June 11
...serving up your daily dish.
June 11, 2005 in Photo of the Week | Permalink
"If a tomato is bright red, round and reasonably large, it should be a tasty tomato, right? Wrong!
Research undertaken in the Food Group at Lincoln University has confirmed that when people buy tomatoes they make their choice based on the colour of the tomatoes. However, choosing a highly coloured tomato does not guarantee that it will also be tasty.
Food researcher, Mrs Janette Busch, asked a group of thirty seven staff and students from the University to evaluate six different varieties of tomatoes and rank them in order of preference for a number of different qualities - firmness, juiciness, sweetness, bitterness, intensity of tomato flavour and colour of the skin and flesh.
What she found was the tomato varieties the panellists preferred when asked about the colour were completely different from the varieties they preferred when asked about the qualities that described the taste of the tomatoes
"I was really excited by the results," said Mrs Busch, "they were just so clear cut.
"Anybody who has bought tomatoes can tell you about being disappointed by the taste of some delicious looking tomatoes but this is the first time in New Zealand that this has been studied. "
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=5098
Posted by: Right of Center | Jun 11, 2005 6:15:00 PM
We got some of those tomatoes today, along with the fresh mozzarella and fresh basil(also bought at the farmer's market). Sliced, served with a vinagrette and we were thrilled not disappointed. Not as good as real Jersey but decent beefsteaks.
Posted by: tomato lover | Jun 11, 2005 8:16:09 PM
This is two times in the last month that I whole heartedly agree with ROC! From a grower perspecitve, desireable qualities are "perfect" shape, uniformity, color, blemish free, and similar. Taste never enters into it.
Oh, and also the ability to resist bruising in handling and shipping. When I was at Michigan State an "ideal" tomato was developed, we thought. Turned out you just about needed a chain saw to slice it!
"Beefsteak" refers to MANY different varieties and is no clue to an "old fashioned" Jersey tomato!
Buy the Heirloom tomatoes!! They're the old-fashioned ones with the good taste!
Cary
Posted by: carya | Jun 13, 2005 8:48:33 AM
"...desireable qualities are "perfect" shape, uniformity, color, blemish free, and similar. Taste never enters into it..."
I'm sorry, I lost track. Are we talking about the fruit?
Posted by: walleroo | Jun 13, 2005 11:48:44 AM
In my opinion, the Best Tomatoes are grown here in N.J. - preferably from some little old man's yard in Bloomfield or Newark, and these and won't be ready until August.
I've never tasted any better.
Posted by: Maryellen | Jun 13, 2005 12:00:35 PM
I think the best tomatoes are the sweet cherry variety that I grow in containers in my own backyard in GR!!!
Seriously, the tomatoes here (northeast) are SOOOO much better than anywhere else --
Posted by: Pam | Jun 13, 2005 11:03:27 PM
Which are the best tomatos to buy, seed or plant, that resembles the Jersey tomatos I remember as a child? Nothing I grow compares to that wonderful taste!
Posted by: DonnaMarieNJ | Jun 14, 2005 8:00:53 AM
"In my opinion, the Best Tomatoes are grown here in N.J. - preferably from some little old man's yard in Bloomfield or Newark, and these and won't be ready until August."
Hear, hear, Maryellen! I refuse to eat supermarket "Frankenfood" tomatoes. They don't even taste like tomatoes and there's probably more nutrition to be found in the grocery bag!
I get them from the farmer's market or a friendly neighbor. When they're not in season, I just do without.
Posted by: Miss Martta | Jun 14, 2005 8:53:26 AM
