As far as my stomach is concerned, there are only two seasons a year: tomato season and non-tomato season. There is perhaps no other food that can elicit such a wide range of emotion for me: from the giddiness of buying bags and bags of heirlooms at the summer farmers’ markets to the rancorous rage that bubbles up when I take a bite into a flavorless BLT in February.
Tomatoes seem to have a way of inciting strong reactions among others as well. Most people seem to either hate them or love them. Tomato-haters say that they can eat tomato-based pasta sauces, or pizza, but not tomatoes in their raw or partially-cooked forms, claiming that the texture is simply unappetizing. These tomato neophytes are the unfortunate victims of Supermarket Tomato Hell and have obviously never tasted the real thing.
To me, the tomato is emblematic of the argument for eating only what is fresh and seasonal. The tasteless, mealy red orbs disguising themselves as tomatoes on our supermarket shelves bear no resemblance in taste to the fresh, seasonal tomatoes you can get at your local farmers’ market during the summer months.
Perhaps this is why, during the tomato season, I am on Tomato Overdrive. I eat tomatoes at least two times a day (surprisingly, cereal, yogurt and other breakfast foods do not go well with tomatoes… go figure). During these months, my arsenal of recipes is dominated by this wonderful fruit: Caprese salad, hearty pasta sauces, bruschetta. By September of last year, my boyfriend commented that he was “getting a little tired of tomatoes.” He ate dinner alone for a couple of weeks.
I love trying all of the varieties available and the subtle nuances between each type. Green Zebra tomatoes, with their alternating streaks of pale green and apple green, are crisp and firm with a wonderfully tart flavor and are ideal in sandwiches or a rustic tomato tart. The sweet and succulent Yellow Pear tomatoes add small bursts of sweetness to summer salads. Brandywine and Cherokee Purple varieties add sweet, rich flavors to pasta sauces nearly impossible to emulate in the off-season.
I could go on and on.
This summer, I am on a Green Eggs and Ham mission to try and convert tomato-haters to tomato-lovers: “You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may.” Anyone up for the challenge?
3 comments:
Somehow I think you would enjoy the Oliveto Tomato Dinner, which has taken place in August for the last several years. Here's a tiny part of
the '06 menu.
Oliveto Tomato Dinner = potential next outing?
There is nothing better than buying a giant heirloom at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's market on a hot Saturday morning, sprinkling it with salt, pepper and olive oil, and enjoying a taste of summer in every bite.
made my favorite, super-easy tomato, basil + olive tart/quiche last week with tomatoes from the farmers market. yum! even jordan will eat it.
still debating if my wallet can stand shelling out the $$$ for the heirlooms. but i think i'll have to at least once this summer.
speaking of the farmers market, i ran into a vendor (http://www.theheritagekitchen.com/) there who told me about a tomato water + shrimp cocktail she had at the french laundry. sounded devine ... next project :: tomato water.
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