Good Taste / August 2007
Early Girls, Big Boys and Green Zebras
To everything, there is a season and to every purpose, a tomato. There are tomatoes shaped like bells, cherries, eggs, plums, pears, strawberries, sausages, and, even square tomatoes for sandwiches. Special types are grown for slicing, canning, juice, juice, paste, stuffing, sauce and salad. Besides a rainbow of reds, oranges and yellows, there are pink and white tomatoes, purple and black tomatoes and striped tomatoes, imaginatively designated Green Grape, Green Zebra, Brandywine, Black Cherry, Yellow Pear and Purple Haze.
Tomatoes are members of the Solanaceae or Nightshade family and have plenty of poisonous cousins like mandrake and belladonna. But it’s a big family, with plenty of non-poisonous members including peppers, eggplant and petunias.
Americans spend over a billion dollars yearly on tomatoes, consuming up to 18 pounds per person of fresh ones, and over 20 pounds of processed products. That doesn’t count tomatoes in the home gardens and patios of 35 million families. Florida, California and Georgia are the top commercial producing states. China, the US, Turkey, India and Egypt are the top tomato producing countries, but tomatoes are grown worldwide, with thousands of cultivars.
The first small, wild tomato most certainly originated in South America, becoming domesticated during migration to Central America. At least some tomatoes were in wide cultivation when conquistadors arrived in the Yucatan of Mexico. Aztec writings mention dishes of peppers, salt and tomatoes (sounds like salsa!).
Tomatoes probably crossed the Atlantic shortly after the Spanish explorer Cortez came a’conquering in 1521. Their earliest European mention was in 1544. Northern European countries originally regarded tomatoes as a horticultural curiosity, but by 1623 had recognized red, yellow, orange and golden varieties. The first cookbook to mention tomatoes was published in Naples in 1692. Plants were brought from Britain to North America by colonists as ornamentals and used medicinally for treating skin infection.
Thomas Jefferson first served tomatoes in1781 and planted them in 809. His daughters left numerous tomato recipes, including tomato soup, green tomato pickles, tomato preserves, and tomato omelettes. The first Fanny Farmer cookbook, published in the late 1890s, included recipes for tomato soups, salads and sauces
Before 1890, when mechanized peeling tables were put into use, all tomato canning was done by hand. By 1897, Campbell’s put tomato soup on the American table for ummm good.
Botanically, tomatoes are a fruit, a berry really, since fruits are the edible part of a plant containing seeds, while vegetables are the edible root, stems or leaves of the plant. However, tomatoes are by law and convention, a vegetable.
Cultivated tomatoes vary in size from cherry tomatoes, about the same as the wild tomato, up to beefsteak tomatoes 4-5 inches in diameter. A medium tomato has 28 calories. All tomatoes are a source of vitamins A, C K, B1 and B6 and contain significant amounts of lycopene, beta-carotene, magnesium, niacin, iron, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin and thiamine. Even canned tomatoes retain most of their nutrients. Although available year-round, tomatoes are best appreciated in season, from July through September.
Many factors contribute to tomato taste, but the most important ones are sugar and acid concentration. High sugars and high acids are needed for best flavor. Each variety has a different taste, but two tomatoes from the same type can have a slightly different taste, depending on climate or soil type. Home cultivars are usually bred strictly for flavor while commercial cultivars are bred for consistent size and shape, disease and pest resistance, and suitability for mechanized picking and shipping.
Many people feel the new hybrid cultivars bred for size and yield have overlooked taste, and prefer the flavor of heirloom cultivars. Heirlooms present greater variety, but typically have lower yields and lower disease resistance.
Tomato cultivars are roughly divided into categories, based mostly on shape and size. “Slicing” or “globe” tomatoes are the usual tomatoes of commerce. Beefsteak are large tomatoes often used for sandwiches and as a side dish. Oxheart tomatoes range in size up to beefsteaks, and are shaped like large strawberries. Plum tomatoes, or paste tomatoes, are bred with a higher solid content for use in tomato sauce and paste and are usually oblong shaped. Cherry tomatoes are small, round, often sweet tomatoes, generally eaten whole in salads. Grape tomatoes are smaller and oblong or pear-shaped, also used in salads.
Tomatoes are often picked green then ripened in storage with ethylene, a gas that acts as the molecular cue to begin the ripening process. Tomatoes ripened this way tend to keep longer but have poorer flavor, color and texture than plant-ripened tomatoes.
The tomatoes “on the vine” in grocery stores are harvested still connected to a piece of vine. Premiumly priced, they may have more flavor than artificially ripened tomatoes but still less than local garden produce. Locally grown tomatoes, though perhaps less attractive, are almost always the buyer’s best bet. Unlike flavor, beauty is only skin deep. Fragrance may be a better indicator of a good tomato than color. The stem should retain the garden aroma of the plant itself.
