Table of Contents
- Part One: Origins – The Fruit That Traveled the World
- Part Two: Understanding Tomato Types
- Part Three: The Science of Tomato Flavor
- Part Four: Shopping for Tomatoes – Where and How to Buy
- Part Five: Growing Tomatoes – From Seed to Harvest
- Part Six: Selecting, Storing, and Preparing Tomatoes
- Part Seven: Tomatoes in World Cuisines
- Conclusion: The Tomato Mindset
Everything you need to know about the world’s most versatile ingredient – its origins, varieties, flavor science, and how to use each type
There’s something almost absurd about how thoroughly tomatoes have infiltrated our kitchens. Walk into any grocery store in January and you’ll find them piled in the produce section – sometimes mealy, often pale, occasionally tragic. But come August, when sun-warmed heirloom tomatoes from a farmers’ market split their skins from pure ripeness and smell like summer distilled into fruit form, you remember why generations of cooks have built entire cuisines around this single ingredient.
The tomato’s journey from feared ornamental plant to global culinary foundation is one of food history’s most remarkable transformations. Understanding tomatoes means understanding not just varieties and growing seasons, but the chemistry that makes a good sauce cling to pasta, the volcanic soil that created San Marzano, and why your grandmother was right about never refrigerating a ripe tomato.
This is your complete guide to tomatoes – not just a catalog of types, but a deep exploration of where they came from, how they conquered the world’s cuisines, what makes each variety distinct, and how to choose, store, and cook them to bring out their absolute best.
Part One: Origins – The Fruit That Traveled the World
The Andean Beginning
Tomatoes didn’t start their journey in Italian soil or on Spanish hillsides. They began as wild fruits in the Andes Mountains of South America, primarily in what we now call Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile. These ancient wild tomatoes (Solanum pimpinellifolium) bore little resemblance to the plump red globes we know today – they were tiny, no bigger than modern cherry tomatoes, often yellow or orange, and intensely tart.
The Incas and other indigenous peoples of the region knew these wild plants, though they weren’t a major food crop. The fruit spread slowly northward over thousands of years, likely carried by birds and gradually making its way through Central America to Mexico.
The Aztec Transformation
It was in Mesoamerica – primarily Mexico – that tomatoes underwent their first major transformation. The Aztecs cultivated tomatoes around 700 CE, selecting for larger fruits and developing varieties that were sweeter and more palatable than their wild ancestors. The Nahuatl word tomatl gave us our English “tomato” through Spanish translation.
For the Aztecs, tomatoes were a foundational ingredient. They created early versions of what we’d recognize as salsa, combining tomatoes with chili peppers and ground squash seeds. Tomatoes were secondary crops, grown alongside the primary trinity of corn, beans, and squash, but they were valued enough to appear in marketplaces and to be cultivated in dedicated plots.
Interestingly, the Aztecs believed that consuming tomato seeds could grant wisdom and glimpses of the future – a belief that sounds fantastical now but speaks to how significant this fruit was in their culture.
The Spanish Encounter and European Suspicion
When Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico in 1519, they encountered tomatoes as part of the broader treasure trove of New World foods. Hernán Cortés and his men were the first Europeans to see and taste tomatoes, and they brought seeds back to Spain in the early 16th century.
The tomato reached Italy by 1548, when the house steward of Cosimo de’ Medici wrote to inform the duke that a basket of tomatoes had arrived from the estate. The first written description appeared in Italian physician and botanist Pietro Andrea Mattioli’s work around 1554, where he called them pomi d’oro – golden apples. This name stuck in Italian (pomodoro), suggesting that the first tomatoes seen in Italy were yellow or orange varieties.
But here’s where the story gets interesting: for nearly two centuries, most Europeans refused to eat tomatoes.
The Great European Fear
Europeans were convinced tomatoes were poisonous. This wasn’t entirely irrational – tomatoes belong to the nightshade family (Solanaceae), which includes genuinely toxic plants like belladonna (deadly nightshade) and mandrake. The resemblance was close enough to make people wary.
Additionally, wealthy Europeans did occasionally die after eating tomatoes, but not because of the fruit itself. They used pewter plates – which contained high levels of lead. The tomato’s acidity would leach lead from the plates into the food, causing lead poisoning. The tomatoes took the blame.
For decades, tomatoes were grown purely as ornamental plants in European gardens. People called them “poison apples” or “love apples” (the latter possibly due to supposed aphrodisiac properties, or perhaps from a corruption of the Italian pomme dei Mori – apple of the Moors).
