From Jeff Cox

Our modern tomatoes are the result of many generations of selection, starting with pea-sized cherry tomatoes that still grow wild in Peru, Ecuador, and other places in South America. This wild species was domesticated in Mexico, where the Aztecs called them xitomatl (the root -tomatl means plump fruit). The Spanish dropped the prefixes and the final l, and the name became tomate. It was taken over into English as tomato, its vowels pronounced as in the existing word “potato.” Tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers, along with the eggplants already known in the Old World, and along with tobacco, are members of the Solanaceae family—the nightshades. Sixteenth century Europeans thought tomatoes were poisonous (although they had no such qualms about sweet and spicy peppers) and grew them as ornamental plants. Later they were thought to be an aphrodisiac and became known as “love apples,” or pomme d’amour in French and pomodoro in Italian.

The sensual nature of the tomato is celebrated wildly in Spain these days at La Tomatina in Buñol during the Festival of San Luis Bertran the last Wednesday of August. At La Tomatina, thousands of people gather in the town. Truckloads upon truckloads of tomatoes are brought in as ammunition, and the celebrants hurl tomatoes at one another until the people, the streets, and everything is one sticky, gooey, sweet mess.

Despite La Tomatina, Spain is not the top tomato-producing country in the world. That honor goes to Russia, followed by the United States, Egypt, and Italy. Perhaps the Mediterranean countries have perfected the use of tomatoes, though. A perfect lunch might be a piece of good bread topped with a crushed ripe tomato, a clove of garlic sliced on top, a pinch of sea salt, and a quick drizzle of olive oil.

The Organic Factor
The best way to get the full effect is to grow them yourself, but baring that, visit an organic farm and pick a basket yourself, or at least buy them vine-ripened from an organic grower at the farmers’ market or the organic food store. Watch out for conventional tomatoes. Not only are agricultural chemicals used, but genetic engineers have been able to reduce the amount of cell-wall softening enzymes in certain tomato strains so they stay harder longer, allowing longer shelf life in the supermarkets. You get none of that when you buy organic.

Nutrition
In addition to its cancer-fighting properties, just 4 ounces of raw tomato give us 30 percent of our daily need for vitamin C, 10 percent of vitamin A, 7 percent of iron for men and 3 percent for women, and almost 5 percent of folic acid, along with beta-carotene, lycopene, and minerals.

Types
There are three main types of tomato: cherry or grape cluster tomatoes, which are either round or pear-shaped and up to the size of golf balls; regular tomatoes that can grow up to eight or nine inches in diameter but are usually half that size; and Italian plum tomatoes that are meatier than other types. They can also be categorized by skin color: white, red, green, purple, multicolored, black, orange, and yellow.

Seasonality
When the peak tomato season of mid to late August ends, you are left with meager choices: Roma tomatoes from Mexico; bright red but tasteless and expensive cluster tomatoes grown hydroponically in Holland; local hydroponic tomatoes; commercial tomatoes from Florida gassed with ethylene to turn red (although not ripe); and relatively tasteless winter tomatoes grown organically in the warmer parts of southern Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California. So in the off season I go for canned low-salt or no-salt certified organic tomatoes. I know these are grown and canned at peak season, meaning peak flavor. Tomatoes can beautifully, and I highly recommend canning your own if you are able.

What To Look For
Because the true essence of tomato is only found when they are vine-ripe and garden-fresh, their quality peaks about the same time that summer does in mid to late August. Their texture ranges from sloppy-juicy to dry and mealy. Tomatoes can be on the mild and sweet side, like the yellow pear or plum-shaped varieties, or on the acid side like Beefsteaks, or a nice balance of the two, like Brandywines. They can be found in sizes ranging from as small as a pea to as large as a softball, from round to flattened to pear-shaped and irregular.

Storage and Preparation
The tomato’s culinary properties surpass almost any other vegetable in the pantry—just make sue they are kept in the pantry rather than the refrigerator, where thy quickly lose quality. Tomatoes need no preparation beyond a quick rinse. But some people prefer to peel them before using them raw or in cooked dishes. To peel, cut out the core at the stem end, score a shallow X at the other end, blanch in boiling water for 15 to 30 seconds, then dunk in ice water or hold under running cold water until the skins loosen.

If you choose to seed your tomatoes, do so over a sieve placed over a bowl; the liquid is flavorful and a good addition to whatever you’re cooking.

