Posted by Erin Zimmer, August 27, 2008 at 1:45 PM
www.spiegel.de
Every last Wednesday in August, the tiny town of Buñol, Spain (not far from València) trucks in a bunch of overripe, juicy tomatoes for the annual La Tomatina. After a rocket signals the start of the midday battle, it's go-time. Tomatoes become awesome projectiles, and the best part about the now sixty-year old tradition? Nobody knows how it first started. Not that people need a reason to launch tomatoes.
Since the slaughter only lasts for an hour, it's over now. But how bad do you want to be dripping with tomato guts this time next year?
Posted by Jen Maiser, August 21, 2008 at 1:15 PM
Many of us in the Bay Area are unusually obsessed with food and freely admit it. Still, the extent of our obsession can even take me by surprise.
The Thursday morning San Rafael farmers' market in Marin County is a joy. Relatively mellow and full of the area's best farmers, it's a very pleasant experience. Plus, odds are good that you'll run into a well-known chef or two purchasing fruits and vegetables for their restaurants.
Back to the Bay Area food obsession. While tasting stone fruits at the Kashiwase Farm booth recently, trying to find my favorite nectarine, a nearby four-year old walked up with his mother. "Mom, remember last week I liked the Flavor Kings the best," he reminded her. I had to laugh. Is the level of our obsession so great that kids not only know about pluots, but can identify their favorite varietal? To me, it's a refreshing scene—I'd much rather the four-year olds identify fruit varietals than the Jonas Brothers.
Cherry Tomatoes in Action
As you've been reading in other Market Scene reports, tomatoes are showing up at farmers' markets all over the country—it's no different in the Bay Area.
Over the past few years, I've avoided cherry tomatoes. So ubiquitous and overly sweet, they are usually inferior to the more acidic, complex heirloom tomatoes. But this season, I find myself returning to cherry tomatoes, inspired by creative uses at local restaurants.
Continue reading »
Posted by Alaina Browne, August 16, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Photograph from Manjith Kainickara on Flickr
Nomato or Tonoto. That's what I'd propose calling what you find at the grocery store in the middle of winter, visually resembling a tomato but pale in color and completely tasteless. The nomato or tonoto is nothing like the tomato you'll find this time of year at your local farmers' market—vibrantly colored, sweet, and juicy. Tomato season means tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes! To celebrate, we've chosen a few recipes that will really sing with the freshest and most perfectly ripened tomatoes.
Tomato Recipes
Patricia Well's Tomato and Strawberry Gaspacho
The Silver Palate's Tomato, Montrachet, and Basil Salad
Stuffed Tomato Nests
Dorie Greenspan's Tomato-Cheese Tartlets
Pasta with Tomatoes, Corn, and Feta
Salina-Style Spaghettini with Cherry Tomatoes
Mario Batali's Spaghetti al Pomodoro
Posted by Leah Greenstein, August 4, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Golden Jubilee tomatoes.
The Hollywood Farmers' Market (at Ivar Avenue & Selma Avenue; map) looked like a gem show yesterday with hues of ruby, garnet, and citrine spilling across most farmers' tables. It's August and tomatoes are finally here, and their sweet, fruity, meaty perfume will spin you around like a child on a merry-go-round. Your mind surges with the possibilities: heirloom tomato tarts, gazpacho, caprese salads, tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and salt, tomatoes out of hand, tomatoes with ricotta and fresh herbs on crostini. Fortunately this bounty will continue unabated through September.
According to produce guru Russ Parsons, "scientists who study flavor chemistry have identified more than four hundred compounds that go into the taste of a ripe tomato. And more than thirty of those are regarded as essential." That means food scientists are still nowhere near artificially duplicating delicious tomatoey flavor (yippee!). Unfortunately most mega-mart tomatoes are picked long before they are actually ripe, then exposed to ethylene gas to change their color, which results in tomatoes that look ripe and taste like, well, nothing.
Heirloom Tomatoes
Biting into a fully ripe, heirloom variety tomato is like a religious experience. And the organically grown heirloom varieties—like those grown by Tutti Frutti Farms in Santa Barbara County, with romantic names like Cherokee Purple, Marvel Stripe, Golden Jubilee, Brandywine and Black Crimson—outshine their Roma, beefsteak, and grape brethren in sweetness, acidity balance, and subtle flavor undertones.
Continue reading »
Posted by Erin Zimmer, July 21, 2008 at 8:30 PM
These curvy, voluptuous-looking tomatoes seem so carefree, so removed from the everyday burdens of delicious tomato lifestyles. But like many sunbathers, they're on a direct road to skin cancer. No SPF, ladies? Ouch, talk about sunbaked. Piggybacking off the 1991 film Fried Green Tomatoes, this lovely photo by métrogirl could inspire Fried Red Tomatoes, a box office hit about stubborn tomatoes who choose vanity over health one fateful summer.