The Italian Revolution
The Spanish and Italians were the first Europeans to overcome their fear and embrace tomatoes as food. Southern Italy, with its warm Mediterranean climate and volcanic soil, proved perfect for growing tomatoes. By the early 17th century, tomatoes were being cultivated and consumed in Naples and surrounding regions.
The first published tomato recipe appeared in 1692 in Antonio Latini’s cookbook Lo scalco alla moderna, which included instructions for a Spanish-style tomato sauce. The transformation was beginning – from New World curiosity to Mediterranean staple.
The Neapolitan region, with its rich volcanic soil around Mount Vesuvius, became the epicenter of Italian tomato cultivation. The minerals in the volcanic soil gave tomatoes grown there a distinctive sweetness and low acidity – characteristics that would eventually define the legendary San Marzano variety.
The Long American Return
Ironically, while tomatoes originated in the Americas, they took a circuitous route back. European colonists brought tomatoes to North America, but many Americans inherited European suspicions about the fruit’s safety.
Thomas Jefferson, always a culinary pioneer, grew tomatoes at Monticello in 1781, having encountered them during his time in France. But widespread American acceptance didn’t come until the early 19th century.
One famous (though possibly apocryphal) story claims that in 1820, Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson stood on the steps of the Salem County courthouse in New Jersey and publicly ate an entire basket of tomatoes to prove they weren’t poisonous, while horrified crowds watched, expecting him to die on the spot. Whether or not this dramatic demonstration actually happened, tomatoes did gradually gain acceptance in American cuisine throughout the 1800s.
By the early 20th century, tomatoes had become ubiquitous in American cooking, thanks in part to Italian immigration and the development of canning technology that made tomato products shelf-stable and available year-round.
Part Two: Understanding Tomato Types
The Fundamental Categories
Tomatoes can be organized several ways – by size, by use, by growing habit – but understanding the basic categories helps demystify the hundreds of named varieties you might encounter.
Heirloom Tomatoes: These are open-pollinated varieties that have been passed down through generations, typically pre-dating World War II. They breed true from seed, meaning you can save seeds and grow identical plants next year. Heirloom tomatoes are prized for complex flavors, unusual colors, and often imperfect but beautiful shapes. They tend to be more delicate than modern hybrids, with thinner skins and shorter shelf lives.
Hybrid Tomatoes: These are deliberately bred crosses between two different varieties, selected for specific traits like disease resistance, uniform ripening, or durability during shipping. Hybrids don’t breed true from seed – if you save their seeds, you’ll get unpredictable results. Most commercial tomatoes are hybrids.
Determinate vs. Indeterminate: This refers to growing habit. Determinate tomatoes grow to a fixed height, set all their fruit at once, and then stop growing – they’re compact, good for canning because you get a large harvest at one time. Indeterminate tomatoes keep growing, flowering, and producing fruit until frost kills them – they need support and regular pruning but provide steady harvests over months.
Beefsteak Tomatoes: The Giants
Characteristics: Large, often weighing a pound or more per fruit, with meaty flesh, relatively few seeds, and a balance of sweet and acidic flavors.
Best Uses: Slicing for sandwiches and burgers, layering in caprese salads, eating raw with just salt and pepper, grilling in thick slabs.
Why They Work: The large size and meaty texture make beefsteaks perfect when you need substantial tomato slices that won’t fall apart or make bread soggy. Their lower water content compared to other fresh eating tomatoes means they hold their structure.
Varieties to Know:
- Brandywine: An Amish heirloom with pink skin and complex, sweet-tart flavor
- Cherokee Purple: Dark purple-brown with rich, smoky-sweet taste
- Mortgage Lifter: Developed during the Depression, known for huge fruits and reliable production
- Big Beef: A popular hybrid that balances heirloom flavor with disease resistance
Flavor Profile: Balanced sweetness and acidity, often with subtle fruity or earthy undertones. The best beefsteaks taste intensely of tomato without being overwhelming.
San Marzano: The Sauce King
Characteristics: Elongated, pointed shape (about 3-4 inches long), thick flesh, few seeds, sweet with low acidity, thin skin.
Origin Story: San Marzano sul Sarno, a small town in the Campania region near Naples, in the volcanic soil around Mount Vesuvius. Legend says the first seeds arrived in 1770 as a gift from the Viceroyalty of Peru to the Kingdom of Naples.
