| Oh how I emphasize with this story, it too reminds me of my childhood. When I was a child my grandmother grew tomatoes that were truly delicious. She used to pick them just at the right time when they were ripe-red and lusciously sweet on the outside but just retained a hint of green on the inside. This gave them a slightly acidic edge that one just doesn't get with over-ripe tomatoes or ones that are ripened slowly. I'd add that the ideal ripening also requires good sunshine. Her tomatoes just spoiled me forever, I've never been satisfied with tomatoes purchased in shops, whilst some are just OK most commercial tomatoes are tasteless compared with ones that are freshly picked at their optimal ripeness. It seems to me there's no ideal solution when it comes to commercially distributed tomatoes, they have to be picked before they're at optimal ripeness for efficient transport and distribution and it's just fact that tomatoes just don't ripen off the vine to give them that luscious taste of vine-ripened ones. Frankly, I find some canned tomatoes better than ones that one buys in shops, they definitely can have more flavor. Canned tomatoes like those from Italian canning companies such as Mutti retain flavor because they are picked at just the right time then canned immediately. That this is noticeable even after the canning process shows just how critical it is to pick tomatoes at their optimal ripeness. These days I get most of my tomatoes in the form of small cherry tomatoes, they at least retain some of their flavor after the distribution process. |