Where possible, we no longer buy imported fruit out of season, but prefer to stick to purchasing local produce where possible. This is done to avoid unnecessary movements of fruit and veg by road or sea just so we can have strawberries, for example, in February. But I do like tomatoes all year round. However, in Sainsburys, the only tomatoes worth buying are from their "Taste the Difference" premium range, which are shipped in from Italy or North Africa. Anything produced in the winter further north than that taste of nothing at all. Why not? How come you can produce a tomato further north than that, but without any taste whatsoever? How do they get rid of the taste?
Trying to be greener by cutting down the road miles needed to bring something decent into the country sometimes really does backfire, don't you think?
When is a tomato not a tomato?
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Barry i might be wrong on this, but i think it is to do with the way and the varieties that are grown.
There would be no profit in growing the better tasting ones that seem to need extra heat, and they don't grow them in proper soil beds either.
There would be no profit in growing the better tasting ones that seem to need extra heat, and they don't grow them in proper soil beds either.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
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PLUMPUDDING
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I think that the way they are ripened also has a lot to do with the poor flavour. They are transported unripe, kept in cold store and then artificially ripened with ethylene, so they don't have the chance for the sugars and flavour to develop as with natural sun ripened fruit.
Of the shop ones, I do think the Italian varieties have a better flavour than the others, but they still can't compare with home grown, in season tomatoes. If I am tempted to try some that look nice at this time of the year, I put a little sprinkle of sugar onto the cut surface and leave them for a few minutes before eating them in a salad which improves them a bit.
Of the shop ones, I do think the Italian varieties have a better flavour than the others, but they still can't compare with home grown, in season tomatoes. If I am tempted to try some that look nice at this time of the year, I put a little sprinkle of sugar onto the cut surface and leave them for a few minutes before eating them in a salad which improves them a bit.
I think it's got to do with the sunshine, because when you ripen half green tomatoes inside the house at the end of the season, they never seem to taste as nice as those picked in the sun-warmed greenhouse, even though they are the same variety. But that may just be my imagination.
At the risk of spawning a heated debate, I would say don't feel too bad about your imported toms Barry. The heating & lighting costs involved to produce tomatoes in northern Europe over winter would be environmentally even worse than shipping them in from further afield.
If that's what you fancy every now & then, go for it. If you producing your own stuff and buying home grown whenever you can, good on you. If everyone did the same we would cut carbon emmissions in half overnight
Re the tastelessness - nearly all the supermarket crop these days is hydroponically produced, but this is no excuse. I've grown hydroponic toms at home and they were great. Must be the varieties, which I suspect are chosen for transport and shelf life qualities.
Sue
If that's what you fancy every now & then, go for it. If you producing your own stuff and buying home grown whenever you can, good on you. If everyone did the same we would cut carbon emmissions in half overnight
Re the tastelessness - nearly all the supermarket crop these days is hydroponically produced, but this is no excuse. I've grown hydroponic toms at home and they were great. Must be the varieties, which I suspect are chosen for transport and shelf life qualities.
Sue