I love tomatoes. I have eaten tomatoes most days for years........until recently.
I bought some (I always buy "The 'Best" salad tomatoes) in a different supermarket (there is a grand choice of 2 in Stornoway) to usual.
The skins were so tough that eating them was a chore. Peeling them (using the usual boiling water method) proved virtually impossible. I put them aside for mixed grill.
Back to my usual supermarket and, lo and behold, they were no better.
Okay, I realise that they are all grown in Spain under greenhouse conditions and that they have been bred to reduce damage. However I am perplexed as to why, all of a sudden, I have become so aware of the hard skins that I may well curtail my eating of tomatoes until all my different varieties grow in my polycarb later in the summer.
I will, of course, keep my eyes open in the Supermarkets and hope for improvements. There is no real substitute for a good ripe tomato in one's salad.
The problem with tomatoes and most other fruit in supermarkets is that it is harvested too soon to give it portability without damage...organic tomatoes generally seem to be better..and are grown in soil not hydroponically...but homegrown are best as they get a chance to develop and ripen
ReplyDeleteIndeed, GZ, I've always bought organic where I can but I don't find them any better so far as the hard skin is concerned. Indeed the last lot I bought were almost inedible. I shall try frying them with mixed grill.
DeleteIt must have been disappointing to find out that both supermarkets offer the same quality of tomatoes, changed for the worse, not for the better.
ReplyDeleteMost of my fruit and veg is bought at ALDI, and I always prefer the organic variety. A few times I have bought their organic tomatoes, but every time I had to throw away half of the pack because the berries started to rot as soon as I unpacked them from my shopping bag. Also, the taste was not particularly aromatic. I have not bought them again.
Homegrown is best! Hopefully, my sister will have some to spare this summer. I don't grow anything but the odd herb on my windowsill.
Meike, tomatoes had become a part of my daily diet so this sudden realisation has come as a surprise and irritation.
DeleteAt this time of year we buy our tomatoes from a local greenhouse and they are quite good. We use them in a variety of ways, including in salads, of course, but we make so many types of salad they are not an obligatory component. Last night we had a Cesar salad with our Mediterranean chili and the two dishes got along famously together. I hope you will be able to find a solution to the woody tomato syndrome, an affliction no one should have to suffer! Tonight we will be making a pasta dish we enjoy and about four chopped tomatoes will go into that. A bottle of fine Canadian Merlot, too, will do nicely alongside the food. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteDavid, I'm a big pasta eater too. I suspect most of the tomatoes I consume for a while will be cooked.
DeleteHow disappointing. I hope your homegrown tomatoes will compensate.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Janice.
DeleteI would not eat tomatoes at all as a child. I had this aversion to seeds in things! We have several tomato varieties and they all seem similar to me. I especially like the grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes in a salad.
ReplyDeleteObviously, I don't know tomatoes like you do, Graham! :)
Ellen, thanks for reminding me about cherry tomatoes. I shall try some.
DeleteI have 16 tomato seedlings growing in a southern window. If my dreams come true, I will be up to my eyeballs in tomatoes this summer. I can only hope.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the seedlings, Debby.
DeleteI no longer buy supermarket tomatoes for that very reason. This year we started off our own seedlings on the kitchen windowsill but P managed to kill them off after he pricked them out. I shall have to buy some plants from the local nursery now.
ReplyDeleteJayCee my seedlings are coming along fine so far (touch wood).
DeleteI don't like super market tomatoes . They don't have much taste and yes , skins are tough.
ReplyDeleteRed, until the summer I don't have a choice here but I'll certainly be buying fewer.
DeleteCouldn't agree more. The great joy of living in Greece (and going back for visits) is tomatoes. They taste better there than anywhere else I have been. They put every other tomato in the shade.
ReplyDeleteHmm, Tigger's Mum, I'm rathder envious.
DeleteA home -grown tomato is the best, nothing better!
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Kay.
DeleteI find supermarket tomatoes in this country are generally poor quality. Your home grown ones will taste far more delicious, if you can manage to wait that long.
ReplyDeleteJules, I really don't have a choice but to wait for really nice tomatoes again.
DeleteI only buy cocktail tomatoes, still attached to a piece of vine. They are the same all year, I guess glasshouse grown in Queensland. They are packed in a plastic lidded tray, environmentally bad yes, but that means they don't need to be tough or unripened for transport. The number in the container varies from 5 to 9, depending on the size of them. More expensive? Yes, but I don't care.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I shall see if I can buy cocktail tomatoes. That's my shopping note for today.
DeleteSome while back I had exactly the same experience; they were horrible. Now I buy Cherry Tomatoes which seem much better, but their use is limited. I always grew my own in France, and now I rely on a neighbour who just tells me to help myself. There really is nothing to compare with a large sun-grown 'Marmande' style Tomato.
ReplyDeleteCro, I've got some Marmande seedlings which are about 6" high so I'm hoping that in a few month's they (and my other plants) will be bearing fruit.
DeleteI always buy small cherry or coctail tomatoes for my salads, as I find the big ones to be without much taste. No doubt locally grown ones will always taste the best, though - and especially home grown, picked straight from the plant as they ripen! :)
ReplyDeleteOddly, Monica, I bought some cherry tomatoes yesterday and had them in my salad last night. They were definitely an improvement. Which is good because I have the rest of the punnet to eat up.
DeleteI don't think I've ever eaten one that has tough skin. Summer just gone B grew his own tomatoes in a greenhouse and they were actually ok. Can you make some sort of relish with yours?
ReplyDeleteYou are fortunate, Amy. Tough skins are unpleasant. I just won't bother buying any more big tomatoes for a while anyway until the UK ones come onto the market. My plants are growing now but tomatoes will be a while.
DeleteI hope you have a bumper tomato this summer to make up for what's happening now. But what about next year? I've never come across a tough skinned tomato. This summer just past I shared a cherry tomato tree with my neighbour, there were more than enough for both of us. The tree is now nearly dead, weather is cooling, but still it is fruiting. And I'm a confirmed cherry tomato lover.
ReplyDeletePauline, I have just bought some cherry tomatoes and they were a definite improvement on the horrible ones of a few days ago. During the summer when my tomatoes are cropping I shall be fine.
DeleteIf I never ate another raw tomato I wouldn't care. I do rely heavily on cooked ones, though.
ReplyDeleteI wish you well in the wait for home grown
Kyle, I used to love tomatoes and ate some almost every day and this has been a sudden and not very pleasant experience.
DeleteWhen we were able to grow our own n NJ and VA, they DID taste so much better than store bought. Once the local farmers' markets and/or produce stands have fresh vegetables we buy them there.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice, we have a farmers' market of sorts but tomatoes are available at roughly the same time as my home grown ones.
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