Kitchen Garden Forum

The Memsahib brought some tomato's home from the local supermarket, would make ideal tennis balls.

Nothing new there then ShM. In our Tescos the bananas are green, hard and tasteles. Apples are red on the outside but hard and green inside and taste of nothing. Oranges have a beautiful tempting colour but are so acid. As for all those other exotic or out of season fruits - well I could go on and on and on.
The amazing things to me is that even when the fruit is in season it is also awful. How do they manage it?

John

I think tomatoes are, on average, these days much improved on what they used to be. But they won't be any good in January. I wouldn't expect them to be, really. I had some for me tea last night which I bought because they were cheap and, of course, really not very nice.

It all depends on being selective when buying. As Felix says, tomatoes are better than they used to be in winter; in my opinion immeasurably better. We have had Jack Hawkins and Moruno, both excellent (see here viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10317). More recently have bought Temptation, which I have also saved the seed from to grow at home this year.

Most tomatoes are horrible at this time of the year, but if I can't resist trying some from the supermarket I think the Italian grown ones taste the best.

I agree that winter supermarket tomatoes are a little better than they used to be in terms of taste as I remember them from my childhood but they're still pretty dire and flavourless. I think probably the best ones are the little cherry varieties which seem to have a stronger flavour. I also find that winter tomatoes somehow don't seem to manage to keep so well either before they start to go a bit manky.

I do wish supermarkets would label their tomatoes with the variety/name. I've never seen them labelled so you never really know what you're buying and I suspect most of the varieties are bred for commercial growing and not the varieties we DIY growers would use.

Primrose wrote:Ie they start to go a bit manky.

I do wish supermarkets would label their tomatoes with the variety/name. I've never seen them labelled so you never really know what you're buying.

I find that the more expensive tomatoes are almost always labelled with variety. The "cheap and cheerful - usually form the Netherlands hothouses usually aren't, You get what you pay for!

Primrose wrote:I do wish supermarkets would label their tomatoes with the variety/name.

They already do. There's an old discussion about it here.

I stopped buying supermarket tomatoes years ago. In my Tesco they sell sun dries ones in olive oil, garlic and herbs and it is these I use if we have a salad. you can pack loads into the tubs, they last in the fridge and overall are a lot cheaper than the horrid "fresh" ones in the vegetable section of the supermarket. Give these a try they are much better

Tracie

I think the trouble with supermarket or indeed shop tomatoes in general is they are kept too long at low temperatures. I realise that they do not deteriorate if cooled or chilled, but the tomato is a warm climate vegetable and develops its taste through warmth. Just think how nice your own tomatoes are, picked and eaten, warm, straight of the vine!

adam-alexander wrote:The tomato is a warm climate vegetable and develops its taste through warmth. Just think how nice your own tomatoes are, picked and eaten, warm, straight of the vine!

And here we are complaining in the middle of winter! We are very fortunate indeed to have tomatoes out of season. When I was a child I have no memory of eating tomatoes except in the summer.

Ketchup, tinned soup, tinned spaghetti and tinned sardines are all that I can recollect as out of season tomato.

I rarely buy tomatoes in the winter but am I the only one that wouldn't dream of putting them in the fridge any time of the year. I am sure it is the cold storage that makes them tasteless and deteriorate so quickly.

Beryl.

Beryl wrote: Am I the only one that wouldn't dream of putting them in the fridge any time of the year. I am sure it is the cold storage that makes them tasteless and deteriorate so quickly.

Beryl.

You're not the only one, Beryl. We do put tomatoes in the fridge, but only to get them out of the way. We have a tomato dish on the kitchen windowsill which is always kept topped up, so we never eat a tomato straight from the fridge.

Another thing never to put in the fridge: eggs.

Beryl wrote:I rarely buy tomatoes in the winter but am I the only one that wouldn't dream of putting them in the fridge any time of the year. I am sure it is the cold storage that makes them tasteless and deteriorate so quickly.

Tomatoes do actually keep longer for being refrigerated but has no influence on their quality. Essentially, if they weren't any good before they were chilled, they're never going to improve. A chilled tomato to me tastes nasty and I don't keep them in the 'fridge so that they can continue to ripen and develop their flavour. Eggs, butter, jams and pickles stay out of my 'fridge, too.