Tag: Botanical fruits

While most people sort produce by color or preparation method, the true classification of vegetables can be viewed from two distinct perspectives: botanical and culinary. These two groups of vegetables explain why some foods, like tomatoes, can be a fruit to a botanist and a vegetable to a chef.

According to the 1893 U.S. Supreme Court case *Nix v. Hedden*, a tomato was legally classified as a vegetable for tax purposes, despite the court acknowledging its botanical status as a fruit. The answer to what fruit is technically a vegetable depends entirely on whether you ask a botanist or a chef.