# Does Middle Eastern cuisine use a lot of tomatoes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [February 20, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-middle-eastern-cuisine-use-a-lot-of-tomatoes/1027853 "2026-02-20T17:16:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-middle-eastern-cuisine-use-a-lot-of-tomatoes/1027853/41 "2026-02-22T20:20:35Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > by definition Right. Therefore, as asserted above, you can’t propagate cherry from bush tomatoes. Done now, off-topic. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2026, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-middle-eastern-cuisine-use-a-lot-of-tomatoes/1027853/42 "2026-02-23T02:03:27Z")
That explains all the potholes in “Moontreal”. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2026, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-middle-eastern-cuisine-use-a-lot-of-tomatoes/1027853/43 "2026-02-23T09:07:45Z")
Uhhh…no. Bush tomatoes are a plant growth type, cherry tomatoes are a fruit size and the two aren’t really connected. There are bush cherry tomatoes, from which you can of course propagate more bush cherry tomatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2026, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-middle-eastern-cuisine-use-a-lot-of-tomatoes/1027853/44 "2026-02-23T12:13:34Z")
My wife is half Persian and cooks a lot of Persian and middle eastern food and the she does use tomatoes but not especially excessively when cooking actual recipes (in her own cooking she uses tomatoes because she likes them). Two places I can think of where tomatoes are used specifically are: Shakshuka is a breakfast dish where eggs are cooked with tomato sauce. Often in Persian restaurants if you order a Kabab you will get a roasted tomato as a side dish/garnish. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-middle-eastern-cuisine-use-a-lot-of-tomatoes/1027853/45 "2026-02-23T17:40:37Z")
I like to cook eastern med and middle eastern food, and my nephew-in-law is Iranian. I don’t think they use more or less tomatoes than many western cuisines. Obviously there’s a big focus on fresh vegetables and chopped salads, and tomatoes clearly feature. But no more than onions, peppers, cucumbers etc. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2026, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-middle-eastern-cuisine-use-a-lot-of-tomatoes/1027853/46 "2026-02-23T22:07:33Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Often in Persian restaurants if you order a Kabab you will get a roasted tomato as a side dish/garnish. Our favorite Lebanese place does the same. Super yum. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-middle-eastern-cuisine-use-a-lot-of-tomatoes/1027853/47 "2026-02-24T05:11:15Z")
I found that whole earlier interchange about the Columbian exchange interesting. Why would any area’s cuisine be frozen in time to before 1492? Regional cuisines are no less authentic for incorporating American ingredients. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-middle-eastern-cuisine-use-a-lot-of-tomatoes/1027853/48 "2026-02-24T08:42:37Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Why would any area’s cuisine be frozen in time to before 1492? They weren’t. The point of mentioning the Columbian exchange is that there were plants grown in the western hemisphere (North America, South America, Greenland, the Caribbean islands, etc.) which weren’t grown in the eastern hemisphere (Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, etc.). There were plants grown in the eastern hemisphere which weren’t grown in the western hemisphere. That slowly changed after 1492. Yes, there were slow changes in the cuisines of many places in the world before then, but plants didn’t just take off and fly by themselves halfway around the world. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-middle-eastern-cuisine-use-a-lot-of-tomatoes/1027853/49 "2026-02-24T11:51:47Z")
All of which I obviously know, given I used the term of art “Columbian exchange” in my own post. I _still_ don’t see the significance for _current_ Middle Eastern cuisine, any more than bringing up the New World origin of chilis in a thread on Thai food adds anything to _that_ discussion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-middle-eastern-cuisine-use-a-lot-of-tomatoes/1027853.md?page=2)