Tomatoes are one of the most common garden fruits in the US and cultivar names like Mule Team, Box Car Willie, Mortgage Lifter and Hazel Mae testify to the longstanding relationship. Diced, sliced, sauced or sauteed, tomatoes are an American staple and a summer delight. PL
Tom-acado Corn Salsa
2 small to medium ripe avocados, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
1 C fresh or frozen corn kernels
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and finely diced
2 to 3 TBSP lime juice
1 TBSP finely chopped fresh cilantro
½ to 1 tsp minced hot green chile peppers
½ tsp salt
In a medium bowl, gently combine avocado, corn kernels, tomatoes, lime juice, cilantro, chile peppers, and salt. Cover and refrigerate until ready to be served.
Tomato-Pepper Salad
2 TBSP Pure Olive Oil
2 TBSP Chianti Red Wine Vinegar
1 large green sweet pepper, cored, seeded, 1-inch dice
1 seedless cucumber, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into half-inch pieces
1 small,sweet onion, peeled, halved and sliced lengthwise in thin strips
3 large tomatoes, cut into 8 wedges or 2 pkgs (8oz each) Baby Roma Tomatoes, halved.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Whisk oil and vinegar together in large bowl. Add pepper, cucumber, onion, and tomato to bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper; toss gently. Wait 15 min before serving.
Scalloped Tomatoes
2 C cooked tomatoes
2 TBSP butter
1 C soft bread cubes
salt and pepper
buttered bread crumbs
Fill a buttered baking dish with alternate layers of well-seasoned cooked tomatoes, butter, and bread cubes. Cover with buttered bread crumbs. Bake at 350° F. for 35 minutes. Serves 6.
Baked Tomatoes
6 fresh whole tomatoes
6 tsp vinegar
6 whole cloves
6 tsp brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350°. Core tomatoes, leaving skin on. Put 1 tsp vinegar, 1 tsp brown sugar, and one clove in each cored tomato. Place tomatoes in baking dish and bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Tomatoes should be slightly browned. Serves 6.
Green Tomato Hash
2 C leftover chopped beef, pork or ham
1 C diced raw potatoes
2 TBSP butter
½ C diced green tomatoes
¼ C chopped onion
salt and pepper, to taste
Combine ingredients; mix well. Turn into a buttered casserole and bake at 325° for 1 hour. Serves 4.
Red, Right and Blue Baked Tomatoes
4 medium tomatoes, peeled
1 C thick Blue Cheese Dressing
¼ C sliced green onion
4 bacon slices, cooked crisp and crumbled
4 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
Slice stem end from tomatoes. Using a sharp knife, make 3-4 vertical cuts on top of tomato, cutting about halfway through tomato. Place cut side up, in ungreased 8-inch square baking dish. Pour ¼ inch of water into baking dish. Preheat broiler. In a small bowl, combine salad dressing and green onions; spoon a heaping tablespoon of mixture over each tomato. Broil 4 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned. Remove from oven and garnish with crumbled bacon and parsley to serve. Serves 4.
Tomato Pudding
2 cans (28 ounces each) crushed tomatoes with juice
1 C brown sugar, packed
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
pinch baking soda
3 C toasted white bread cubes
½ C butter, melted
fresh parsley sprigs, optional
Grease a 3-quart baking dish. In a bowl, combine tomatoes, sugar, paste, mustard, soda, and salt. Place bread cubes in baking dish; drizzle with melted butter. Pour tomato mixture over bread. (May refrigerate up to 4 hours before cooking if needed) Bake at 375° for 35 to 40 minutes. Garnish with fresh parsley sprigs, if desired. Serves 8 to 10.
Tomato Pie
Pastry for a 1-crust 9-inch pie, unbaked
evaporated milk
4 C sliced firm ripe tomatoes
1½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
¼ to ½ tsp dried leaf basil
1/3 C mayonnaise
1/3 C Parmesan cheese
1 large clove garlic, smashed and minced
Line pie plate with pastry; flute edges and brush shell with evaporated milk. Bake at 450° for 5 minutes. Fill baked pie shell with sliced tomatoes and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and basil. Combine mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, and minced garlic; spread over the layer of tomatoes. Bake at 350° for 35 to 45 minutes, or until tomatoes are cooked.
Baked Apple Tomato
4 large, ripe tomatoes
½ C currants
½ C walnuts, chopped
¼ C dried cranberries (or golden raisins)
2½ TBSP honey
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
1½ C apple juice
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.. Slice tops off tomatoes and remove pulp, leaving shells intact. Turn shells upside down and drain on paper towels. Mix all remaining ingredients, except apple juice, together. Stuff tomatoes with the mixture. Put tomatoes in a deep baking dish and pour apple juice in bottom. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove tomatoes with slotted spoon and chill. Reduce apple juice on top of stove until it becomes syrupy, chill and spoon sauce over tomatoes to serve.
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