Posted by Erin Zimmer, July 18, 2008 at 10:45 AM
With salmonella outbreaks slowing down, the FDA reported yesterday that tomatoes are in the clear, but fresh jalapeño and serrano peppers still need attention.
The tomato industry estimates more than $100 million in losses, but according to the FDA, every type of tomato in stores and fields today is safe (and happy). The outbreak peaked between May 20 and June 10 when about 33 people became ill a day, but dropped to an average of 19 people a day between June 11 and June 20.
How can two different types of produce get contaminated with the same rare strain of Salmonella Saintpaul? According to FDA food safety chief Dr. David Acheson, a large farm was perhaps growing tomatoes in one section and peppers in another, but both passed through a communal washing station with contaminated water.
Previously
First Tomatoes, Now Jalapeños; Does the FDA Have Its Act Together?
Tomatoes: Are They Really the Cause of the Salmonella Outbreak?
How Does Salmonella Get Inside Tomatoes?
Posted by Ed Levine, July 7, 2008 at 8:30 AM
First the CDC and the FDA told us that tomatoes were the likely culprit of the salmonella outbreak that has affected nearly a thousand people since it was first reported on April 10. Now, after tomato growers and distributors have lost hundreds of million of dollars destroying and throwing out supposedly tainted product, there are reports that the CDC thinks jalapeños might be the culprit.
Then again, the government is saying it could be one of a half dozen ingredients used to make salsa. It seems to me that the only thing we can definitively conclude from this episode is that our food safety system is irretrievably broken.
According to the Wall Street Journal, "Health officials said the evidence linking jalapeños to the disease is compelling, but are erring on the side of caution before making a public warning."
Didn't these same officials say the same thing about tomatoes? This thing is getting crazy. Now the feds are training their sights on bulb onions, scallions, cilantro, serrano peppers, and jalapeños grown in and shipped from Mexico. According to UPI, the FDA is planning to put a halt on all such shipments starting today.
Continue reading »
Posted by Emily Koh, June 30, 2008 at 7:30 PM
The good news: tomatoes may not be the cause of the salmonella outbreak that began back in April and have since gotten 810 people sick. The bad news: no one is really sure what is.
Tomatoes remain the top suspect and the advice on which ones consumers should avoid hasn't changed, stressed Food and Drug Administration food safety chief Dr. David Acheson.
However, he said it is possible that tomatoes being harvested in states considered safe could be picking up salmonella germs in packing sheds, warehouses or other facilities currently under investigation.
[...] "The source of contamination has been ongoing at least through early June, and we don't have any evidence that whatever the source is, it's been removed from the market," said Dr. Patricia Griffin of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Disease detectives at the CDC in Atlanta are doublechecking their own probes just in case some other type of produce is really the culprit.
This really is turning out to be a sad summer for tomato lovers. As always, it sounds like it's best to exercise caution when consuming tomatoes, or buy them from farmers' markets (or eat the ones that you've grown). The FDA is recommending everyone to stay alert, as the outbreak has shown no signs of disappearing completely—the last reported case was on June 15.
Related
How Does Salmonella Get Inside Tomatoes?
Salmonella Scare Hits the Big Time
Salmonella Scare Halts Tomato Sales
Posted by Emily Koh, June 13, 2008 at 4:00 PM
This summer season is off to a bleak, tomato-less start with the recent salmonella outbreak in certain types of raw red tomatoes. Serious Eater Butrflygirly asked, "Couldn't this be avoided by proper washing? If you wash/clean something properly, all should be good. Right?"
Actually, it wouldn't be as bad if all we had to worry about was fecal matter getting on tomatoes. Although there are a number of ways that salmonella can be transmitted from feces to produce, the surface contaminants are killed in a chlorine bath when tomatoes are delivered to a packing plant.
Of course, this doesn't do much good if the salmonella is inside the tomato, which can occur if there are cuts or scars on the skin, or through a permeable scar where the stem was attached, according to the United Fresh Produce Association. However, researchers are stumped on how just a few infected tomatoes could cause an outbreak of this size. Sounds like that for the time being, it's probably best to steer clear of raw red plum, Roma, and round tomatoes. [via Gourmet]
Posted by Robyn Lee, June 11, 2008 at 12:15 PM
"For lunch today I was forced to order a BLB sandwich, which is bacon, lettuce, and more bacon. I'm thinking of ditching the lettuce too, just to be safe."
During last night's monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Jimmy Kimmel gives his thoughts about the halt in tomato use and sales due to the recent Salmonella outbreak. Don't miss the helpful PSA from the Broccoli Council at the end! Watch the clip after the jump.
