Heirloom tomatoes are all the rage these days. And why not? They are beautiful in their imperfections and their taste is almost always out-of-this-world good. So much better than those mealy grocery store tomatoes we've been mindlessly eating all these years. Two different little items came my way yesterday having to do with these darlings of the tomato world, and the synchronicity was just too much to bear. A post was in order.
First, via Yumsugar, I discovered that Santa Sweets, the company behind the Uglyripe, runs an "Ugly Tomato" contest. This year they received so many submissions that they were forced to pick ten winners. Each one of the winners was a doozy, most with many lobes, cracks and crannies. They aren't particularly lovely to look at, but I'm sure they tasted amazing.
Just a few hours later, Matt Billings sent us a link to the set of photos he took (the pic up top is his) of the heirlooms he bought at Eastern Market this last weekend. His pictures have the power to make tomato lovers weak in the knees and offer an interesting contrast to the "ugly" pictures from the Santa Sweet's page.
There you go. Tomato food porn at its best and worse. Now if you'll excuse me, I do believe there's a tomato in my kitchen calling my name.
How about some heirloom cranberries to go with your heritage turkey this year? Small farmers are growing varieties of cranberries that haven't been seen commercially in decades, including native berries that are the same as the originals harvested by American Indians and early settlers. Many of these varieties are dry picked using old fashioned equipment because the berries are more delicate than the commercial ones which are scooped up from flooded bogs. I never knew that there were so many cranberry varieties: Cropper, Champion, Centennial, Jersey, Early Richards, Beckwith, Wilcox, and Bluebells. Some are smaller than the commercial types, and others can be tear drop shaped. They may have sweeter, more floral, or tangier tastes. Cranberries with a depth of flavor to them with more of the essence of that ideal cranberry taste. If you are lucky there may be some of these tasty cranberries available at local markets and farmers markets in your area. Take a look at the article for a small list of places in the South Jersey / PA area. For the rest of us it may take a bit of hunting to find them. If you do please share the info with us. I would love to make some cranberry liqueur with a batch of heirloom fruit.
It takes awhile to notice them, but new apple varieties are starting to show up on a regular basis.Over the past few years I have been getting to know some of the heirloom varieties like Winesaps that were popular many years ago and now are starting to become so again. Add in the newly released varieties like my new favorite, the Honey Crisp, and I'm starting to get overwhelmed with apples. Did you know that there are over a thousand types of apples grown in the US! Some of the newest apples to try are the Zestar! if you are lucky enough to find it and the SnowSweet. It takes apx. 40 years for a new apple variety to be developed, approved, and make it into the stores. So even when you are eating a new variety it still has decades of history behind it.
While the name gets thrown around a lot, especially with the ever-increasing discussion of shopping at local farmers markets and avoiding conventionally grown, mass produced produce, many consumers still wonder what heirloom tomatoes really are.
While some feel that a set, defined time limit of 50 or 100 years must be included in the definition of an heirloom plant, the short definition of an heirloom tomato is that it is an open-pollinated tomato plant, meaning that it is naturally pollinated by exposure to birds, insects and animals. Hybrid plants, the commercially grown tomatoes, do not always produce reliable, viable seeds due to the fact that some (if not most) of the crosses used to generate the plants were done artificially.
The more traditional tomatoes, those that are often seen in supermarkets and the majority of restaurants, have been bred to enhance certain characteristics besides flavor. For example, many have been selected for disease resistance or for having a slightly thicker skin, which makes them hold up better during shipping. Most of these conventional tomatoes are close to spherical and very red in color. Their flavor is ordinary, with little "wow" factor.
I had almost forgotten about an old New Yorkerprofile of David Karp, Fruit Detective, until Bad Things posted a link to it along with a new Karp article on heirloom strawberries. As his title suggests, Karp is an investigator of fruits, a scout for specialty stores and a writer. By all accounts, he's very passionate, some would say crazed, about finding and tasting rare or outstanding fruit specimens. The strawberry piece finds him following a horticulturist around fields outside of Miami in search of new crossbreeds of prized musk strawberries. The photo of Karp comes from a short Smithsonianinterview, wherein he explains the pith helmet, among other things.
Although it's a few years old, a Christian Science Monitor story about Peru's diverse yet dwindling variety of tubers is still fascinating. In a scenario not uncommon to "heirloom" produce, the thousands of varieties of potatoes developed by Andean farmers over the last 8,000 years are falling out of favor due to newer varieties that are cheaper and easier to grow. The CSM cites a few varieties whose names translate to things like "flat like a cow's tongue," "like a woman with the colors of a condor's neck," and "makes the daughter-in-law weep." The latter apparently refers to a very bumpy potato used to test a prospective wife's peeling skills. The International Potato Center, based in Peru, is one of the main forces trying to conserve the region's tubers. Their Potato Park is one example. According to the CSM, the Center also maintains a gene bank with over 8,000 different potato specimens, half of which come from the Andes.
The tiger tomato has just made its formal
debut at Marks & Spencer stores in Britain. The tomatoes are small, about the size of cherry tomatoes, but have
dark red flesh accented with green stripes. Apparently, there is a growing demand for "novelty produce" to
the point where farmers in the Isle of Wight are frantically working to develop new types of tomatoes. One of the next
to hit the shelves will be the "strawmato," said to be very sweet and designed to pair with melted chocolate.
I can't honestly say that I like the idea of a tomato dipped in melted chocolate, no matter how sweet it is. I do,
however, understand the desire for new and more unusual forms of produce. Isn't that why heirloom tomatoes and other
less conventional fruits and veggies are popular? In fact, these tiger tomatoes sound like dwarf versions of the red zebra tomatoes, but perhaps more brightly
colored.
How about some 
It takes awhile to notice them, but new apple varieties are starting to show up on a regular basis.Over the past few years I have been getting to know some of the heirloom varieties like Winesaps that were popular many years ago and now are starting to become so again. Add in the newly released varieties like my new favorite, the 
While the name gets thrown around a lot, especially with the ever-increasing discussion of shopping at local farmers markets and avoiding conventionally grown, mass produced produce, many consumers still wonder what heirloom tomatoes really are.
I had almost forgotten about an old New Yorker 
Although it's a few years old, a Christian Science Monitor 
The 
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