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Taste testers ooh, ah, and again select tiny Sungold
Journal Photo by Lauren Carroll
Top row, front left: Cherokee Purple, German Johnson, Big Beef and Gold Medal. Second front: Taxi Yellow, Cherokee Purple, Lemon Boy and Arkansas Traveler. Bottom row: Sungold, San Marzano, Hillbilly and Zebra.
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Published: August 2, 2008
Tomato-lovers once again packed the farmers market at the Dixie Classic Fair last Saturday as the Winston-Salem Journal held its annual tomato-tasting. Forty-one varieties of tomatoes were contributed by local growers, ranging from the bite-size but titan Sungold to the massive German Johnson Potato Leaf, one of which supplied samples for a goodly number of the crowd.
As usual, the names were as amusing as the tomatoes were juicy and flavorful. There were Orange Blossoms, Rainbows, Black from Tulas, Mortgage Lifters, Carbons and Georgia Streaks, to name a few.
Plenty of folks just enjoyed grazing and sampling their way along the three long tables arrayed with tomatoes, and 90 participants took the time to fill out ballot forms and rank their top-five choices.
In what may be one of the most unscientific polls ever undertaken, subject to an infinite number of variables, Sungold once again came out on top in a landslide victory with 26 No. 1 votes. The next highest scoring number one tomato was Brandywine with six No. 1 votes. Sunsugar and Momotaro received five No. 1 votes apiece.
Two providers of Sungold
Just for fun, I tabulated the No. 2 ranking as well, and Sungold won again with 10 No. 2 votes. Sunsugar had eight and Brandywine and Momotaro tied with six No. 2 votes each.
Thanks to Bill Imus of Minglewood farms, a supplier to local restaurants, and to Jeff Tucker of Sugar Creek Farms, a local grower who sells at the farmers market at the fairgrounds on Saturdays. Both supplied us with the winning variety -- Sungold.
It drew the usual accolades in our comment boxes on the evaluation sheet. Rita Morgan said, "It immediately took me back to picking cherry tomatoes from my grandmother's garden ... wonderful." Her daughter Sarah, 6, said, "Um-um hmm, that one is my favorite, the little dark yellow one."
Kelly Gunzenhauser wrote, "The taste and texture are closest to my mom's homegrown." Others commented they were "the very best," "good and sweet" and "a nice balance of acid and sugar."
Sunsugar, a relative of Sungold, is sweeter and less prone to cracking, a common problem with cherry and pear tomatoes. It was contributed by Gary Owen, a grower who sells at several farmers markets but not the one at the fairgrounds.Thursdays he's at the Baptist Hospital farmers market. Owen contributed nine other varieties as well.
We can thank Bev and Joe Delia, longtime contributors to the tomato tasting, and Jeff Tucker again, for the Brandywines.
One tomato that drew a lot of attention was the Momotaro, a small Japanese slicing tomato contributed by Leo Reavis.
This unassuming little tomato looked like something you would find on a grocery-store shelf in mid-January, pale pinkish and small, but with a wonderful complexity, the flavors changing and mingling about in your mouth. Several people commented that it did not taste much like a tomato but that it was really good.
When you are working your way through 40 tomatoes at 8 in the morning, a distinct flavor like that of Momotaro really jumps out at you. One taster called it "the best sweet tomato and the only distinctive one."
We always have tasters looking for sources of our contributed tomatoes, and though some are available at farmers markets, others are contributed by home gardeners with a love of true tomato flavor. The best way to get these tomatoes is to grow your own. Following is a list of some seed sources.
We are always happy to talk to growers who would like to contribute to future tastings. I may be contacted through the address below.
Stephen Greer, Agricultural Extension agent with Forsyth County, and Terry Wooten, a Master Gardener, joined us at the tasting to distribute information on tomato-growing and answer questions about cultivation.
John and Buddy Milner and Jared Keiper from Milner's American Southern restaurant handed out free samples of two wonderful gazpachos created from Bill Imus' homegrown tomatoes.
Other contributors this year were David Lawson, George Streblow, Kaleen McGill, Harold Weaver, John Kiger, Pat Lackey, Amber Shew, Silvano Calzolari, Nicky Browder, and Merial Holland. We couldn't have done it without them.
Tomato-seed sources: Totally Tomatoes, 334 W. Stroud St., Randolph, WI 53956, 800-345-5977, www.totallytomato.com; Territorial Seed Company, P.O. Box 158, Cottage Grove, OR 97424, 800-626-0866, www.territorialseed.com; Seed Savers Exchange, 309 North Winn Road, Decorah, IA 52101, 563-382-5990, www.seedsavers.org.
■ If you have a gardening question or story idea, write to David Bare in care of Features, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27101-3159, or send e-mail to his attention to gardening @wsjournal.com.
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