During the Atlantic slave trade Europeans introduced tomato plants to Louisiana which it quickly became a staple in local cookery in and around New Orleans. As a port city, New Orleans saw a steady of influx of enslaved Africans imported directly from West and Central Africa as well as indirectly from the Caribbean and the Mississippi Delta. Enslaved Africans grew tomatoes in their subsistence gardens along with other produce, much of from Africa, to supplement to their diet.