Uses
They can be grilled or griddled, fried, broiled, baked, roasted, stewed, sautéed, or eaten raw. You can stuff them; turn them into a condiment (ketchup); make a juice or a sauce; add them to main dishes like ratatouille; smear them on pizza; eat them raw in salads; top a burger with a slice. Mix them with their natural partners: basil, garlic, onion, thyme, oregano, peppers, cheese, meats, eggs, parsley, olives, and many other ingredients.

For a great lunch, try a tapa I had at Jaleo in Washingto, D.C. Chef Jose Andres tops a very thin slice of toasted bread with a thin layer of grated and drained tomato and very thin slices of manchego cheese, then sprinkles the whole with a little olive oil and serves it warm. It’s simple and delicious.

One way to make tomatoes even more versatile is to roast them the way Tom Colicchio of New York’s Gramercy Tavern does. He shared his technique in Food & Wine magazine. He rinses ripe tomatoes, stems them, slices them in half crosswise, and places them cut side down in rows on a baking sheet. Then he tosses on a couple of heads’ worth of unpeeled garlic cloves, a handful of fresh thyme sprigs, and drizzles ½ cup of olive oil over the tomatoes, seasoning them with a little salt and black pepper. The pan goes into a 350°F oven for 20 minutes. He pours off and reserves the released juice, pulls the skins off the tomato halves, and returns the sheet of tomatoes to the oven for about 2½ hours longer. During this roasting, about every 20 minutes or so he pours off and saves the liquid that escapes the tomatoes. After the roasting, he lets the tomatoes cool, removes the thyme sprigs, and packs the roasted tomatoes into one container, the roasted garlic cloves in another to be peeled as needed, and the collected juice into another, and stores them all in the fridge. This yields three passionately-flavored ingredients to be used in sauces, braised meats, and many other ways.

My wife Susanna and I make our own spaghetti sauce by blanching and peeling about 20 pounds of our organic tomatoes and putting them into our largest stainless-steel pot. We add 3 diced onions, 6 heads of peeled, roughly chopped garlic cloves, the leaves of 2 bunches of basil, 1 bunch of Italian flat-leaved parsley, a handful of chopped fresh oregano and half that amount of thyme, and 1 cup of olive oil. This mixture sits uncovered on low heat for several days, stirred whenever we walk by, until it’s reduced in volume by at least a third, even better by one half. (But be careful not to let the sauce scorch on the bottom.) When it has been reduced, we pack it into canning jars and pressure-cook five jars at a time for 20 to 30 minutes. If you do this, follow canning directions carefully.

Untraditional Organic Gazpacho Recipe

Serves 4

Chef Greg Hallihan of Stella’s Café in Sebastopol, California, tweaks classic gazpacho into something refreshingly new and delicious—a sort of Spain-meets-Thailand cold vegetable soup.

4 large ripe organic tomatoes
1 medium organic slicing cucumber
1 bunch lemongrass
1 piece fresh ginger, about the size of your thumb
Juice of 4 limes
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1 small white onion, peeled
1 ripe avocado
1 lemon

1. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, add 3 of the tomatoes and blanch for 1 minute. Remove and rinse under running water until the skins slip off easily. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until thoroughly chilled.

2. Quarter and seed the 3 peeled tomatoes over a bowl; strain and reserve any juice. Peel, seed, and coarsely chop the cucumber. Remove the woody outer layers of the lemongrass until you reach the whitish heart; very finely mince the tender heart. Peel and coarsely chop the ginger.

3. In a blender, combine the quartered tomatoes and strained tomato juice, cucumber, lemongrass, ginger, lime juice, a pinch of salt, and the sugar and whiz until blended and smooth. Refrigerate.

4. Seed and finely dice the remaining tomato, the onion, and ½ teaspoon of the avocado and combine. Set aside. Remove the peel of the lemon with a vegetable peeler, but leave on the white material under the peel; and cut the lemon into ¼-inch-thick rounds, removing any seeds.

5. Pour the chilled gazpacho into four bowls. Add a tablespoon-size scoop of avocado to each bowl and set a tablespoon of the tomato-onion-avocado salsa on the avocado scoop. Float a lemon slice on the surface of the soup. Serve at once or chill until serving.
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See also Heirloom Tomato Festival Video…

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Jeff Cox is author of The Organic Cook’s Bible and The Organic Food Shopper’s Guide, and numerous other cooking, gardening, and wine books, and lives in Sonoma County, California.
Image Credit: Red Tomato © William Myers | Dreamstime.com
OrganicToBe.org | OrganicToGo.com
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