Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Am I a plebeian or are black tomatoes a thing?


CatIsHungry

Recommended Posts

Was doing some shopping the other day and saw black tomatoes - first thought was, “Oh, that’s no good” - I backed up for a closer look and realized Oh no - they’re supposed to be that way ! Heh whoops 😳

 

I do a fair amount amount of produce shopping in various markets / stands / etc - at least I thought I did ... never seen them before! How far behind the produce times am I? 

 

I would have have gotten a photo but it was the one day of course I didn’t have my phone with me 😞 

I have an EpiPen ... my friend gave it to me when he was dying ... it seemed very important to him that I have it ... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, CatIsHungry said:

Was doing some shopping the other day and saw black tomatoes - first thought was, “Oh, that’s no good” - I backed up for a closer look and realized Oh no - they’re supposed to be that way ! Heh whoops 😳

 

Several producers market them through produce departments here. It has been a number of years. If you scroll down on ths link you will see Black Krim. Laurel is a local grower of the plants for sale.  https://www.heirloomtomatoplants.com/Heirloom -Tomato_Plants_Heirloom_Tomato _seeds.htm   

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Black tomatoes, white tomatoes, green zebra striped tomatoes... they're all a thing... have grown lots of off the wall tomatoes over the years... Hardly ever see 'em on store shelves.  Occasionally in a farmers market for a whole lot of money.

Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

Learn to brew beer with my eGCI course

Chris Holst, Attorney-at-Lunch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@heidih and @cdh - have you tried them? What is their flavor ? 

 

LOL cdh - yes - I have seen quite the variety of tomatoes and yes again- these black tomatoes were quite expensive (especially for something I gave a first glance thinking Oh noooo ) ... 

 

Thanks for the link @heidih - I am a plebe 😉 LOL 

  • Haha 1

I have an EpiPen ... my friend gave it to me when he was dying ... it seemed very important to him that I have it ... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Flavors are all over the place.  The black tomatoes I've grown have been pretty much indistinguishable from red ones.  They were not all black at all, anyway... they were a very dark red, with greenish shoulders... but called black.  Has somebody succeeded in breeding an evenly black tomato?  

 

Anyway, I find the yellow and white tomatoes sweeter and less acid, the green ones sweet with middling acidity, red ones are all over the place, but if you're looking for a sharper more acid tomato, it will probably be red.

 

Then again, tomato flavor depends as much on the dirt it grows in as the breed of plant... so YMMV.

Edited by cdh (log)
  • Like 1

Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

Learn to brew beer with my eGCI course

Chris Holst, Attorney-at-Lunch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried Kumatos once. I've seen them a lot in grocery stores. They were a very dark reddish purple, as cdh described. I was unimpressed. I strongly prefer bright acidity in tomatoes. Campari tomatoes I like a lot. The Kumatos were blah. 

 

Now, if I were to see some Cherokee Purples or other heirloom dark tomatoes at a farmers' market, I'd try them again.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whether you are a Plebeian or not depends on which definition you accept: the original classical definition as a citizen who is not a member of the ruling elite; a commoner*, or the more recent derogatory sense.

 

As to black tomatoes, yes they are a thing.

 

* which I assume you are, unless there's something you're not telling us about your true identity! 😀😀😀

  • Like 2

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Whether you are a Plebeian or not depends on which definition you accept: the original classical definition as a citizen who is not a member of the ruling elite; a commoner*, or the more recent derogatory sense.

 

As to black tomatoes, yes they are a thing.

 

* which I assume you are, unless there's something you're not telling us about your true identity! 😀😀😀

 

I am not aware of a definition other than the Roman one?

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This has been interesting - thanks everyone! Personally, I love almost all tomatoes - but that color is a little off-putting.

 

@JoNorvelleWalker your dinner looks delicious! 

 

LOL @liuzhou if only I could say there were something I am not telling y’all about my true identity (of course, then I’d be branded a big fat pants on fire liar) - alas - I am just a poor commoner ☺️

I have an EpiPen ... my friend gave it to me when he was dying ... it seemed very important to him that I have it ... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

plebeian, n. and a.

