There are a lot of sub-varieties, as this tomato has been the basis of a lot of cross-breeding and hybridization. They are big, often growing to 1 pound or more, and tend to have irregular shapes compared to, say, globe tomatoes. Despite their size, they are juicy and sweet making them great for slicing and using on halloumi burgers and sandwiches. Named for their oblong shape, these tiny morsels are similar to cherry and grape tomatoes in flavor—sweet, tangy, and bursting with juiciness. San Marzano tomatoes are a type of plum tomato that’s prized for its sweet flavor and meaty flesh.
Spanish distribution
You can pick them anytime you see green fruit on your plants. Known as plum tomatoes, tomato coin you might also see these oblong tomatoes labeled as Roma tomatoes. These tomatoes are also the star of our best-ever marinara sauce (you’ll need 12 pounds of these babies!).
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- Not to be confused with beefsteak tomatoes, the beef master is actually a hybrid variety of beefsteak developed in the USA.
- While tomatoes are commonly eaten in some European nations for breakfast (usually with yogurt) this isn’t an American tradition.
- The German Johnson tomato, often called the “German Johnson Pink,” is a beefsteak-style tomato that originated in North Carolina.
- This is convenient if you want to showcase a variety of colors in your cuisine, salad, or charcuterie board.
The Striped German Tomato is an aesthetic large slicing tomato with bright orange-marbled stripes. The flat, medium to large, tomatoes are shaded yellow and red with a wonderful marbled interior. These tomatoes offer a balance of sweet and tangy flavors, often described as having a rich taste. Roma are also known as the Plum tomato, Italian plum tomato, and paste tomato. Their name, a nod to the Italian city of Rome, was meant to put a distinctly Italian stamp on these worldwide popular tomatoes originally grown in Naples,, Italy. You will mostly find Roma tomatoes in red, but there are also yellow and orange varieties.
Pruden’s Purple Tomato
The black cherry tomato is thought to have originated in Central and South America, and is today grown in a variety of regions with warm climates. Despite the name “Black,” these tomatoes are actually a deep purplish-red or mahogany color. Not to be confused with beefsteak tomatoes, the beef master is actually a hybrid variety of beefsteak developed in the USA. There are hundreds of varieties of tomatoes worldwide, and many of these are hybrids developed for some specific purpose.
Globe tomatoes have a mildly sweet flavor and just a bit of acidity. They are definitely multipurpose and are often used in salsa, sandwiches, pizza, salads, and pasta sauce. Like other beer take varieties, German Johnson tomatoes are large, often weighing around 1 pound or more. Due to their size and flavor, German Johnson tomatoes are commonly used for slicing and eating fresh in sandwiches like BLTs. Like other cherry tomatoes, they are often eaten fresh as a snack, are a good option for veggie trays, in salads, or used as a garnish. They produce a lot of fruit and are fairly disease-resistant.
These tomatoes are often eaten raw as snacks, and are the ubiquitous feature of most veggie trays. They are great on salads particularly if you use multiple colors to enhance the visual appeal. In the kitchens of Live Eat Learn we have 15 Ways to Use Cherry Tomatoes we really like. Cherokee Purple tomatoes are believed to have originated with the Cherokee people, and are known to have been cultivated in the 19th century. They are a heritage beefsteak variety commonly grown in North America after a resurgence of their use in the 1990s.
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Costoluto Genovese tomatoes originated in the area of Genoa in northern Italy. They are generally medium-sized with irregular, heavily ribbed, and flattened shapes. Due to their robust flavor, they are often used for making pasta sauce for Italian cuisine or just slicing for fresh eating. They are ideal for any applications you want a bright red tomato.
- People often consider tomatoes a vegetable for nutritional and culinary purposes due to their taste, use in meals, and nutrient content.
- These tomatoes are typically sweet with a mild tanginess, making them a refreshing and flavorful choice.
- They are small, bright yellow tomatoes with the standard globe tomato shape.
- Therefore, locally grown tomatoes may taste better because they’re allowed to ripen naturally.
Pantano Romanesco Tomato
The Chocolate Stripes tomato is a heirloom variety that likely originated in the United States. It is dark red or brownish with green and orange stripes, resembling the patterns on a chocolate cookie. They typically weigh in around 8-12 ounces, and are known for their rich, sweet, and earthy flavor, often with a hint of smokiness. These are great for snacking, adding to salads, or using in pasta recipes. The plant requires relatively warm weather and much sunlight; it is grown chiefly in hothouses in cooler climates. The plants are susceptible to a number of pests and diseases, including bacterial wilt, early blight, mosaic virus, Fusarium wilt, nematodes, and tomato hornworms.
It is a green-when-ripe variety of medium-size, and a beefsteak shape. As their name suggests they have a unique green color, inside and out, even when fully ripe. Currant tomatoes are native to South America, but are now also grown in North America and Europe. You can find them in red, yellow, orange, and sometimes even black (purpleish).
These medium-sized tomatoes have a dark, purplish-black exterior that deepens as they ripen. They are known for their smoky, sweet, and slightly tangy flavor. They are often used in salads and sandwiches and are available in the USA. You may need to visit a good international market to find them.
They are mildly sweet but have a hint of smokiness in their flavor. Like all cherry tomatoes, their size makes them perfect for snacking. Put them in with a mix of red, yellow, and orange cherry tomatoes to give your tray a color boost. Similarly, cut them in half with other color cherry tomatoes to mix into your salads for the same aesthetic splash of color. The Beefsteak tomato originated in South America but is now popular worldwide.
They aren’t quite as sweet as cherry tomatoes, and a bit less juicy. Golden Jubilee tomatoes are a hybrid tomato developed in the United States in 1943. They are a meaty globe tomato with a golden-yellow color and are typically medium to large in size. Golden Jubilee tomatoes have a mild and sweet flavor with a slight tang to their taste.
They are often used simply as decorative plants but are a great variety to grow in a pot on your balcony. The ancestor of these tomatoes was native to Central America and Mexico, but these were actually a cultivar of the wild tomatoes developed by Doctor Matt Liebman or Maine. Matt’s wild cherry tomatoes are red when ripe, and very small like other cherry tomatoes. Matt’s tomatoes are known for their intense, sweet, and tangy flavor which is probably what he was seeking in his hybridization efforts. Use their striking golden color in conjunction with bright red tomatoes to create visual appeal in your salads, or as slices put out for a sandwich bar.
These tomatoes are typically medium-size growing to 4-6 ounces, and deep red. The Great White Tomato was discovered as a natural mutation in the 1990s. As the name suggests, Great White tomatoes are pale to creamy white in color. They are medium-sized tomatoes, similar in size to classic red tomatoes, but with a shape that resembles a beefsteak tomato.