Monday, July 27, 2009

What's in Season: Heirloom tomatoes (Part 2)

Posted by Jonathan Bender on Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 11:02 AM

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​Heirloom tomatoes come in more than 600 varietals -- so that means you've got a lot of options when you're thinking about what to make for dinner.

"I look at tomatoes like women: You don't just want the pretty face, you need a little personality," says farmer Brooke Salvaggio.

Salvaggio notes as a general rule of thumb that the darker the tomato, the fuller the flavor. Yellow tomatoes might offer a nice balance of color to fresh salsa and are likely not very pulpy. Red varietals are your base tomatoes that can be used in sauce.

The darker tomatoes, purple or black varietals, should be enjoyed raw. Here you want to look for Salvaggio's favorite: the Japanese black trifele. The shape is more like a pear than a tomato and the flesh has a variety of tastes. The base and core have an intense meaty flavor, almost smoky. This is one of the darkest tomatoes available and has a richness you would expect from the color.

"It's a shame to cook tomatoes with this much flavor. Start with thick

slices. Then add some fresh basil, sea salt, a bit of balsamic vinegar

and olive oil," says Salvaggio.

If you don't want to cook the tomatoes but are sick of salads, gazpacho is a good option.

In addition to variations in color, heirloom tomatoes can feature

stripes or polka dots. Among these are green zebra tomatoes -- green

with yellow vertical stripes. These have a tart, almost slightly sweet

flavor, and do well fried or could be paired with a citrus dish

like lemon chicken.

You're always left with a fair amount of tomato juice and pulp after slicing or chopping -- so, try a tomato water martini -- beats a bloody mary any day.

 

Seeds are widely available online, so you can try different varietals at market this year in preparation for growing your own next year.  

This is part two of our Heirloom tomato coverage. Part one is here.

[Image via Flickr: foodistablog]

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