Produce Highlight: Tomato, Toh-mah-toe – Who Cares, They’re Here!

It’s that time of year again – a personal favorite for us – Mater Time! The long anticipated (and never disappointing!) local produce item has finally arrived! In red, yellow, green, and many shades in between, these solid (or speckled or striped) tomatoes are in peak production, meaning endless, beautiful, local choices!

Whether you’re simply slicing them up for a salad or sandwich, or getting creative with gazpacho, jams, tarts, and even desserts (tomato ice cream anyone?)  you’ll be sure to find the tomato that fits your need.

In honor of this summer favorite, we’ve got some useful advice and a few fun facts for your tomato haul this week! Keep reading for ideas and then browse the Chico Saturday Farmers’ Market this week and let tomato time begin!

Which One?

Choosing
When choosing your beauties, look for tomatoes that have smooth skins without deep cracks or bruises. Heirlooms are more susceptible to cracking, but as long as the cracks are healed (meaning you can’t see the flesh), the blemish won’t affect taste or safety. They should have a nice deep color and be firm with a slight give. And, perhaps most importantly, market tomatoes should have that classic fresh tomato smell: sweet and woody.

Storing
If your tomatoes aren’t fully ripe, store them at room temperature not in the fridge. In a single layer on the counter, out of direct sunlight, and stem side down is the best way to let them develop to their full potential! Storing them in the fridge before they are ripe can halt flavor development and coloration, and cause a mealy texture. If you’re tomatoes are fully ripe and you don’t plan on eating them within a day or two (or if your home is very warm), they’ll be just fine in the fridge for a few days!

Fun Facts

• Tomatoes increase in weight as they ripen, even after harvesting.
• Botanically speaking, tomatoes are a fruit, as they grow from seeds of a flowering plant. Culinarily and legally speaking, tomatoes are classified as a vegetable. In the late 1800s, the US Supreme Court ruled tomatoes as a vegetable based on the popular definition that classifies vegetables by use, where they are usually served with dinner and not as a dessert.
• There is no mention of tomatoes in either the bible or in the complete works of Shakespeare.
• We love them – According to the USDA, Americans eat 22-24 pounds of tomatoes per person, per year. About half of that comes in the form of ketchup and tomato sauce.
• As of 2013, the heaviest tomato according to Guinness World Record weighed 3.51 kg (7 lb 12 oz) and was grown by G. Graham in 1986, Oklahoma, USA.
• Most tomato varieties are red although other colors include green, yellow, orange and black with varying shades in-between. There are over 10,000 tomato varieties grown around the world.
• They’re good for you – Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that is good for the heart and effective against certain cancers. Tomatoes are also packed with vitamins A and C, calcium, potassium.