Protected Status: True San Marzano tomatoes grown in the Sarnese-Nocerino valley have European PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status. Only these can legally be sold as “Pomodoro San Marzano dell’Agro Sarnese-Nocerino.” They’re one of only two tomatoes approved for vera pizza napoletana (true Neapolitan pizza).
Best Uses: Canned whole or crushed for sauces, marinara, pizza sauce, any slow-cooked tomato preparation.
Why They Work: The thick flesh and low seed count mean less watery sauce. The natural sweetness means no added sugar is needed to balance acidity. The thin skin breaks down completely during cooking, creating smooth texture without needing to peel them.
The Fraud Problem: Because San Marzano tomatoes command premium prices, fraud is rampant. In 2010, Italian authorities confiscated over 1,400 tons of improperly labeled “San Marzano” tomatoes. Look for the PDO certification seal and expect to pay more for authentic ones.
Varieties to Know:
- San Marzano (heirloom): The original, still grown in Italy
- San Marzano Redorta: A strain selected for disease resistance while maintaining flavor
Flavor Profile: Sweet-tart balance, less acidic than many tomatoes, with an almost meaty umami quality that intensifies during cooking.
Roma: The Workhorse
Characteristics: Smaller than San Marzano (usually 2-3 inches), egg or pear-shaped, dense flesh, few seeds, moderate acidity.
Origin Story: Developed by the USDA in 1955 as a cross between San Marzano and Pan American varieties. Despite the name, Roma tomatoes are American, not Italian.
Best Uses: Canning, sauce-making, salsa, anywhere you need a reliable paste tomato with good flavor.
Why They Work: Roma tomatoes were bred for durability and disease resistance while maintaining good flavor. They’re less delicate than San Marzano but still have low water content and meaty texture. They’re also significantly cheaper and more widely available.
Varieties to Know:
- Roma VF: Disease-resistant strain, the most common Roma
- Plum Regal: Hybrid with exceptional flavor
- SuperSauce: Extra-meaty hybrid for heavy sauces
Flavor Profile: Straightforward tomato flavor, moderate sweetness and acidity, less complex than San Marzano but more assertive than most fresh eating tomatoes.
Cherry and Grape Tomatoes: The Sweet Bites
Characteristics: Small (cherry tomatoes are round, about 1 inch; grape tomatoes are oblong, slightly smaller), thin-skinned, sweet, juicy.
Best Uses: Raw in salads, roasted whole, sautéed quickly, kids’ snacks (they’re candy-like when perfectly ripe).
Why They Work: The small size means a higher ratio of sweet outer flesh to seedy interior. They burst satisfyingly in your mouth, releasing concentrated flavor. When roasted, their sugars caramelize quickly, intensifying sweetness.
Varieties to Know:
- Sungold: F1 hybrid, intensely sweet with fruity overtones
- Black Cherry: Purple-brown with rich, complex flavor
- Sweet 100: Prolific red cherries, very sweet
- Midnight Snack: Deep purple, sweet-tart
Flavor Profile: Generally sweeter than larger tomatoes, often with fruity notes. Less acidic, more candy-like when fully ripe.
Heirloom Tomatoes: The Flavor Specialists
Heirlooms are a category unto themselves, representing hundreds of varieties preserved by gardeners and small farmers. They come in every color, size, and shape imaginable.
Characteristics: Irregular shapes, thin skins, complex flavors, often low acidity, shorter shelf life, tendency to crack when very ripe.
Common Colors and What They Mean:
- Red: Classic tomato flavor, balanced sweetness and acid
- Yellow/Orange: Lower acidity, sweeter, sometimes with citrus notes
- Green (when ripe): Tangy, slightly spicy, complex
- Purple/Black: Rich, smoky, often sweet with earthy undertones
- Striped: Flavor depends on parent varieties but often complex and balanced
Best Uses: Eating fresh to appreciate their unique flavors, minimal cooking (they’re too delicate and expensive for long-simmered sauces), caprese salads, tomato salads with just olive oil and salt.
Why They Work: Heirlooms weren’t bred for durability or uniform appearance – they were bred for flavor. Each variety has distinct characteristics that can’t be replicated by modern hybrids.
