I think it is the variety of uses that make them integral. That doesn't
mean they have to be in everything. Corn is integral to Mexican food
but you could certainly avoid it if you needed to.

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Lazarus Cooke wrote:

> In article >, this one
> > wrote:
>
>
>>Tomatoes are ubiquitous in Italy. Between the myriad variants of
>>tomato sauces and the settings where tomatoes served fresh, are
>>pickled, dried and/or salted, they're virtually omnipresent.
>
>
> Sorry, this is just plain wrong. They aren't. I spend a fair amount of
> each year in Italy (my wife is Italian). I agree with Arri London on
> this. Also, he didn't say he doesn't like tomatoes. Indeed he said he
> had them in salads.
>