Handpicked for flavor: Paul Bucciaglia of Fort Hill Farm in New
Milford shows off a handful of his heirloom tomatoes, each
weighing a pound or more. He and several other growers at the
Sandy Hook Organic Farmers' Market are peddling the historic
and colorful vegetables. --Bee Photo, Evans
Now is the time when all salad lovers glory in the harvest,
heading out to their gardens or the nearest farmers' market in
search of fresh tomatoes.
Not just any tomatoes, mind you, but heirloom tomatoes -- those
funky-shaped, wildly colorful, bulbously delicious fruits of the
vine that have sprung from seeds passed down for generations.
Heirloom tomato lovers are time travelers because when they take
that first, juicy bite, they are experiencing the same tastes
enjoyed by their grandparents and great-grandparents long ago.
If they close their eyes, they might almost hear the whirr of the
push mower and the whiff- whiff of the lawn sprinkler. No highway
noise, no cell phones, no television, just the quiet of a
summer's day and time to savor a fresh tomato.
Paul Bucciaglia of Fort Hill Farm in New Milford was selling
whole boxes full of heirloom tomatoes at the Sandy Hook Organic
Farmers' Market on a recent Tuesday, and he was more than happy
to familiarize all comers with their strange and wonderful shapes
and colors. Even their names pique the imagination.
Who ever heard of a tomato called Eva Purple Ball or Silvery Fir
Tree?
"These Brandywines are good to go!" Mr Bucciaglia said, pointing
to some medium-sized, pinkish-red beauties.
"And look at those Green Zebras. As soon as they get a little
soft, they're ready to eat."
Green Zebras are one of the most popular varieties. Their taste
is full-bodied, sweet yet tart. You can tell when they are ripe
if you watch for the amber and yellow colors to set in, Mr
Bucciaglia said.
Heirloom tomatoes are often quite big.
"Pick a few of these one-pounders, and your shopping bag is full.
People get a little shell-shocked at their size," he laughed.
"They're big and they're ugly but people are starting to get used
to them."
He had cut up a Brandywine Black the color of deep mahogany into
bite-size portions and set them out on a paper plate with
toothpicks for sampling. Before long, those tomato snacks were
history and the buyers were lining up.
Like some people we know, heirloom tomatoes are thin-skinned.
This might be one reason that grocery stores do not carry them.
They do not travel or stack well. But their flavor makes up for
this slight deficiency.
Radiator Charley's Mortgage Lifter
Grown in the late 1800s and early 1900s by small farmers,
heirloom tomatoes have names that may tell about the region where
they were grown or hint at the circumstances behind their
cultivation. Mr Bucciaglia was well versed in such lore.
"One of my favorites is Radiator Charley's Mortgage Lifter. It
seems this farmer, who was also a garage mechanic, sold a certain
variety of tomatoes out of his garden, and they were wildly
popular. People came from all over to buy them, so he eventually
was able to pay off the mortgage on his garage with the
proceeds."
Other varieties are called Pennsylvania Dutch, Blue Ridge
Mountain, Arkansas Traveler, and Pink Brandywine, which Mr
Bucciaglia said has to be "the best tasting tomato ever."
Some of the more exotic varieties are: Black Krim, a beefsteak
tomato from the island of Krim in the Black Sea of Russia;
Cherokee Purple, which is possibly more than 100 years old and is
said to have been grown by Cherokee Indians; and Mule Team, a
heavy bearing plant that "doesn't slow down until the frost gets
it."
Box Car Willy was named after the king of the hobos. Red Peach
has a soft furry skin and its taste has a citrus edge.
Tommy Toe is an heirloom cherry tomato that hails from the Ozark
mountains and is practically disease free. Scotland Yellows are
called "keepers" because three months after harvesting them,
people are still eating them.
According to the catalogs and statements by growers, heirloom
tomatoes are full of antioxidants, vitamins, and cancer
preventing agents. The colors normally determine the amount of
acidity, with the darker colors being more acidic and lighter
colors being less so.
The redder, the sweeter, and the greener, the more tart, are the
usual rules for taste. Yellow and orange varieties have a mild
and sweet flavor, while purple and black varieties have a bold,
rich, acidic flavor.
German, Swiss, Japanese, and other pink heirlooms seem to be the
trend these days, but their color can be deceiving because, in
the grocery stores, pink usually means a taste akin to cardboard.
Heirloom tomato growers know that the "pink" varieties have the
most intense, sweet flavor imaginable. The flesh actually turns
redder as it ripens and develops a more complex sweetness touched
with acidity.
Talking about heirloom tomatoes with Mr Bucciaglia is like
discussing fine wines. But eating them is even better.