Why do people flip their wigs when it comes to tomatoes?
They go berzerk - but it isn't those pale, mealy globes that we can get
year-round at the supermarkets that inspires these strong feelings. No.
This passionate lunacy is seasonal. It's all about summer, and it's all
about ... Heirlooms.
Heirlooms. The word confers such status to this segment of the vegetal population ... they are precious, handed down to us from people who care about us; people who want the best for us - people who love us. They didn't want us to eat what is grown by some agri-business conglomerate; the kind of produce has been bred for storage and long-haul transportation with maybe a smidge of taste and nutritional value left intact. I found out that the lovely fruits and vegetables we ate before we were duped by convenience were quietly being saved, in the background, by small farmers and home gardeners all over the country... passed down to the next generation like the precious jewels they are. Heirlooms.
The poster child for the heirloom movement is a tomato. A big, beautiful, delicious wonder called 'Brandywine'. Doesn't the name sound juicy and tasty and great? Like you want to hurry up and put some of that in your mouth? The brandywine tomato radicalized the gardening community - there was no way to get that superlative taste other than growing it yourself. Or buying them at farmer's markets. they are simply too delicate, too easily defiled, to be transported the way their cardboard - tasting cousins are.
There are so many wonderful heirloom tomatoes, and I had a hand in writing an article in the glossy pages of DOMINO that gives you recipes so you can fully explore the flavors of these gifts of the summer garden. Here are some of the very best varieties that you absolutely MUST try before the cool winds of autumn make heirloom tomatoes a fond memory.
Jump with me to get my top picks!
Brandywine - was first introduced in 1886, but was lost to mainstream cultivation until an Ohio family gave seeds to Seed Saver's Exchange in 1982. This family had been planting this tomato and saving the seed, the n passing it down a generation for 80 years. The flavor is full, the acid balance is just about perfect, and one thick slice is perfect for a tomato sandwich - add basil, olive oil, salt&pepper, and your favorite bread. YUM!
Beefsteak - I am growing this, and it is a wonder (none have ripened yet, but I have at least 13 HUGE fruits on one vine). The flavor is slightly sweet and the flesh is firm and meaty ... this has been a favorite forever due to its excellent taste, and extreme versatility . Do with it what you will, and it will reward you by being simply divine.
Black Krim - beautiful and yummy... they ripen to a deep purpley-maroon color with green shoulders. They are bursting with intensity, and have a saltiness to them. I just ate the first one from my vegetable garden, and it was outstanding. People go crazy over this one.
Cherokee Purple - let me say it again : Cherokee Purple. Right now, hoards of tomatomaniacs (Shout out to my friend Scott Daigre - the leader of the Tomatomaniacs) are saying "AMEN". Many consider this the very best of the best - you have to taste it. It was inducted into the Slow Food 'Arc of Taste', which is basically the Academy Awards of edible anything.
Green Grape - cute as a button and a must for salads, or eating strait off the vine. Not as sweet as most cherry-sized tomatoes - a little fresher.
Green Zebra - is my favorite tomato! Clean flavors - a bit cucumbery to me, and so ornamental. Very easy to grow, and easy to find at most grocery stores during the summer.
Costoluto Genovese - one pretty tomato, with fluted edges and a deep red color. Meaty and tasty - a great one for eating fresh and using in caprese salads because of its striking good looks. A favorite all over the Mediterranean.
Hawaiian Pineapple - another big one I'm growing, and I can't wait to harvest my first one! This is a sweet tomato, mild and yet somehow classically tomatoesque. It is yellow, with some red striping and a reddish center - I love mixing it with red, purple, and green tomatoes for an over the top salad.
San Marzano - if you want to make sauce, don't you DARE reach for another tomato! Thick and meaty, with next to no juice - perfect to cook with. Those Italian sauce makers know their stuff, thy prefer San Marzano to Romas hands down.
Stupice - is perfect for cooler climates, and is a great all around tomato. Sweet/acid tomato-y flavor.
Vintage Wine - is new to me, but absolutely worth adding to my list of favorites. Firm flesh, slightly sweet, and what a beauty!
Summer is the only time I eat tomatoes - Heirlooms come in for a short amount of time, and so from late June to early October I eat them as much as I can. Sandwiches, salads, pastas - or just standing over my cutting board, sliced, sprinkled with a few grains of Maldon salt. Heaven. And when the season is over, so is my tomato eating. I am loyal - committed. I wait, my hunger for the fruits of summer slowly building. By late March my tastebuds are tingling, by May I can barely stand it - and then comes June ... and the wonderful burst of goodness that comes with the first bite of the season.
OMIGOD - I am SO HUNGRY now!
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