Professional tips for buying tomatoes

The Late Night Gourmet

The Late Night Gourmet

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Ever wonder why the tomatoes you buy at the supermarket look so perfect but taste so bland? Here are a pro's tips for buying tomatoes that taste like...tomatoes:

http://www.doctoroz.com/article/4-great-tips-buying-delicious-tomatoes

1. The uglier, the better. Tomatoes aren't supposed to look perfect. If they look weird, they're probably natural, and will probably taste better.

2. Choose organic hot house tomatoes. Especially when out of season, this means the tomato ripened on the vine instead of being artificially ripened after the fact.

3. If you can't buy local, buy big box. Ideally, a local farm is always best. But, if you can't get to one, Megastores like Costco have contracts with farms, meaning better quality than supermarkets.

4. If tomatoes don't need to be freshly sliced, use San Marzano canned tomatoes. These will be better quality than starting with an inferior fresh tomato. They're grown under ideal conditions, and they're from Italy...what more do you need to know?
 
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The Late Night Gourmet said:
Ever wonder why the tomatoes you buy at the supermarket look so perfect but taste so bland? Here are a pro's tips for buying tomatoes that taste like...tomatoes:

http://www.doctoroz.com/article/4-great-tips-buying-delicious-tomatoes

1. The uglier, the better. Tomatoes aren't supposed to look perfect. If they look weird, they're probably natural, and will probably taste better.

2. Choose organic hot house tomatoes. Especially when out of season, this means the tomato ripened on the vine instead of being artificially ripened after the fact.

3. If you can't buy local, buy big box. Ideally, a local farm is always best. But, if you can't get to one, Megastores like Costco have contracts with farms, meaning better quality than supermarkets.

4. If tomatoes don't need to be freshly sliced, use San Marzano canned tomatoes. These will be better quality than starting with an inferior fresh tomato. They're grown under ideal conditions, and they're from Italy...what more do you need to know?
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The organic tomatoes I buy taste gorgeous, but they are not hot house tomatoes. Sometimes they come on the vine, sometimes they don't - this may of course depend on which of their farms the tomatoes come from.

Quite coincidentally, the Riverford blog last week contained the following comment re their tomatoes:

"Time is also running out for our tomatoes. Sown in February under glass and planted out in unheated tunnels in April, picking starts in late July. By mid October, with light levels and temperatures dipping, flavour deteriorates and ripening slows so we start ripping them out and planting the polytunnels with winter salads. The market for green tomato chutney is limited so last week we “stopped” the plants (ie. removed the leading shoot) to encourage them to fill and ripen the fruit already set. It’s a race against time to hit the 40 tonnes of tomatoes we budgeted for this year as we’ve only picked 12 tonnes so far; we desperately need sun for ripening to catch up, but flavour is surprisingly good despite the grey skies. We could heat the tunnels to extend our tomato season as most commercial growers do, but the CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels to heat uninsulated greenhouses make this environmental madness; indeed if greenhouses contained humans rather than tomatoes, building regulations would make it illegal."

I never put tomatoes in the fridge, unless they are very, very ripe. I occasionally buy tomatoes from the supermarket, and these are always left in the cupboard until they have ripened up a lot more - they taste better too that way, but they still can't compare with organic ones, and I usually only use them for cooking, whereas I use organic ones in salads as well.

I keep a few cans of tomatoes in the cupboard too, but only use these in cooking dishes which have a lot of liquid (such as curries and, sometimes, tomato sauce). It is surprising how tinned tomatoes vary in flavour or the amount of liquid involved, and even that can have a bearing on how and when I use them.
 
I buy my tomatoes either at the main La Mercat de La Boqueria or the Farmer´s Markets.

My grandmothers and mothers have always told me: " Never buy a fruit or a vegetable that does not impart aromas" ..

I only buy bio / organic or naturally grown tomatoes which is very easy here to do ..

I use my tomatoes for salads and fresh Marinara so they must be red, ripe but firm (not mushy), aromatic and juicy. I usually buy On Vine or Pear and for salads, sometimes I buy Spanish Raf ..

I use bio organic San Marzano fresh and tinned imported from Italy for pasta sauces as well, from an Italian friend who is a rep for an Italian boutique firm ..

I do not refrigerate tomatoes, like Elawin ..

Have a lovely day ..
 
I received these gratis from an Idaho friend here a while ago.

Bobs tomatoes s.jpg
 
I'm staying with my friend at the moment and a neighbour gave us some tomatoes freshly picked from his garden. They look delicious - plump and red. Unfortunately they taste of virtually nothing and have an unpleasant 'cotton wool' texture. So, appearance can be deceptive.
 
morning glory said:
I'm staying with my friend at the moment and a neighbour gave us some tomatoes freshly picked from his garden. They look delicious - plump and red. Unfortunately they taste of virtually nothing and have an unpleasant 'cotton wool' texture. So, appearance can be deceptive.
Click to expand...

I was told some time ago that a little sprinkling of sugar on a tomato would enhance the flavour. The same guy told me that a sprinkling of salt on a strawberry would give the same result.
 
@Yorky

It is common practice to put a pinch of sugar in tomato sauce while simmering it, to " eliminate the bitterness that may be imparted if you have not de-seeded or peeled the tomatoes " .. I de-seed, I peel & I put in a pinch of sugar ..

As far as fresh strawberries go, as we are growers, I have never heard about using a pinch of salt on fresh ripe but firm strawberries ..

Have a lovely weekend ..
 
When I do not have tomatoes from my garden I shop the Farmer's Markets. There are at least 4 in my city. There are also 2 locally owned produce markets that feature home grown produce. Super market tomatoes have no flavor. Even the tomatoes sold "on the vine" are force ripened.

The older I get the pickier I get.

You are all so polite. I guess I need to wish you all a lovely evening.

Have patience with me. I am learning the forum protocol.
 
Francesca said:
Photo Copyright: Francesca Guillamet ..

The last tomatoes I had purchased ( 1 crate ) before I left for Carcassonne, France ..

View attachment 9975
Click to expand...

@ElizabethB

These were purchased at a tiny Farmer´s Market and they were absolutely wonderful .. I used them for salads ..

I do not buy my veggies or fruit or meat / fish / poultry in a typical supermarket .. In Spain, there is a Gourmet Hyper Market in the only Department Store in Spain, called El Corte Inglés and this is a gem of a store for foreign products, wines, rices, pastas, cheeses, charcuterie, and just about all boxed or bagged or tinned (tunafish) ítems ( we buy beans in Linen Bags ) .. However, I only purchase here when I am not on High Season Tourism Season ..

My daily shopping is at the Main Farmer´s Market La Mercat de La Boqueria on the Las Ramblas in the historic Bari Gotti of Barcelona ..

Must run .. Coffee break is over and we are off to the historic district of Montpellier, 1 hour and 30 minutes west of Marseille ..

Have a lovely weekend ..
 
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These are the organic cherry tomatoes which were delivered this morning. They are not ripe yet, but are in the cupboard next to my oven. Hopefully they should be a lovely rich red and sweet-tasting by the weekend.

WP_20170828_18_47_16_Pro.jpg
 
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