Varieties to Know:
- Green Zebra: Tangy, bright, with yellow stripes
- Black Krim: Deep purple-brown, rich and complex
- Pineapple: Large, yellow-orange with red streaks, fruity-sweet
- Brandywine: Pink, considered by many the benchmark heirloom flavor
- Cherokee Purple: Dark with sweet-smoky taste
- Striped German: Large, yellow with red marbling, sweet and meaty
Flavor Profile: Varies wildly by variety, but generally more complex and nuanced than hybrids. Often sweeter with more fruity or earthy notes.
Specialty Varieties Worth Knowing
Oxheart (Cuore di Bue): Large, heart-shaped Italian heirloom, pink with thin skin and sweet flavor. Perfect for slicing raw.
Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio: Small, hanging tomatoes from Mount Vesuvius, with intense sweet-tart flavor. PDO protected, traditionally hung in bunches to preserve.
Costoluto Genovese: Deeply ribbed Italian heirloom, juicy and acidic, traditional for fresh eating in Liguria.
Green Tomatoes (harvested unripe): Firm, tangy, excellent for frying, pickling, or making green tomato salsa and chutney.
Part Three: The Science of Tomato Flavor
What Makes a Tomato Taste Like a Tomato
Tomato flavor is a complex interaction of sugars, acids, and volatile compounds. A great tomato balances:
Sugars: Primarily fructose and glucose. Sweetness varies by variety and growing conditions. Full sun and warm temperatures increase sugar development.
Acids: Mainly citric and malic acids. Acidity provides brightness and prevents tomatoes from tasting cloying. The sugar-to-acid ratio determines whether a tomato tastes balanced, too sweet, or too tart.
Umami: Tomatoes are rich in glutamic acid, providing savory depth. This is why tomatoes enhance other flavors and why cooked tomato products taste so satisfying.
Volatiles: Over 400 volatile compounds contribute to tomato aroma and flavor. The most important include:
- 3-methylbutanal: Fruity, sweet notes
- Hexanal and hexenal: Green, grassy aromas
- β-ionone: Floral notes
- Geranylacetone: Sweet, floral
- β-damascenone: Honey-like sweetness
The perfect tomato has all these elements in harmony. Too much acidity and it’s sharp; too much sugar and it’s bland; insufficient volatiles and it tastes flat even if the sugar-acid balance is correct.
Why Supermarket Tomatoes Taste Different Than Home Grown
This is one of food’s great tragedies and a perfect example of how breeding for the wrong priorities ruins flavor.
The Ripening Problem: Commercial tomatoes are picked green and ripened with ethylene gas during transport. This allows them to survive shipping but prevents flavor development. Tomatoes develop their complex flavors during vine ripening, particularly in the last few days. Picking them early short-circuits this process.
The Uniformity Gene: In the 1960s, a mutation that caused tomatoes to ripen uniformly red (no green shoulders) was bred into commercial varieties. This made them more appealing to consumers. Unfortunately, that same mutation also disrupts sugar production and reduces flavor compounds by up to 30%. Most commercial tomatoes carry this mutation.
Cold Storage: Tomatoes are often refrigerated during transport and in stores, which permanently damages their flavor-producing mechanisms. Once a tomato drops below 54°F (12°C), enzymes that produce volatiles are damaged and never recover, even after the tomato returns to room temperature.
Breeding Priorities: Commercial tomatoes are bred for yield, disease resistance, durability during shipping, long shelf life, and uniform appearance. Flavor ranks far down the list. Heirlooms and specialty tomatoes are bred for flavor first.
The Texture Factor: Commercial tomatoes are bred for thick walls and firm texture that survive mechanical harvesting and transport. This means less seed gel (which contains much of the flavor) and more bland flesh.
The Chemistry of Cooking Tomatoes
When you cook tomatoes, fascinating chemical changes occur:
Cell Wall Breakdown: Heat breaks down pectin in cell walls, softening the tomato and releasing liquid. This is why fresh tomatoes become sauce when cooked.
Concentration of Flavors: As water evaporates, sugars, acids, and umami compounds concentrate, intensifying flavor. A slow-cooked sauce can be five to ten times more concentrated than fresh tomatoes.
Maillard Reaction: When tomatoes roast at high heat, sugars and amino acids interact, creating new flavor compounds through the Maillard reaction. This adds caramelized, roasted notes.
Lycopene Availability: Lycopene, the antioxidant that makes tomatoes red, becomes more bioavailable when cooked. Your body absorbs it more easily from cooked tomatoes than raw.
Acid Reduction: Long cooking can mellow acidity slightly, which is why some recipes add a pinch of sugar or baking soda (though the latter can destroy nutrients).
