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Tomatoes

bgibson135

This will become my entry into various articles regarding the tomato, and tomatoes. I drove up to Raleigh and eventually the State Farmers’ Market. I only visited two stands, “Ronnie Moore’s” and “Lee’s.” Moore’s had several peppers, and a bunch of tomatoes, and I saw a tomato that I hadn’t seen before, “Phil’s One” and I bought several nodules.

Phil’s One Tomato at Ronnie Moore’s Stand at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh, North Carolina.

AI described “Phil’s One” as a “… whimsical tomato evoking the wild tomatoes of Central America was developed by French tomato breeder Philippe Rommens. The irregular yellow fruits vary in size but generally measure 3 ½ to 4 inches across. The plants are short and bushy yet require support due to the abundance of fruit.” *I tried a nodule later, with a little salt and wasn’t impressed by the flavor.

A favorite for many years.
Similar flavors, at home.
I bought these in Asheville. Great flavor!
Asheville tomatoes. Great flavor!
Best veggie lunch ever.
Zucchini, Shrimp & Kielbasa, with a little tomato.
Pineapple flavored tomato.

Jacquelin Sharpe had gone into labor with Jackson Cooper Sharpe the day I was heading up to Tomatopalozza 2012. Ray called me as I was in Raleigh, near the Crabtree Valley Mall. She gave birth the next day. Jackson Cooper just had his 13th birthday.

The “Sweet Bites” were a popular grape tomato sold for several years at various groceries including Walmart, Food Lion and Harris Teeter. They were a green house tomato from Canada. They had a great tomato flavor, and were my favorites, just ahead of Campari tomatoes. I contacted the Canadian company, which never replied as to why they had discontinued selling these delicious tomatoes. The little yellow tomatoes that I bought in Asheville had great tomato flavor, and an almost florescent flesh.

The Hunts Fire Roasted Tomatoes in a can are my “go to” tomatoes that I use in my homemade salsa, soups and other dishes that need flavored diced tomatoes.

My Zucchini, Shrimp & Kielbasa dish needs just a few small red tomatoes to give it just the right flavor. Not enough to make it a tomato dish, but enough to make a pinkish broth.

The Cossack Pineapple were a small, paper covered (like a tomatillo or China berry) fruit that actually tasted like a pineapple. I tried these at Tomatopalooza 2012. It was a loosely thrown together event of people that liked growing various types of tomatoes. As I recall, they weren’t well organized and didn’t have a plan for chopping up the various tomatoes so that people could sample the ones they wanted. *I began to think of ways to make the event more fluid, such as getting salt, pepper, plastic utensils & mayo packets from a source like Burger King or Hardees. The “Tomato Man” whom I had seen at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh at least once, was at this event, but I think the number of people attending overwhelmed some of the leadership, who didn’t continue the event the next year.

I just asked the AI if there was still a “Tomatopalooza” Event in North Carolina or when was the last one and it’s reply: “… it appears the large-scale annual event known as Tomatopalooza™ in the Raleigh-Durham area is no longer running. The organizers decided to take a break due to challenges with planning and resources. The last one was likely in 2012. ” I just recalled that I bought an event shirt that year. Nothing special looking, but still.

Wegmans has some good flavored grape tomatoes, both red & yellow. One of them is called “Flavor Bombs” but you can’t always rely on them being available.