“Oh, my! That’s an interesting vegetable. What is it?” I looked at the colorful display of greens and reds and purples that made up the market stand, admiring, in particular, the luscious glossy red of the Beefsteak tomatoes. Between the red tomatoes and the yellow and green zucchini, there was a small, roundish vegetable that was quite black.
“They’re tomatoes.” The market vendor smiled at me. Another customer approached and chose a small basket of the black vegetable.
“And they’re delicious,” the customer added. “Not as acidic as the red ones.”
“Not very attractive, either,” I muttered under my breath. A little louder, I added, “They look bruised and bad.”
“Not at all,” the vendor bagged the purchases and handed them to the customer who moved on to the next market stand. “That’s the natural color. It’s an heirloom tomato.”
“Heirloom tomato?” I queried. I never thought there was such a thing.
“我的花园里也种了一些黄色的西红柿。这周他们还没准备好。我要在下周的市场上买。”
“I’ve seen the yellow tomatoes,” I replied. “But never the black ones. I’ll take a small basket. Not very attractive, but if they taste as good as you and that other customer suggests, I may be convinced. I’ll take some of the red ones, too. Just in case.”
I took home my purchases and decided right away to try one of the black tomatoes. I didn’t want to hesitate and avoid. Better try the tomato while I still possessed an ounce of bravery. I washed one, gently dried it off and sliced it thin. I picked up one slice and placed it in my mouth, standing close to the sink in case I had to spit it out. I didn’t. The taste filled my mouth and I was impressed.
“Wow!” I finished making a sandwich, adding the thinly sliced black tomatoes. I now had a new favorite sandwich filling.
我没有意识到西红柿有这么多形状、大小和颜色,而且还有一种传家宝西红柿。更不用说黑色的了。
It made me start to question my standard selection of tomatoes. In the summer, I preferred the Beefsteak tomato: big and hearty, this heirloom tomato was juicy with a little bit of sweetness. It’s easy enough to grow and it mixes well in soups and stews.
我也很喜欢小蒂姆的樱桃番茄,可以直接放进嘴里或者加到沙拉里。但我很快就了解到,圣女果也有很多品种和颜色。有人甚至告诉我,黄色的西红柿和黄色的圣女果比红色的酸性更低。
For the longest time, it didn’t matter what people recommended. I liked my tomatoes: red, yellow, and now deep purple (black). I understand that there are also pink, orange, mottled, and yes, even striped tomatoes, but I have yet to try them. Regardless of the color, all tomatoes are tastiest when freshly ripened and just picked off the vine.
With over 10,000 cultivars of tomatoes, what’s the best choice? My preference is the heirloom tomato, the ones that have been grown from their own seeds and not cross-pollinated with other tomato cultivars to create a more disease-resistant tomato. In other words, I really don’t care for the hybrid, the tough tomato that lacks the heirloom fragility, but also its intensity of flavor.
Since World War II, tomatoes have been cross-pollinated numerous times in an attempt to create the ultimate tomato: the one that resists disease and pests, the one that lasts the longest, the one that won’t bruise so easily and will look the prettiest on the store display.
The local tomatoes we used to enjoy, either off the vine or purchased at a local farmers’ market, have been replaced to a large extent. Tomatoes are grown in great quantities all over the world, inside greenhouses and outside in places where year-round growing possibilities exist.
Mass production has done wonders for the shipping and grocery store industries as tomatoes meet the consumer demands for availability year round. However, this mass production of hybrid tomatoes has done little for the quality, and fewer people today even remember what a REAL tomato tastes like.
Hence the craze for heirloom tomatoes, especially amongst home gardeners, myself included. Amongst the many heritage tomatoes to choose from, here are a few of the most common.
Beefsteak
牛排番茄是一种大而多汁的番茄,在北美很常见。这个品种包括红黄杉和库斯特拉利品种。Beefsteak tomatoes can grow as large as 4 pounds in weight and are very high in fiber and Vitamin C. Due to its bright and attractive red color and its size, restaurants prefer Beefsteak tomatoes for sandwiches and burgers.
Alicante
This bright red tomato, medium in size, is a classic breakfast tomato in the United Kingdom, popular due to its taste and its high level of productivity.
