Heirloom Tomatoes

Last Saturday Slow Food Bloomington and the Parks and Rec Dept. sponsored an heirloom tomato tasting at the Market and it was a sight to behold. A constant line of people patiently snaked its way to tables laden with every color and size of tomatoes, waiting to savor their different flavors, acid sharp and sugar sweet. Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Persimmon, Peach, Green Zebra, Brandywine – all my favorites were there, and I brought home as many as I could carry.

So we’ve been eating a lot of tomatoes this week. Here are some highlights:

• Most fabulous was something I didn’t cook, but wish I had. Pastry chef Krissy Tallent at Restaurant Tallent outdid herself with a tomato napoleon – layers of flakey filo dough dusted with basil sugar, layered with tomatoes the color of sunset and basil semifreddo, and topped with a rosy tomato sorbet. I can’t even begin to describe the interplay of flavor and texture. Just get yourself to Tallent before the menu changes again and try it for yourself. If I can get her to let me take a picture, I’ll post one.

• Pasta with an uncooked sauce of chopped heirlooms and salt, pepper, olive oil and a touch of sweet chardonnay vinegar. So simple, so sweet, so drop dead gorgeous.

• A tomato and eggplant pizza. Just heirloom tomatoes and grilled eggplant, and mozzarella -- everything drizzled with some good olive oil with basil and chopped garlic, and baked into a bubbling pizza pie. Magnificent.

I am eating my fill now. Knowing that the all too short season is almost over makes the remaining days of tomato indulgence all the more sweet.

For those of you who have asked after Zoë, she continues to defy the expectations of veterinary science. We made a tomato pizza for lunch today and she ate ALL my crusts, bless her heart.

Comments

[scott]

Tomatoes are one of the best parts of summer. I'm cooking for a dinner party Friday night - loosly Italian - I'm thinking about a tomato-peach bruschetta as an appetizer. I've not seen tomatos and peaches together before but in my mind it tastes great - a little basil and some good olive oil. Yum!

[Christine]

Soounds interesting, Scott. I've had peach tomato salsa before, and I've seen barbeque sauces that combine them. Let me know how it goes.

[Bea at La Tartine Gourmande]

this looks just so welcoming and refreshing! I just wished we could continue to have those tomatoes in the winter!

[Christine]

But would we enjoy them as much if we could have them whenever we wanted them? I don’t know. Wouldn’t mind putting it to the test, though!