Part Four: Shopping for Tomatoes – Where and How to Buy
The Farmers Market Advantage
If you have access to a farmers market during tomato season (typically July through September in most of North America), this is where you’ll find the best fresh tomatoes, hands down.
What to Look For:
- Vendors who grow heirloom varieties – they’re often labeled by name (Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra)
- Tomatoes that are slightly imperfect – cracks, irregular shapes, and variations in color often indicate varieties bred for flavor rather than shipping
- “Seconds” bins – these are cosmetically imperfect tomatoes sold at a discount, perfect for sauce-making
- Smell – ripe tomatoes at the farmers market should smell intensely like tomato even before you pick them up
- Diversity – if a vendor has 8-10 different varieties, they’re serious about tomatoes
Questions to Ask:
- “When were these picked?” (Ideally within the last day or two)
- “Which variety would you recommend for eating fresh vs. making sauce?”
- “Are these heirlooms or hybrids?” (Both can be excellent, but it helps you know what to expect)
- “How do you suggest storing these?” (Different varieties have different shelf lives)
Farmers Market Strategy:
- Go early for the best selection, or go near closing time for potential discounts on what’s left
- Bring cash – many vendors prefer it
- Don’t be afraid to taste if samples are offered – flavor varies wildly between varieties
- Buy in bulk for canning or sauce-making – many vendors offer case discounts
- Get to know your tomato farmers – they’ll often set aside special varieties for regular customers
Grocery Store Navigation
Not everyone has access to farmers markets, and even those who do need tomatoes year-round. Here’s how to make the best of grocery store tomatoes.
Best Bets at the Grocery Store:
- Tomatoes on the vine: Often more flavorful than loose tomatoes because they’ve ripened slightly longer. The attached vine isn’t just aesthetic – it indicates they weren’t picked quite as green.
- Campari or cocktail tomatoes: These medium-sized tomatoes (between cherry and full-size) are usually sweeter and more reliably flavorful than standard slicing tomatoes.
- Cherry and grape tomatoes: Almost always sweet, even in winter. They’re grown in greenhouses year-round and are remarkably consistent.
- Heirloom tomatoes (seasonal): Some grocery stores carry heirlooms in summer. They’re expensive but usually worth it if they look and smell ripe.
- Ugly/imperfect tomatoes: Some stores now sell “ugly produce” at a discount – great for cooking.
What to Avoid:
- Perfectly round, uniformly red tomatoes that look like they were stamped out by a machine – they probably taste like it too
- Tomatoes stored in the refrigerated section – the cold has already damaged their flavor
- Rock-hard tomatoes unless you plan to ripen them at home for several days
- Tomatoes with no fragrance whatsoever
- Pre-cut or pre-diced tomatoes (use canned instead – better flavor and texture)
The Reality Check: Supermarket tomatoes in winter will never taste like August farmers market tomatoes. That’s when you switch to high-quality canned tomatoes for cooking. Save your money and don’t bother with $4/lb greenhouse tomatoes that taste like nothing.
Specialty Stores and Ethnic Markets
Italian Markets/Delis: Often carry authentic canned San Marzano tomatoes with DOP certification. The staff can usually tell you which brands are legitimate. They may also have fresh San Marzano or other Italian varieties in season.
Mexican/Latin Markets: Excellent source for Roma tomatoes (which are often cheaper and fresher than in regular grocery stores), tomatillos (if you want to explore salsa verde), and sometimes interesting heirloom varieties.
Asian Markets: May carry different tomato varieties, particularly smaller varieties used in Southeast Asian cooking. You might find interesting options for fresh eating.
Co-ops and Specialty Grocers: Whole Foods, co-ops, and specialty stores often carry heirloom tomatoes in season and usually have good quality canned Italian tomatoes year-round.
Buying Canned Tomatoes
Since canned tomatoes are essential for year-round cooking, here’s what to look for:
The Gold Standard:
- Canned whole San Marzano tomatoes with DOP certification
- Ingredients list should read: tomatoes, tomato juice, salt (sometimes basil)
- Avoid added citric acid if possible (though some producers add a touch)
Where to Find Them:
- Italian specialty stores (best selection, often best prices if you buy by the case)
- Online retailers (Amazon, Italian specialty sites)
- Well-stocked grocery stores (check the “international” or “Italian” section, not just with regular canned tomatoes)
- Restaurant supply stores (if you’re buying in quantity)
Price Reality: Authentic DOP San Marzano tomatoes cost $4-7 per 28oz can. “San Marzano style” tomatoes cost $2-4. Regular canned tomatoes cost $1-2. The difference is real, but you don’t need to use the expensive ones for every application.
