I picked out several varieties of tomatoes at the farmers' market with the idea of a little taste testing.
My daughter came over for dinner, and dinner was a mini tomato tasting.
It was over 100 degrees again today, and neither of us were very hungry. So this was dinner. Warm bread sticks, a little wine, and tomatoes.
We tasted these heirloom tomatoes: Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, and Old German.
I also threw in a beefsteak tomato, not heirloom.
The above Cherokee Purple was our favorite. It was sweet and had the clear tomato flavor one expects.
Brandywine was our second favorite. It had a stronger, more acid flavor, yet still sweet.
The first taste of Green Zebra was a surprise. It was kind of sharp and sour. My daughter said it would be good in Mexican food, salsa etc. Then she salted it and tried it again. We had not salted any of the tomatoes. Wow! It really changed the flavor of Green Zebra. Now we described it as tangy and crisp in flavor. We really liked it.
Neither of us liked the Old German at all, It had no flavor, but to be fair, it was less ripe than all the others. But I think it still might be too mild for our taste.
I didn't even take a photo of the beefsteak tomato. By itself it was not that flavorful, but it works great for sandwiches, and with mayo and good old white bread, it is perfect.
The above tomatoes all came in one box, and I don't know what they are. Except, since we liked the plum shaped ones the best (see location at 12 and 6 above). I did some research. They are also an heirloom Russian black plum tomato. Blackish purple on the inside, they taste a lot like the Cherokee Purple.
What tomatoes do you like? Do you grow heirloom tomatoes? I would really like to know what ones you think are good.
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