eli5 why the tomato is not a vegetable
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Different groups of people have different definitions for the terms “vegetable” and “fruit”.
The botanical (biologist) definition of fruit is the ripened ovary of a plant (i.e. the part with seeds). The botanical definition of vegetable is any other part of the plant.
The culinary (cook) definition of fruit is a subset of the botanical fruits that includes mostly those fruits that are sweet (in other words, those fruits that we incorporate into dishes like desserts). The culinary definition of vegetable is a plant part that we use in food that isn’t a fruit, spice, or herb.
In other words, if you ask a biologist if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable, they’ll say it’s a fruit. If you ask a cook, they’ll say vegetable because nobody bakes a tomato pie (I mean, we do, but we call them “pizza” rather than “pie” and it’s a savory dish, not a dessert).
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