Storage: Canned tomatoes last years in the pantry. Buy by the case when they’re on sale.
Part Five: Growing Tomatoes – From Seed to Harvest
Why Grow Your Own
I’m not a master gardener, but I’ve grown enough tomatoes to understand why people become obsessed. There’s something transformative about picking a sun-warm tomato off the vine and eating it immediately, still standing in the garden. Store-bought tomatoes – even good ones – can’t replicate that experience.
Growing tomatoes also gives you access to varieties that never make it to stores. Obscure heirlooms, experimental hybrids, tomatoes so delicate they can’t survive shipping – these are available to home growers. And if you’re making sauce, growing paste tomatoes means you can put up jars of marinara for pennies per quart.
The Basics (What Tomatoes Need)
Sunlight: Tomatoes are sun worshippers. They need 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily, preferably more. Insufficient sun means leggy plants, few flowers, and bland fruit. If you don’t have full sun, grow cherry tomatoes – they’re more tolerant of partial shade.
Soil: Rich, well-draining soil loaded with organic matter. Tomatoes are heavy feeders that pull lots of nutrients from the soil. Before planting, work in compost, aged manure, or other organic matter. The soil should drain well – waterlogged roots lead to disease.
Water: Consistent moisture is crucial. Irregular watering causes blossom end rot (calcium can’t move through the plant without steady moisture), split fruit (rapid water uptake after drought), and stressed plants vulnerable to disease. Aim for 1-2 inches per week, either from rain or irrigation. Drip irrigation or soaker hoses are ideal – keeping leaves dry prevents disease.
Temperature: Tomatoes are tropical plants originally. They need warm soil to thrive. Don’t plant until soil temperature reaches at least 60°F (ideally 65-70°F) and nighttime air temperatures stay above 50°F consistently. Cold soil means stunted growth and increased disease susceptibility.
Support: Most tomato varieties need staking or caging. Indeterminate varieties (which keep growing all season) need tall, sturdy supports. Determinate varieties (which grow to a fixed height) can manage with shorter cages. Supporting plants keeps fruit off the ground (reducing rot and pest damage), improves air circulation (reducing disease), and makes harvesting easier.
Planting Technique
Timing: Plant after your last spring frost date when soil has warmed. In most of the U.S., this means late April through early June, depending on your climate.
Deep Planting: This is the secret to strong tomato plants. Bury the stem up to the first set of true leaves, even if it means planting sideways in a trench. Tomatoes root along their buried stems, creating a massive, robust root system that supports vigorous growth and heavy fruit production.
Spacing: Give plants room. Indeterminate varieties need 24-36 inches between plants. Crowding leads to disease, poor air circulation, and competition for nutrients.
Initial Care: Water deeply at planting. Mulch around plants (but not touching stems) to retain moisture and prevent soil-borne diseases from splashing onto leaves.
Varieties for Different Purposes
For Fresh Eating:
- Heirlooms like Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, or Black Krim – complex flavors, beautiful colors
- Hybrid slicers like Big Beef or Early Girl – reliable, disease-resistant, productive
- Cherry tomatoes like Sungold or Sweet 100 – sweet, prolific, great for snacking
For Sauce and Canning:
- San Marzano – if you can find seeds or starts, nothing makes better sauce
- Roma – reliable, meaty, widely available
- Amish Paste – large paste tomato with excellent flavor
- Opalka – Polish heirloom, very meaty with few seeds
For Small Spaces/Containers:
- Determinate varieties that stay compact
- Patio, Tiny Tim, or Tumbling Tom – bred specifically for containers
- Most cherry tomato varieties adapt well to pots
Common Problems and Solutions
Blossom End Rot: Brown, sunken spots on the bottom of fruit. Caused by calcium deficiency, usually due to irregular watering. Solution: consistent moisture, mulch to regulate soil moisture, add calcium (crushed eggshells, lime) to soil.
Cracking/Splitting: Fruit splits open, usually after heavy rain following drought. Caused by rapid water uptake. Solution: consistent watering, mulch, harvest slightly early if heavy rain is forecast.
Hornworms: Enormous green caterpillars that can strip a plant overnight. Solution: hand-pick them (wear gloves if squeamish), encourage natural predators, use BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) if infestation is severe.
