heirloom tomatoes in the large grocery stores
Has anyone had any luck with the heirloom tomatoes from the large chain food retailers? In So. Cal. they have shown up at a competitive price with the farmers markets , but I have as yet had one with much more flavor than a standard plastic genetically altered variety available at the large stores. Probably due to the fact they refrigerate them for transport and we all know what that does to a tomatoes flavor. Are they genetically engineering these beauties also ruining such a delicious fruit/veggie ( whichever the "experts" have decided they are this week ).
I have found also that the starter plants from the nurseries have very little taste improvement over the store bought standards, are these from altered stock too? I will start my own from seeds this next season mostly heirlooms, but also try the early girl and beefsteaks to see if the seed stock is plastisized.
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7 Comments:
Also not much luck with storebought heirlooms, with the exception of the small, 2 pints I think, packages of grape/cherry varieties. I can't remember the name but they have all different colors, and I've bought them from Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's.
Here in Ohio we do have great luck with the starter plants though, bought from nurseries, and when we get lucky, at the farmer's market. We only had one heirloom plant not make it this year, we use Earth boxes for cherry and grape tomatoes and they are better than any store would ever offer and I miss them dearly.
bobcatsteph3 at 3:32PM on 10/30/08
Storebought heirlooms of the organic variety I have bought at Whole Foods have been good. Buying any tomato vine ripened or greenhouse... basically anything other than organic are relatively flavorless because of the commercial fetilizers used to grow them. They add nitrogen to the soil which is a good thing, but the plants take up the nitrogen and as a result need more water thereby diluting the plants natural sugars and makes them less sweet, then they add ethylene gas which initiates a ripening process, but this is mainly a color changer that has little to do with taste since the fruits are off the vine and can't synthesize but a few of the roughly 400 organic compounds related to taste. The best part for the shipper is that the tomato becomes.... "Bulletproof" with little or no rotting.
Pavlov at 6:37PM on 10/30/08
I've had some good results over here in Canada at Safeway, a couple of them were slightly bruised; but overall made a fantastic salad!! I had my hopes up for these and they met my expectations!
hungrychristel at 3:20PM on 10/31/08
Forgive my ignorance, but I don't really know anything about "heirloom" tomatoes. Do they taste different than farmer's field tomatoes, like beefsteak?
bareneed at 7:06PM on 10/31/08
Heirloom tomatos are older varieties of tomatoes, many of which are not good for commercial production because they aren't as prolific, aren't as disease resistant, don't grow as well or any other number of reasons. Some of the heirlooms are interesting, because of color, flavor, etc., while others are just older varieties that have fallen out of favor. Some fell out of favor for good reason, too. Just because something was grown many years ago, it doesn't magically make it better.
And just because a tomato is an heirloom variety, it doesn't mean that it will have been treated any better than any other tomato plant. The tomatoes could have still have been picked too soon or grown in poor conditions. However, since the heirlooms are often more difficult to grow, it's more likely that they'll be grown by small producers who give them a little more attention. So there's a better chance that they'll be better than the average grocery tomato. Not guaranteed, though.
I've planted some heirloom varieties. Some of them did well, some didn't.
dbcurrie at 7:44PM on 10/31/08
One of our larger grocers here had three or four batches of heirlooms this summer, it wasn't a regular thing though. But when I was lucky enough to find them I bought quite a few and after we had eaten them until we were "tomatoed out" I parboiled and peeled the remaining ones (for soups and stews this winter). Most of them were a bit soft, like they were getting to the overripe stage, but REALLY TASTY! We had them sliced with kosher salt, plain and simple. They definitely had more flavor than most tomatoes (even my home grown ones). I think the ones I got were called Cherokee something.
gourmetgal at 3:00AM on 11/01/08
@bareneed if you ever get a good one, you'll wonder where have you been all my life?
I am now better informed on this topic, so far alot of excellent insight.
I really like the ox heart, bulls heart type a very meaty tomato usually with great flavor the brandywine is my wifes favorite the zebra types are a close second. Also, historically alot of these weren't promoted because they didnt travel well to market. We are lucky here to have a produce market that tries to carry as local as possible produce, he's a one-man operation with one employee. Here, in so. cal. we need to take advantage of the extended tomato season in our own small gardens.
I have gespachio and tomato sauce filed in the freezer for the winter made from 100% heirlooms but right now I couldn't eat another tomato but that will change mid-winter I'm sure. Ive got to make one more huge batch for the winter.
Next season I've got 6 types to try here's my list; aunt ruby's german green,speckled roman, brandywine,black krim, beefsteak and green zebra (I am also waiting for the ox/bull heart seeds to arrive) I will have too many tom's and will share with neighbors, but if anyone has experience with these speak up or any suggestions to look for.
T.J.'s is consistant source refer to @dbcurrie.
I've seen one labeled as japanese tomato and it is less acidic and less flavorful quote the vendor so why?The yellows do this with flavor.
shipwreck at 11:15PM on 11/01/08