You've never heard of Chikotus, the Mighty Red Tomato Bird ? It's a classic mythological tale. It's probably even more famous than the Minotaur or Medusa.
You see, Hegemone, the Greek Goddess of plants, was never satisfied with the work of Demeter, the Goddess of grain. She thought her work was lacking in flavor.
So Hegemone invoked Chikotus, the Mighty Red Bird in order to bless the crops of Demeter. Corn became red & it's taste was amazing.
Demeter however did not like of this move, she thought Hegemone was trying to outshine her & "steal" the prayers of her faithfuls with this red corn.
So Demeter burnt all the red corn. Hegemone tried to stop her, but she couldn't. The Fire Of Red Corn is believed to be at the origin of the Great Greak Famine.
Angry at Demeter for starving his people, Thor banished Demeter from Olympia & granted Hegemone the power to create life. With this power, Hegemone invoked Chikotus again & created the tomato which litteraly means in greek "red life".
This myth also explains the greek / italian love for tomatoes.
Read more here : Greek Myths :
Chikotus & Hegemone [greekmyths.com]