Early Blight/Late Blight: Fungal diseases causing brown spots on leaves, eventually defoliating plants. Solution: prevention through mulching (prevents soil splash), spacing plants for air circulation, watering at soil level, removing affected leaves immediately. Copper fungicides can help but work best as prevention.
Poor Fruit Set: Plants flower but don’t produce fruit. Causes: temperatures too hot (above 90°F) or too cold (below 55°F at night), excessive nitrogen (lots of leaves, no fruit), insufficient pollination. Solution: be patient (fruit will set when temperatures moderate), reduce nitrogen fertilizer, gently shake plants to help pollination.
Harvesting
When to Pick: Tomatoes are ripe when they’re fully colored, slightly soft when gently squeezed, and smell fragrant. They should come off the vine easily with a gentle twist.
The Debate: Some gardeners pick tomatoes when they first show color and ripen them indoors to prevent cracking or pest damage. Others insist on vine-ripening for maximum flavor. My take: vine-ripen when possible, but if heavy rain, extreme heat, or pest pressure threatens, pick them at the “breaker” stage (just starting to show color) and ripen indoors.
Ripening Indoors: Place tomatoes stem-side down on a counter at room temperature, out of direct sunlight. Check daily and use as they ripen.
End of Season: Before your first fall frost, harvest all tomatoes – even green ones. Ripe and nearly-ripe tomatoes will finish ripening indoors. Very green tomatoes can be used for fried green tomatoes, pickles, or green tomato salsa.
Saving Seeds (Heirlooms Only)
If you grow open-pollinated heirloom varieties, you can save seeds:
- Choose the best-tasting, most beautiful fruit from your healthiest plant
- Scoop out seeds and gel into a jar
- Add a little water and let ferment 2-3 days (this removes the gel and kills seed-borne diseases)
- Rinse seeds thoroughly, spread on a plate to dry
- Store dried seeds in a cool, dark place
Note: This only works with heirloom varieties. Hybrid seeds won’t grow “true to type” – you’ll get unpredictable results.
Part Six: Selecting, Storing, and Preparing Tomatoes
How to Choose Tomatoes
Look for:
- Deep, vibrant color appropriate to the variety
- Heavy weight (indicates juiciness)
- Slight give when gently squeezed (like a ripe peach)
- Fresh, green stem
- Fragrant – a ripe tomato should smell like tomato, especially at the stem end
Avoid:
- Wrinkled skin
- Soft spots or bruises
- Pale, washed-out color
- No fragrance
- Split skin (unless using immediately)
- Hard, unyielding texture
Seasonal Timing: In most of North America, the best fresh tomatoes appear mid-July through September. Early summer and fall tomatoes can be good; winter tomatoes are usually terrible.
The Storage Rules
Room Temperature is Essential: Never refrigerate tomatoes unless they’re fully ripe and you need to extend their life by a day or two. Cold temperatures permanently damage flavor and texture.
Store Stem-Side Down: This prevents moisture loss through the stem scar and reduces the chance of mold.
Ripen on the Counter: If tomatoes are underripe, leave them at room temperature out of direct sunlight until they reach peak ripeness.
Separate from Other Produce: Tomatoes produce ethylene gas, which can prematurely ripen other fruits and vegetables.
Use Ripe Tomatoes Quickly: Peak-ripe tomatoes last only a day or two before starting to decline. If you must refrigerate them, bring them back to room temperature before eating.
End-of-Season Storage: If you have unripe tomatoes when frost threatens, harvest them and ripen them indoors at room temperature. They won’t be as good as vine-ripened but will be better than anything in stores.
Essential Preparation Techniques
Peeling Tomatoes:
- Score an X on the bottom of each tomato
- Drop into boiling water for 30-60 seconds until skins start to split
- Immediately transfer to ice water
- Skins slip right off
Seeding Tomatoes (for recipes where excess liquid is unwanted):
- Cut tomato in half horizontally (across the equator, not pole to pole)
- Gently squeeze each half over a bowl, using your finger to help extract seeds and gel
- Reserve the liquid for another use – it’s flavorful
Concassé (classic French diced tomatoes):
- Peel and seed tomatoes as above
- Cut into neat, uniform dice
- Use for refined sauces, garnishes, or when presentation matters
Roasting:
- Halve tomatoes (larger ones) or leave whole (cherry/grape)
- Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper
- Roast at 400°F until caramelized and concentrated, 30-60 minutes depending on size
- Results in intensely sweet, complex flavor
Quick Sauce (when fresh tomatoes are at their peak):
- Dice ripe tomatoes roughly
- Sauté garlic in olive oil until fragrant
- Add tomatoes, salt, fresh basil
- Cook just until tomatoes release their juices and soften slightly, 10-15 minutes
- The freshness shines through
Part Seven: Tomatoes in World Cuisines
Italian Traditions
Tomatoes arrived in Italy in the 16th century but didn’t become central to Italian cooking until the 18th and 19th centuries. Now they’re so associated with Italian cuisine that it’s hard to imagine one without the other.
