spaniards in the early 16th century. Because they are part of the nightshade family of plants, which are poisonous, it was thought for many years that tomatoes were, too. They were first cultivated as a decorative plant and not used in food for years. The Spanish word tomate comes from the Aztec word “tomatl.”