Green Enchilada Sauce

I thought that Tomatillos were a different fruit (and plant) to a tomato?

I thought that Tomatillos were a different fruit (and plant) to a tomato?

They are, but they are sometimes known as green tomatoes, even though they are not.  We had some la Preferide toms and on one side of the can it said Tomatillos and on the other it said Green Tomatoes.

Steve Waters from South Devon Chili said he would be growing tomatillos this year, he grew some a couple of summers ago.

Ah, interesting - remembering back to Spanish class I think Tomatillo just means "small tomato" in Spanish?

I guess the different usage is a Mexican-Spanish thing like the different tortillas.

If anyone's interested; when I was buying this years tomato plants the suppliers had a few varieties of Tomatillo available as well.

(crossposted with barbara)

Ah, interesting - remembering back to Spanish class I think Tomatillo just means "small tomato" in Spanish?

The -illo suffix in colloquial Spanish has a number of uses, it can mean "little" but it can also mean "-like" (as in similar to) so that tomatillo can mean "tomato-like", or "tomatoish" which sounds about right, because the tomatillo, Physalis philadelphica, the key ingredient in fresh and cooked Latin American green sauces, is not actually a true tomato. Although it is related. It is also called husk tomato, jamberry, husk cherry, mexican tomato, or ground cherry.

All this talk forced me to make nachos for dinner tonight.  They were yummy!!