Heirloom tomatoes

[Susann]

I just got back from the farmer's market and was so excited to see all the beautiful varieties of tomatoes available. I ended up getting one of each type, basically, and am looking forward to a tomato tasting. The thing is, I know NOTHING about all of these varieties. Any suggestions?

[lorilei]

Which types did you buy, Susann?

[Susann]

That is a really good question,Lorelei. There was a bin marked heirloom tomatoes and under the bin was a list of names. Unfortunately, I dont remember. One kind is a full sized beautiful burgundy color, one kind is a yellow and green speckled kinda of thing, several yellow varieties (one of which is medium sized and shaped like a bell pepper), another small/medium burgundy one. I know this is probably no help. I will go back next week and write down what I am buying.

[Vanessa]

Susann
Some good types of tomatoes are
Early girl-an early tomato red good for salads
yellow boy - a great tasting and looking yellow tomato (I add it to salsa )
yellow pear is small pearlike tomatoes very cute for salads.
Basically you have
Salad tomatoes (4th of July green zebra (yellow with green stripes)
Plum tomatoes (Roma) for canning, sauces and culinary
Beefsteak for slicing , sauces. Its your biggest tomatoes
Paste and drying tomatoes-like Opalka San Marzano
Depending where you live you will get the variety of tomatoes.

[lorilei]

I'm a little familiar with heirlooms, and it might be fun to try to guess some of what you might have http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Some I can think of off the top of my head are:

HAWAIIAN PINEAPPLE tomatoes are big and yellow/orange & very sweet

EVA PURPLE BALL tomatoes are a pinky/purple color and tend to be found without stem "caps" as they fall off the vine when ripe

BLACK KRIM tomatoes are a deep maroon or burgundy

MANYEL tomatoes are yellow tomatoes with a hint of lemon to their flavor

Any of these ring a bell?

[Pat58]

Susann, the best way to enjoy them in my opinion is raw. The Green Zebra and Black Krim (which I think you have) will go good sliced on sandwiches or in a salad with red leaf lettuce to set off the colors; if you have a very large, pinkish tomato, that is Brandywine - just slice and sprinkle with pepper and savor it. The smaller yellow ones might be Yellow Pear, very good with arugula or other greens and drizzled with a little vinegraitte. Other good choices include a fresh salsa or gazpacho. The only way I would cook such jewels is to slice them onto a focaccia, sprinkle with chopped garlic, olive oil, feta or mozzarella and pepper and basil, and heat briefly. Or broiled on bruschetta. Savor every mouthful for me, my local farmer's market doesn't have such diverse offerings and my garden heirloom tomatoes are not doing well due to a cold and wet summer in New England.

[MrsReber]

My favorites are plum tomatoes. They make great sauces, especially pomodoro sauce! they're also great on brushetta. I like to make sundried tomatoes from them, too. I'm not too sure about the other varieties. Here in NJ, we get great Jersey tomatoes every summer. They are so red and juicy. I use them on my pizza instead of putting sauce on the crust- just a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes. We use them for everything, from soup to salads. This year, I have these little tomatoes growing. They are like cherry tomatoes, but smaller and much sweeter. I've been putting them in all my salads because they are so good.

Sometimes I can find yellow tomatoes at the store. Although they look more orange to me, they have a very different flavor. I've put them on my pizza and they've been very sweet. We also eat them in our salad.

I find that most tomatoes are versatile, though, and I use them interchangably. Have fun!

[Anne]

Hi Susann - what a find. Heirloom tomatoes can be so much better than the mass production varieties typical of the supermarkets. If you get a chance to try brandywine tomatoes by all means give it a shot. I think its one of the very best for flavor. If you like Greek food try baking a pizza crust, chopping up some fresh tomatoe, green onion top, basil, and feta cheese and maybe a few calamata olives and toss with a bit of olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic (and any other fresh herbs you really like) - put on top of the crust and there's dinner. Kinda of a cross between Greek salad and brushetta.

[Susann]

Thanks for all the valuable information. I just made a tomato sandwich with the black krim and it was truly the best tomato sandwich I have ever had. The color alone was astounding!

I am officially addicted to heirloom tomatoes!