Tuesday 10 May 2016

Tomatoes (for want of another word).



I try not to buy out of season Tomatoes, but occasionally a recipe insists, and one is compelled.

If I do buy them, I tend to buy these so-called 'Vine Tomatoes'; they look nice and suggest that they have at least some flavour.

These one's above, however, take the bloody biscuit. Not only are they very hard, but they have ABSOLUTELY NO TASTE WHATSOEVER.

They must be a new breed; the perfect prairie growers fruit. I have grown Tomatoes for most of my life; some indoors, but mostly outdoors. I have NEVER NEVER NEVER produced a Tomato that was so totally tasteless. If I did, I'd throw it away at once; why don't these growers do likewise!

For goodness sake you bloody growers; surely you can grow something with SOME flavour; these ones were no more than red fluff.

Livid of Lumberjack.




41 comments:

  1. It is the same the world over these days - all fruit is grown to look good on the shelves and keep well and to hell with the taste.

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    Replies
    1. Tomatoes seem to be a particular target of the no-flavour boffins.

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  2. Sympathy. Those fluffy ones are the worst. I'm surprised that the French tolerate them. Standards must be dropping! x

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    Replies
    1. I'm used to shop bought Tomatoes having very little flavour, but these were ridiculous.

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  3. When my boys were young they used the word 'tomatoes', which they hated, as a substitute swear word. They would smile at your title line.

    The only way to get even a modicum of taste from tasteless tomatoes is to roast them with a good amount of black pepper and some olive oil, then add a tiny amount of sea salt.

    Bring on the home grown ones, sun warm and full of flavour.

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    Replies
    1. Unfortunately ours usually aren't ripe until July, so I do try not to use the alternative. Of course I still have plenty of bottled toms for recipes that require that they are cooked. The real things are still over two months away. Woe is me!

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  4. I agree. I always wince at the price I have to pay for them....maybe I should plant some.

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    Replies
    1. If you have limited space, there are varieties for hanging baskets which are excellent.

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  5. I don't have a greenhouse or polytunnel so tomatoes are out of the question here. I can almost cope with tasteless from the supermarket because I have no choice but it's the fact that the skins are so hard now that really pees me off.

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    Replies
    1. These ones are hard; like cutting into an unripe pear. Dreadful. Next time I'm at the shop I'll see where they come from.

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  6. The problem with all commercially grown produce these days is that it's picked before it's ripe, chilled, and then often transported hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres to the retailers.
    I'm not keen on raw tomatoes and much prefer them cooked, so that at least I can spice them up. I often use tinned Italian plum tomatoes in cooking, as they seem to have more flavour. However the fresh variety seem just as tasteless, so I wonder if the flavour is added to the tin !
    Whatever happened to the flavour that went with the words "sun kissed" !

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    Replies
    1. I cannot imagine what they did to these ones. They certainly couldn't have been ripe when picked. Tinned Italian toms are usually good.

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  7. I buy tomatoes on the vine and they taste of tomatoes and even smell of tomatoes. They are delicious. My taste buds are of course second to none ace.

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    Replies
    1. You'd enjoy yourself with these then. A challenge for anyone's taste buds!

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  8. Another thing that irritates me is messages from Google saying that the system is down and try and post my comment again later. Then when eventually I stop getting the message I find that some of the other's got through. Fortunately I'd saved the message before I sent it so I didn't have to keep re-typing ('cos I probably wouldn't have bothered).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've deleted all your repeated comments. I've had the same problem this morning... Blogger has been all over the place.

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    2. How strange, we've had the same problem here, too.

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  9. I use a great deal of tomatoes and have found some that have a bit of flavour { Ocado do a range of veg from Natoora who source their fruit and veg from around the world for taste and flavour ... sometimes ! }
    What gets me is this ' on the vine ' description as if that's so special ...... all tomatoes grow on vines so, all that means is that they have left them on !! XXXX

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  10. I used to think buying them 'on the vine' meant they would be more tasty but I've found recently the larger loose ones are slightly better. Can't wait to pick our own. (First ripe strawberry today!)

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    Replies
    1. I've always bought these from Leclerc, but they've now become 'tomato non grata'.

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  11. During winter I buy the smaller variety of vine tomatoes. They have slightly more flavour than the larger ones and are usually ripe.
    I said slightly, and most of the time they get fed to the chickens because I just don't fancy eating them myself.

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    Replies
    1. I often buy small packs of cherry tomatoes that are delicious; it seems that size takes away the flavour.

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  12. The three perfect tomatoes on the perfect little vine. They've gone ubiquitous.

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  13. I will only buy grape tomatoes in the off season. They are the least offensive.

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    Replies
    1. It's a sorry state of affairs when we have to buy 'the least offensive' tomato.

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  14. Supermarket tomatoes are disgusting. They don't deserve the name.

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  15. Your photograph's contrast of bright blue and red is beautiful. When I saw the picture, I wondered if it was of a current tomato.
    I will keep my resolve to wait another month or even two for ripe tomatoes' first appearance at the farmers market. Meanwhile, it's sun-dried tomatoes in my kitchen.
    Best wishes.

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    Replies
    1. Sun dried are wonderful; I must buy some.

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  16. I buy the smaller "vine ripe" tomatoes off season and put them on a sunny windowsill for a couple of days. They're not great but a little better.

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    Replies
    1. I wonder if mine would improve if left out in the sun?

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  17. I too will wait until the local earlies are ready and then ... heaven... our own.
    I want to know where Rachel buys hers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My plants have tiny flowers, but it'll be a while!

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  18. It was funny when my girls had their first supermarket tomatoes you could see the look of disappointment on their faces!

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    Replies
    1. I don't think any children would eat my present ones.

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  19. What a shame. The tomatoes have a nice color, so you would expect a deep flavor.

    Completely unrelated: Back in March you wished me luck with my new 'Mr. Bosch'. Well, Mr. Bosch has stopped working. Dang.

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    Replies
    1. Oh dear Iris; I hope you have a guarantee!

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