….

B. c Having qualities, mental or physical, attributed to the lower classes; commonplace, undistinguished; vulgar or vulgar-looking, low, ill-bred, coarse, mean, base; ignoble.

 

Oxford English Dictionary

 

criteria which I'm sure @CatIsHungryfails to meet, given she joined eG, home to sophisticates across the world!

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

criteria which I'm sure @CatIsHungryfails to meet, given she joined eG, home to sophisticates across the world!

 

After five years of Latin I thought that was how the Romans defined it.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

After five years of Latin I thought that was how the Romans defined it.

 

 

Only maybe uppity non-plebeians. It was as neutral as 'commoner' is today in English. But we are getting way off-topic.

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heirloom tomatoes are fantastic.

 

Far superior to the genetically modified run of the mill supermarket varieties. 

 

From whites, to pink, purple, orange, green - nearly every color under the sun can be found.

 

Tastes range from far less acidic and neutral to extremely sweet (mostly anything bright orange, especially 'Orange Zingers' are super sweet - and my preference).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, TicTac said:

Heirloom tomatoes are fantastic.

 

Far superior to the genetically modified run of the mill supermarket varieties. 

 

From whites, to pink, purple, orange, green - nearly every color under the sun can be found.

 

Tastes range from far less acidic and neutral to extremely sweet (mostly anything bright orange, especially 'Orange Zingers' are super sweet - and my preference).

Ummm.... the grocery store tomatoes are almost always hybrids not GMO. They taste like nothing oftentimes because they are picked so green and are the varieties that can withstand the abuse  of machine picking, packing and shipping. This article gives a good overview of differences between heirloom and hybrid (v. GMO)  https://civileats.com/2014/08/05/the-great-tomato-debate-heirlooms-hybrids-or-gmos/

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have grown ( or attempted to grow) Black Krims for several years.  My wife insists they are her favorite tomato.  However, we have yet to see better than two tomatoes from a plant.  A month ago, my wife insisted she was finally swearing them off.  So when I went to pick up her plants from the plant sale yesterday, what do you think I saw?  

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, donk79 said:

We have grown ( or attempted to grow) Black Krims for several years.  My wife insists they are her favorite tomato.  However, we have yet to see better than two tomatoes from a plant.  A month ago, my wife insisted she was finally swearing them off.  So when I went to pick up her plants from the plant sale yesterday, what do you think I saw?  

Gardeners are true optimists. After swearing that you'll never plant that variety again, another spring comes around and once again you're seduced by the same plant. You think, "Maybe this year will be better." I know--I've been there.

 

Black Krim is an attractive tomato (in my eyes) but in terms of flavor there are many better varieties. My sister's favorites are Green Zebra and Gold Medal, but my husband loves Prudens Purple. We grew them successfully in our garden at 7200 feet one year, but never again did I get much of a crop. Doesn't mean I didn't keep trying, though. Prudens is a big pink fruit with a fine flavor balance between sweet and acid.

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Formerly "Nancy in CO"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They aren't black, but let me put in a word for two of my favorite heirlooms: Arkansas Traveler, a sweet, red slicing tomato that's relatively low-acid and makes a marvelous BLT, and Carolina Gold, a yellow tomato that grows BIG and thus makes excellent sandwiches, or anything else you want to do with it. It is VERY low acid.

 

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, donk79 said:

We have grown ( or attempted to grow) Black Krims for several years.  My wife insists they are her favorite tomato.  However, we have yet to see better than two tomatoes from a plant.  A month ago, my wife insisted she was finally swearing them off.  So when I went to pick up her plants from the plant sale yesterday, what do you think I saw?  

 

a tip from my grandfather:

plant tomatoes in the poorest part of the plot - a soil that's too good results in a lot of stem/leaves, not so many tomatoes....

 

sometimes people get fertilizer happy and have huge plants but less harvest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...