4 Tricks That Make Sad Supermarket Tomatoes Actually Taste Good
In late winter, even fans of seasonal eating need a break from root vegetables. Try these tactics to transform bland grocery-store options into summer-worthy treats.
"True, a wan winter tomato from the supermarket won’t ever be mistaken for a homegrown August heirloom. But if you exert a little effort in selecting and preparing your local produce aisle’s offerings, you can edge pretty close..."
https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/food-cooking/tricks-to-make-sad-tomatoes-actually-taste-good-0d57f7de?mod=food-cooking_more_article_pos3
By Martha Holmberg fro THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Updated March 2, 2024
"AH, EATING with the seasons. Fava beans in spring! Zucchini blossoms in early summer! And of course the ultimate seasonal treat, for me anyway: the voluptuous tomatoes of late summer.
But what about winter? Butternut squash, hardy greens and root vegetables have their charms…up to a point. At this time of the year, when the winter landscape has gone grubby around the edges and I’m sick of all my sweaters, I find myself craving a
shot of edible sunshine. Which is why, on any given blustery day in March, you might catch me at the grocery store reaching for a plastic clamshell of tomatoes. One can celebrate the rutabaga for only so long.
True, a wan winter tomato from the supermarket won’t ever be mistaken for a homegrown August heirloom. But if you exert a little effort in selecting and preparing your local produce aisle’s offerings, you can edge pretty close—and enjoy their sweet-
tart, umami-rich pleasures even when there’s still snow on the ground. All it takes are a few tried-and-true kitchen tricks. Here’s how.
1. ADD CONTRAST:
Even the best winter tomatoes taste kind of flat (the poor things were likely raised in a factory, after all). But you can enhance their better qualities by giving them a quick edit, the way you boost your iPhone photos.
Start by increasing the contrast between acid and sweet, which you can do with two items you likely already have in your cupboard or fridge. For acid, sprinkle halved or thickly sliced tomatoes with a few drops of fresh lemon juice or a quality vinegar
such as Champagne, white-wine or my favorite, Sherry vinegar.
For sweetness, a very tiny sprinkle of sugar will do the trick. White sugar has a neutral flavor, so it’s preferable to honey or a darker sugar like turbinado, which could be intrusive.
Want to keep it even simpler? Late-harvest vinegars—such as Katz’s Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc or Zinfandel, or a white balsamic—offer a lovely tension between sweet and sour and a drizzle produces a similar effect using just one ingredient.
2. DIAL UP THE SATURATION:
When we think about the way good tomatoes taste, “saturated” flavor usually equals fruitiness. Dressing slices with a squeeze of orange juice can add a zippy freshness that harmonizes with the tomato’s natural flavor profile. Or, for a similar
effect, tip out a few drops of pomegranate molasses, though use restraint—the syrupy stuff can overpower.
Finally, don’t forget salt, which can magically bring all the good qualities of a tomato into focus. Whichever enhancements you add, let the tomatoes macerate for a few minutes, drain off any excess juices, then continue making your salad (or any other
raw-tomato dish) just as you would if you were using prime summer specimens.
3. ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE:
Even a dull, insipid tomato will develop a personality in the oven. The key is roasting: high heat cooks off much of the water in the tomato and thereby concentrates flavor. It also caramelizes the fruit’s natural sugars. To achieve a jammy masterpiece,
arrange chicken thighs, onions, garlic and cherry tomatoes on a sheet pan and roast for a speedy dinner. Or keep it simple and roast tomatoes on their own, to use in salad, pasta or any number of other dishes. Just slice them in half, drizzle with olive
oil, season with salt and roast at 375 degrees until the half-moons shrink slightly, browning around the edges, but remain juicy.
4. HAVE A CAN - DO ATTITUDE:
Lastly, the FBI won’t arrest you if you reach for a can of tomatoes. And if you do, soups or sauces aren’t your only options. Like fresh tomatoes, whole canned ones benefit from roasting; the process transforms them into sweet-tart flavor bombs.
To prep, gently squeeze the tomatoes to remove seeds and excess juice, lay them on an oiled sheet pan, drizzle with a bit more oil and sprinkle with salt. Then roast at 300 degrees until shrunken, sweet and slightly chewy.
From there, nearly endless possibilities unfold. Toss the tomatoes into a fast frittata. Layer them with fresh mozzarella for a winter caprese salad. Add them to a grain bowl with roasted root vegetables. Or even make a gloriously out-of-season BLT, to
nibble on as you page through seed catalogs, dreaming of your own heirloom tomatoes, ripe and ready by next August...
GROCERY STORE TOMATOES THAT WON’T MAKE YOU SAD:
Three commonly available varieties worth putting in your basket.
It might be red and round, maybe it’s even “on the vine,” but your typical winter tomato probably doesn’t pack much flavor. Paradoxically, some of the most promising supermarket tomato varieties are those mass produced with proprietary branding—
about as far from “local and seasonal” as you can get. Here, three good bets.
Campari:
Frequently grown hydroponically with no pesticides, these compact, round, red tomatoes are allowed to fully ripen before they’re picked and aren’t blasted with ethylene gas to hasten the process, like so many other commercial tomatoes. Camparis are
generally well-balanced between sweet and acid with at least a hint of that elusive tomato flavor. Usually packaged in 1-pound plastic containers, they’re great for slicing and a nice size for roasting.
Kumato:
These stunning brownish-burgundy tomatoes are medium in size (3 to 4 ounces) and have a great sugar-to-acid ratio that leans toward the sugar. Kumatos are usually sold in 1-pound cardboard sleeves. Their flesh is firm and silky, and they slice
beautifully.
Jacobs Farm Del Cabo:
Organically field-grown in Baja and neighboring Mexican states, these mostly cherry-size tomatoes come in a range of colors and shapes—red, orange, yellow, round, oblong, pear-shaped. The smaller tomatoes generally have very good flavor, bright acidity
and plenty of juice..."
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