Why Do Fresh Tomatoes Taste So Much Better Than Store-Bought Ones?
I’m not sure I agree that “I grew them myself and watched them ripen on the vine” isn’t part of the answer, or that I’d stop growing tomatoes if I could buy a good one at the supermarket, but I’m looking forward to my first BLT in a couple of weeks.
-
Yep, even the greenhouse ones have no taste. They plant what’s called greens around me, they’re harvested green by hand then put into cold storage. Then before shipping they gas them, then load into the truck and they’re pink to red when they arrive on the east coast.
My plants only have flours on them I’m running a little late this year. I just picked, sliced, and put in the freezer 15pds of apircots. The plums will be ready when I return from Monterey, Calif. next week.
-
Well, you’ve got me beat on pretty much everything but tomatoes, including that cool greenhouse, but I DO have the edge on tomatoes. I’ve got a green mortgage lifter as big around as my fist, lots of smaller green early girls, san marzanos, and better boys, and I’d expect the cherry tomatoes to be red by this weekend.
I CAN’T WAIT for my first BLT of the summer!
Oh, we have had pretty good luck with lettuce and strawberries this summer, and we have a raspberry patch that’s absolutely prolific. My wife likes raspberries. I don’t. It’s sort of unbelievable that our red sails and buttercrunch lettuce are still producing, too. That’ll be the “L” in my first BLT.
-
-
To enjoy good tomatoes, try…
With very thinly sliced garlic (with a razor blade), a touch of salt, and either oregano or basil…
…gazpacho
…salmorejo
… or the very catalonian pa tomaca: toast some “country bread”, take a tooth of garlic and rub it into the bread, then take half a tomato and rub IT on top of the bread/garlic, add some olive oil and a touch of salt (great to go with hard salami).——-
I’ve had to replant almost all of my herb garden. My cilantro was attacked by spider mice, my sage by some sort of aphid – and the only survivors have been the basil and chives. We’ll see how they do with 100ยบ+ temps hereabouts.
——
In this land of gazpacho, I’ve been making tons of vichyssoise:
2 large leeks
1 small potato
1 medium onion
1/2 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of milk
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup of cream (low fat)
2-3 tbsps margarine.Slice the leeks and the onion into very small bits. Put’em in a pot with the margarine and let them “sweat” for around 20 minutes (don’t let them get brown!), covered, stirring frequently.
Add the wine, broth, and finely sliced potatoes. When the potatoes are done, remove from flame and let cool for 1/2 hour.
Add the milk, pass through the blender. Put in fridge until quite cool, then add the cream before serving. Garnish with chives and parsley, serve.
Keeps you cool!
-
That actually sounds pretty good.
Doesn’t gazpacho have tomatoes in it? I hope to have plenty of those, this summer. Got a recipe for that?
(I was going to give you hell for posting about eating healthy, as that’s “un-American”, but I wasn’t sure anyone would get that it would have been a joke.)
-
I thought I’d posted a gazpacho recipe a few years back. This one is pretty straightforward: http://www.spain-recipes.com/gazpacho.html
Some tricks though – the bread should be “old” baguette or similar (leftover, hard), and the vinegar should be from white wine. The cumin option is a must, IMHO.
Instead of toasted bread as a topping, I prefer to fry bread cubes in a small amount of olive oil that has been used to fry garlic. Just let it get golden brown.
If you’re going to have lots of tomatoes, try http://homecooking.about.com/od/howtocookvegetables/a/sundrytomtips.htm – I love the things, and they’re great for salads or for cooking in sauces.
Lastly, if you have fresh basil: http://www.food.com/recipe/tomato-and-basil-sauce-salsa-di-pomodoro-e-basilico-329379 . I add MUCH less sugar (a pinch, depending on the acidity of the tomatoes). The basil is added when you serve (the recipe doesn’t mention it).
Since my health scare I’ve moved to more healthy recipes, as you can see!
-
-
yummy!
-
-
I think the great taste in tomatoes is all about the sun and the soil and how they work together,
-
Here’s another take on it;
Flavor Is Price of Scarlet Hue of Tomatoes, Study Finds
The unexpected culprit is a gene mutation that occurred by chance and that was discovered by tomato breeders. It was deliberately bred into almost all tomatoes because it conferred an advantage: It made them a uniform luscious scarlet when ripe.
Now, in a paper published in the journal Science, researchers report that the very gene that was inactivated by that mutation plays an important role in producing the sugar and aromas that are the essence of a fragrant, flavorful tomato. And these findings provide a road map for plant breeders to make better-tasting, evenly red tomatoes.
-
Dammit! I was about to post this: http://news.yahoo.com/genetic-switch-spice-supermarket-tomato-180249651–finance.html
I remember that the tomatoes in the states were atrocious. Even in California, where you’d expect them to be better as not having to travel so far. So acid! So tasteless!
Spain’s gone culinarily crazy over the past few years. Any given fruit stand has at least 6 types of tomatoes for sale, most quite good.
So much talk about tomatoes – I think I’ll make an insalata caprese tonight!
-
Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
9 comments
Comments feed for this article
Trackback link: http://www.timbuk3.com/discuss/wp-trackback.php?p=8272