Azoychka
Azoychka是一种黄色到淡橙色的牛排品种,体型非常大。这种番茄是俄罗斯的传家宝,和柠檬(又名Limmony)很像,柠檬是一种甜的、味道浓烈的黄色番茄,在北美很受欢迎。
Big Rainbow
This is another Beefsteak variety. Big Rainbows are a large, yellow fruit with red swirls. It has a mild, slightly sweet flavor.
Brandywine
这是一个大的,粉红色的番茄牛排品种。味道很好,它被称为真正尝起来像西红柿的西红柿。不幸的是,白兰地酒的生产效率非常低。
Ferris Wheel
https://www.instagram.com/p/8wiCKvkA_k/?tagged=ferriswheeltomato
This pink tomato was developed in 1894 by the John A. Salzer Seed Company. It’s a large, Beefsteak variety with lots of tomato-y flavor.
Garden Peach
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXsmplyBPgE/?tagged=gardenpeachtomato
A small, 2 to 3-ounce, round, yellow tomato, sometimes with streaks of red and/or pink, this tomato has a fuzzy, velvety skin similar to peaches. Full of rich flavor, the Garden Peach is a native of South America, particularly Peru, where it’s called Coconas. North American gardens started including it in their gardens in the 1860s.
Gardener’s Delight
一个小的,红色的番茄,高产的植物,园丁的喜悦是一个美味的一口大小的番茄。有些人会把这个品种描述为樱桃番茄。
Great White
不管它叫什么名字,这是一个淡黄色的西红柿,像牛排一样大。这种番茄的特点是表皮肉质,味道鲜美,甜,几乎像甜瓜一样。这种西红柿的好处,除了味道之外,就是它的籽少。
Lillian’s Yellow
Another yellow tomato, this one medium in size. It boasts a rich, creamy flavor.
Matt’s Wild Cherry
A tiny cherry tomato, Matt’s Wild Cherry is deep red with a tender smooth texture. Smaller than most cherry tomato types, this one is a wild tomato from Mexico. It’s a soft fruit with a lower yield than other cherry tomato varieties, and its flavor is sweet due to its high sugar content.
Red Current
Perhaps the tiniest cherry tomato cultivated so far, many of these tomatoes are no bigger than a pea. Red Currents boast a rich, sweet-somewhat-tart flavor with a firm, juicy texture.
Yellow Pear
另一种小而黄色的番茄,这些水果因其梨形而得名。这种番茄的酸度比其他小的圣女果要低,而且它的果肉更硬。
As for the dark purple, almost black, heirlooms, here are a few to consider trying:
Black Beauty
Known as the world’s darkest tomato, or at least the darkest tomato that we know so far, Black Beauty is meaty, fleshy, and full of anthocyanin, the same antioxidant that is found in blueberries and blackberries.
你猜对了,它的颜色非常深,以至于一些黑美人的皮肤变成了纯蓝黑色。有些人认为这种番茄是收获后味道最好的番茄,口感丰富,光滑可口。黑美人生长得好,储藏得好,而且在室温下味道会增强。
Black Krim
A purple, somewhat brown Beefsteak-size tomato, this variety originated from the Crimean Peninsula, off the coast of the Isle of Krim on the Black Sea. While Black Krim is large in size, it’s rather low in productivity.
Cherokee Purple
A brownish-purple Beefsteak variety, the Cherokee Purple is medium to large in size, but low in productivity.
Growing Tomatoes
With so many varieties (cultivars) of tomatoes to choose from, it’s hard to know where to start. We all have our taste preferences, so the best thing to do is to visit a local farmers market, see what varieties grow locally, and try the different tomatoes to decide for yourself which ones you like best.
保存你喜欢的西红柿的种子,用纸巾把它们晾干,然后(一旦完全干燥)储存在一个密封的容器中,直到下一个生长季节的开始。先在室内将种子(包括纸巾在内)种在肥沃的花园土壤中。
当植株长到6-8英寸高时,上一次霜冻已经成为历史,在室外阳光充足的地方种植。除非你亲自尝试,否则你不会知道哪种植物在你的花园中生长得最好。这一切都是关于偏好,一点诀窍和大量的实验。So, grow your favorite tomatoes and enjoy the fruits of your labor, be it red, green, yellow, white or black.
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