Continue reading »
Posted by Raphael, June 10, 2008 at 3:30 PM
You know something is news when it graces the cover of the New York Post. The main focus of the story is that the burger chains have stopped serving tomatoes on their burgers, and people are upset.
At the Mickey D's on Sixth Avenue between 21st and 22nd streets, Beata Royzman, 17, a La Guardia HS senior, winced as she bit into a cheeseburger that didn't have tomatoes. "It's disgusting," she groaned. "It would be much better with tomatoes...
Previously: Salmonella Scare Halts Tomato Sales
Posted by Hannah Howard, June 9, 2008 at 7:15 PM
These tomatoes may be safe, but others may give you Salmonella poisoning. Beware.
Bountiful grape tomatoes still populate Mickey D's "premium salad," but you're out of luck if you want a tomato slice on your burger.
Reuters reported today that McDonald's and Wal-Mart stores have stopped selling certain tomatoes. Chipotle and Target are also nixing tomatoes to play it safe.
On Saturday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned U.S. consumers that the Salmonella outbreak—145 reported cases, including at least 23 hospitalizations since mid-April—is linked to raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes. The FDA says that it is safe to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, and tomatoes grown at home. (Salmonella is no fun—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the illness usually entails 4 to 7 days of diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps.)
The FDA first alerted consumers about the risk on June 3. It has not yet identified the source of the contaminated tomatoes, but it recognizes that the source of the contaminated tomatoes may be limited to a single grower or packer or tomatoes from a specific geographic area—which one remains a mystery. Still, it's advising restaurants and grocery stores to pull tomatoes off their shelves.
Let's hope the FDA finds the culprit before the fast-encroaching tomato season. Tomato slices at McDonald's might taste like crunchy water, but a tomato-free summer would be a small tragedy.
The Onion made us giggle with this scientific-sounding report on a new technology that would allow tomatoes to cost 31 percent more via DNA manipulation: "Genetically modified crops such as this will be instrumental in helping average grocers keep pace with unaffordable organic stores such as Whole Foods."
In response to the rising cost of corn, Heinz researchers are trying to breed a sweeter tomato in order to cut back on the amount of corn syrup in its famous ketchup.
There are over 5,000 varieties of tomatoes in the world; how do you become an expert in them? You could train with Paolo Battistel, Britain's first 'tomellier', who acts as a tomato consultant and runs courses on cultivation at his tomato school near Lake Garda in Italy.
Posted by Adam Kuban, March 11, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Video blog Lucid Movement films a tomato in a blender in ultra slow motion using a Photron Ultima APX camera. The resulting video is amazing, opening up the world of tomato obliteration as never before. [via Doobybrain]
"Pink, mealy, and tasting like a whole lot o' nothing, this sure isn't the juicy scarlet orb you picked from your mother's garden as a kid." Wired explains why tomatoes suck, at least if they're conventional ones from a supermarket.
Posted by Robyn Lee, October 11, 2007 at 5:45 PM
If I were VsTrash's tomato I'd have more of a pained look on my face (eyes wide open, mouth agape in terror), but maybe it doesn't actually hurt that much to have a chunk of your head lopped off.
Posted by Ed Levine, August 22, 2007 at 7:08 AM
Melissa Clark in the New York Times gives us seven reasons to buy too many tomatoes at the farmers' market this time of year, when the tomatoes are juicy, sweet, and irresistible. I have to say they all sound great, but the one I am trying first is the instant tomato-ricotta "soup" with capers. Like Clark, I have really big eyes when I buy gorgeous farmers' market tomatoes, so I end up with more tomatoes than I can possibly use.
Here are two delicious, easy ways to deal with fresh tomato excess.
Continue reading »
Posted by Robyn Lee, August 1, 2007 at 6:30 PM
If Minato's photo of two softly lit tomatoes were a scene in a movie, I'd expect the tomatoes to shyly roll toward one another and (armlessly) embrace as their fragile red skins touched. Oh, and there'd be a dramatic orchestra score in the background.
Posted by Alaina Browne, April 5, 2007 at 1:45 PM
Michael Ruhlman's guest blogger, Bob del Grosso, gives his tips on how not to make tomato sauce, which I've translated into this how to list:
Use good canned tomatoes or fresh, ripe tomatoes
Cook sauce just long enough
Use fresh herbs
Do not brown the garlic
Use high-quality oil and plenty of salt
Posted by Nathalie Jordi, January 23, 2007 at 9:30 AM
- Men pick tomatoes, but women are preferred as they are perceived to be gentler and therefore there is less damage to the crop. Men stack the crates of tomatoes on flatbed trailers which are connected to trailers.
- 25,000 Russians die each year from chemical poisoning from illegally produced vodka
- Peanuts contribute more than $4 billion to the U.S. economy every year
Check out the edification process undergone by the students of St. Cloud University's Sociology 464..