Naples and Campania: The epicenter of Italian tomato culture. Pizza Margherita, pappa al pomodoro, parmigiana di melanzane – all Neapolitan classics built on tomatoes from the region’s volcanic soil.
Rome and Lazio: Amatriciana, arrabiata, cacio e pepe (wait, that one doesn’t have tomatoes). Roman cooking uses tomatoes more sparingly, often as a component rather than the star.
Sicily: Shows Arab influence with dishes like pasta alla Norma, combining tomatoes with eggplant, ricotta salata, and basil.
Preservation: Italians excel at preserving tomatoes – passata (pureed), pelati (peeled whole), concentrato (paste), and the tradition of hanging Piennolo tomatoes to dry slightly, concentrating their flavor.
Spanish Contributions
Spain was the first European country to embrace tomatoes, and Spanish cuisine reflects this early adoption.
Gazpacho: The cold soup from Andalusia that showcases raw tomato flavor, blended with bread, cucumber, peppers, garlic, and sherry vinegar.
Sofrito: The aromatic base of tomatoes, onions, and garlic that underpins countless Spanish dishes.
Pan con Tomate: Catalonian breakfast of toasted bread rubbed with garlic and ripe tomato, drizzled with olive oil and salt. Simple perfection.
Mexican Foundations
Tomatoes are indigenous to Mexico, and Mexican cuisine has never stopped innovating with them.
Salsa: From salsa fresca (pico de gallo) to salsa verde (tomatillos, technically, but related), to complex cooked salsas with charred tomatoes and dried chilies.
Moles: Many incorporate tomatoes as one layer in their complex flavor profiles.
Huevos Rancheros: Relies on a good tomato-based ranchero sauce.
The Mexican relationship with tomatoes is ancestral and intuitive – they’re used raw, roasted, charred, stewed, and everywhere in between.
Middle Eastern Applications
Tomatoes came to the Middle East relatively recently (late 18th century) but quickly became essential.
Shakshuka: North African/Israeli dish of eggs poached in spiced tomato sauce.
Turkish Menemen: Scrambled eggs with tomatoes and peppers.
Persian Stews: Use tomatoes to add acidity and body to long-simmered khoresh.
American Evolution
American cuisine inherited European tomato traditions but developed its own approaches.
Ketchup: The most American of condiments, though its origins are Asian (fish sauce-based).
Barbecue Sauce: Often tomato-based, sweetened and spiced.
BLT: The sandwich that proves three ingredients plus bread can be perfection.
Southern Tomatoes: Fried green tomatoes, tomato pie, tomato sandwiches on white bread with Duke’s mayonnaise – Southern summer traditions.
Conclusion: The Tomato Mindset
Understanding tomatoes means accepting that seasonality matters, that flavor trumps appearance, and that the best tomato sauce you’ll ever make starts with the right variety of tomato chosen for its specific purpose.
It means knowing that a January beefsteak from the supermarket and an August heirloom from the farmers’ market are barely the same species in terms of flavor. It means understanding that San Marzano tomatoes were developed in volcanic soil for a reason, and that reason shows up in every spoonful of properly made marinara.
Most importantly, it means recognizing that tomatoes – from their wild Andean ancestors to the modern hybrids engineered to survive cross-country shipping – represent humanity’s ongoing conversation with the plants we eat. We’ve shaped them; they’ve shaped our cuisines. The tomato’s journey from feared poison to indispensable ingredient tells us something about patience, about cultural exchange, and about how food can transform both in the soil and in our collective imagination.
Whether you’re choosing tomatoes at the market, putting up jars of sauce for winter, or biting into a sun-warm fruit still attached to the vine, you’re participating in a tradition that stretches from the Andes to Naples to wherever your kitchen happens to be.
Make it count. Choose well. Cook thoughtfully. Make some Noms.
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