Is a Tomato a Fruit or a Vegetable? Both, Depending on Who's Asking
Botanically a fruit, legally a vegetable, culinarily a savory ingredient. The Supreme Court ruled in 1893. Here's why the answer depends on the room you're in.
The tomato is one of botany's favorite trick questions. Walk into a science classroom and the answer is fruit. Walk into a grocery store and the answer is vegetable. Walk into a 1893 US Supreme Court and the answer was also vegetable — but for tariff reasons, not biology. Both definitions are legitimate; neither is wrong; they just answer different questions.