Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? This question makes me smile because they are both. The same can be said of cucumbers, peppers, zucchini and any part of a plant that contains seeds. I often wonder why we ponder this question over tomatoes but rarely other plants.
For culinary purposes, tomatoes are classified as vegetables. However, the part of the plant we eat is the fruit. The part of any flowering plant which holds seeds is botanically the fruit of the plant.
When we eat a carrot or beet, we’re eating roots. With asparagus and celery, we eat stems. Broccoli and cauliflower are immature flowers, and when we eat tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, snap beans and snow peas, we’re eating a fruit. With sweet corn, dry beans, and often peas, we only eat seeds.
