As we march headlong into the first week of August, we’ve finally reached the moment that we’ve all been eagerly anticipating – tomato season primetime! The farmstalls at our markets are positively brimming with baskets of these brightly hued, juicy orbs. If you’ve had a hankering all summer long for a tomato that truly tastes like a tomato, now is your moment of gustatory salvation. Store-bought tomatoes are a very different proposition when compared to farmers market tomatoes. Grocery store tomatoes are picked before they are fully ripened so they can withstand long periods of storage and transportation (aka “food miles”) before appearing on supermarket shelves. These tomatoes are often selectively bred for thick skins and tough walls. Because they are picked, processed and refrigerated before reaching full maturity, the tomatoes often lack flavor and can taste bland and mealy. This holds especially true when you buy tomatoes during the colder months, as it means the produce has travelled thousands of miles from an entirely different climate before reaching your plate. In contrast, farmers market tomatoes only start to appear in farmstalls when the fruit has reached its full development and maturity. There is nothing quite as ‘tomatoey’ as a farmers market tomato that can transport you back to the time when you first bit into a lush, juicy tomato that tasted just like summer. These tomatoes are plucked from the vine and brought to market to be sold and consumed shortly thereafter at the very peak of ripeness –when their flavor and nutrient-value is at its apex. Well, my friends, that time is now and we should all be making the most of it while it lasts. Before being bred and cultivated by humans over 7,000 years ago, tomatoes grew wild throughout Western South America on the slopes of the Andes Mountain range that stretches down from Colombia to Chile. Back then, scientists believe there were only around 13 distinct varieties of wild plants. Today there exist a whopping 10,000 varieties of tomatoes, most of which are hybridized descendants of their distant Andean relatives. Amongst the riot of colorful cultivars that are currently overflowing our farmstands, there are three standouts that top my list of favorite tomatoes: 1) Sungold Cherry Tomatoes: If tomatoes came in candy form, then Sungolds would be it! These bite-sized orange gems are like consuming little bursts of sunshine with every mouthful. Don’t let their sugary sweetness bely the fact that they are an excellent source of vitamin C, an antioxidant that boosts the immune system. They are also a good source of both potassium and beta-carotene, which is the pigment that gives the fruits their golden-orange hue and is converted into vitamin A by the body. Because they are simply so delicious in their fresh, unadulterated form, Sungolds are best consumed raw as a snack or added to salads, salsa and bruschetta. 2) Jersey Tomatoes: The well-drained loamy and sandy soils of New Jersey have made its iconic tomatoes famous worldwide. One could say that any tomato grown in New Jersey qualifies as a Jersey tomato. However, classic Jersey varietals, including the Ramapo and Rutgers, typically describe tomatoes that are medium to large sized with a thin skin, rich red color, plump and juicy texture, and sweet and tangy flavor. When you purchase Jersey-grown tomatoes at our farmstands, you know they were harvested at their peak ripeness given how little distance they’ve had to travel. Firm and meaty Jersey tomatoes such as the Ramapo make great slicing tomatoes for use in Caprese and Greek salads. 3) Green Zebra Tomatoes: Although it looks like it carries the weight, shape, color and unique sophistication indicative of many years of targeted breeding, the Green Zebra cannot yet be considered an heirloom cultivar. Heirloom defines any tomato that has been selectively bred for over fifty years, whereas the Green Zebra was first developed in the 1980s so it’s got a few more years to go before it reaches much-coveted heirloom status. With its unusual two-tone striping and lime green flesh, the spicy, tangy Green Zebra will brighten up any salad and makes the perfect candidate for your favorite Southern fried green tomato recipe.
