Like a thousand fiery suns setting in the haze of a summer sky, tomatoes tumble from market bins and vegetable patches, scarlet, ripe, and ready to eat. We’ve waited all winter for this prolonged moment of juicy heaven and now is the time to welcome it with open arms … er, mouths.
Fast-maturing Early Girls and Quick Picks gave us the first exquisite taste of summer, with Carnivals and Better Boys following close behind. Here in the heart of the heat, rotund Big Boys and Beefsteaks mingle with marble-sized Sweet 100s and torpedo-shaped Romas to swell the sensory delight.
Supplementing the new with basketsful of the old, Central Coast farmers also grow a rainbow of heirloom varieties—from Amish Paste to Green Zebra—that lend festive color and endless tomato-y nuances to any course on the menu. The red-juice-dripping Bloody Butcher was among the first to ripen on the vine, then gem-like Druzbas (a mini-Beefsteak), and heat-loving Burbank Reds. Now, bite-sized Yellow Pear tomatoes join the bounty, along with massive Mortgage Lifters and Giant Pink Belgiums.
At Tutti Frutti Farms, with growing grounds in Carpinteria and Lompoc, owner Chris Cadwell farms organically for top quality and flavor. He lists his top-selling varieties as Cherokee Purple (dusty rose with smoky flavors), Marvel Stripe (with orange flesh and fruity notes), Golden Jubilee (bright gold with non-acidic flesh), Black Krim (a dark Russian heirloom), and Brandywine (a meaty wonder that can weigh in at two pounds).
A little farther north, near Cambria, Michael and Carol Broadhurst of Dragon Spring Farm specialize in an equally colorful array of sustainably farmed heirloom tomatoes. The Broadhursts, who sell their fruit both wholesale and direct to the public, always harvest their tomatoes at the peak ripeness and freshness, to ensure those ineffable, just-picked qualities.
A salmonella scare put the brakes on consumption of out-of-state tomatoes early in the season, but fortunately had little effect on the locally grown fruit sold in area stores and farmers markets. Now that all of the red, orange, green, yellow, and, yes, purple-black orbs have been absolved as a source of the problem, we can get back to some serious eating of tomato-based dishes.
Like a chameleon, tomatoes can blend in at any stage of the menu, from start to finish. A chunky gazpacho of diced tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, onion, and bell peppers makes a cool start to a summer meal, while bruschetta piled with chopped Romas, basil, garlic, and herbed olive oil serves as a crunchy accompaniment.
For a first course, salads can consist of mixed, sliced tomatoes doused with vinaigrette and a crumble of blue cheese. The simple, but wildly popular insalata caprese, a classic dish from southern Italy, consists of nothing more than sliced tomatoes topped with fresh basil and water-packed mozzarella, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a little sea salt.
Naturally, tomatoes play a large role in main courses, from creamy base to chunky accent to defining sauce. Pizza, pasta marina, kebabs, and pomodoro anything feature the red jewels, either whole, pureed, chopped, or juiced.
Even pastry chefs find ways to make use of these sweet treats, which are, after all, a fruit. When cooked with plenty of sugar, the meaty qualities of Juliet, Romanita, Black Prince, and Brandywine transform into fragrant hints of cherry and plum, and the once-firm flesh seems to melt.
For dessert, consider tomato sugarplums, tomato sorbet, walnut ice cream coated with Brandywine caramel sauce, or tomato soup cake, made with cinnamon, nutmeg, nuts, and raisins. Remember, tomato puree makes cake more moist and chocolate more chocolate-y, while its acidity works with the baking soda to render a remarkably light and fluffy confection.
A truly miraculous fruit, tomatoes offer a rich store of nutritional goodies, including potassium, phosphorous, and rejuvenating antioxidants. Their components help keep a body healthy in dozens of ways by preventing disease and promoting healthy tissue.
Tomatoes are also high in glutamates, amino acids associated with a savory or meaty flavor often described as the fifth basic flavor—after sweet, sour, bitter, and salty—perceived by human tastebuds. Glutamates give tomatoes their distinctive tang and account for their irresistible, almost addictive appeal.
Believed to have originated in Peru, tomatoes now figure in most of the world’s cuisines. From first shunning the fruit as poisonous, to revering them as aphrodisiac “love apples,” diners now incorporate them into every course and welcome each bite with mouths wide open.
Tomatoes don’t scare K. Reka Badger. E-mail comments or ideas to rekabadger@hotmail.com.
This article appears in Jul 24-31, 2008.