Horti Tops® Tomato mixed colours

Tomato mixed colours (Solanum lycopersicum)

The King of the Summer Garden

Nothing compares to a sun-warmed tomato eaten straight from the vine. This is the reason most people start vegetable gardens. Store-bought tomatoes are picked green and ripened with ethylene gas – they simply cannot match the flavor of homegrown.

With over 10,000 varieties ranging from tiny currant tomatoes to massive 1kg beefsteaks, there is a perfect tomato for every garden and every dish. Cherry tomatoes burst with sweetness for snacking. Paste tomatoes have dense flesh perfect for sauce. Slicing tomatoes provide those perfect BLT slices.

Getting the Best Flavor

Never refrigerate tomatoes. Cold temperatures destroy the flavor compounds that make tomatoes taste like tomatoes. Store them stem-side down at room temperature. They will continue ripening and developing flavor.

Salt them early. When making salads or sandwiches, salt your tomato slices 10-15 minutes before serving. This draws out excess water, concentrates the flavor, and seasons them throughout.

Roast for intensity. Slow-roasting tomatoes at 150°C for 2-3 hours concentrates their flavor incredibly. Use these on pasta, pizza, or simply on toast with ricotta.

The Lycopene Advantage

Tomatoes contain lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that gives them their red color. Research suggests lycopene may help protect against prostate cancer and heart disease. Here is the surprising part: cooking tomatoes actually increases lycopene availability. This is why Mediterranean cultures, with their cooked tomato sauces, have lower rates of certain cancers.

For maximum lycopene absorption, eat tomatoes with a little fat – olive oil is perfect. This is why tomato sauce with olive oil is nutritionally superior to raw tomatoes.

From Poison to Passion

Tomatoes were feared as poisonous in Europe for 200 years after arriving from the Americas. They were called “poison apples” because wealthy Europeans died after eating them from pewter plates – the acidic tomato juice leached lead from the plates. Poor people eating from wooden plates had no problems. Italy did not widely adopt tomatoes until the late 1800s, meaning pizza margherita is a relatively recent invention!

Growing Tomato mixed colours