Last night, Bostonist attended the sold-out Slow Food produce tasting we plugged last week, which allowed us to try several rare strains of tomato, pear, watermelon, and apricot (all are in season) that Slow Food is helping to preserve through their ARK of Taste project, which aims to promote biodiversity and track tasty food products for future generations.
So what did we learn?
That it's possible for tomatoes to taste as distinct and complex as good wine.
That we've been wasting our short lives eating sub-par fruit, when we could have been slicing up Elephant Heart plums (which really do look almost like hearts, so bright and juicy is their red flesh when ripe) or sweet Moon and Stars watermelons (which really do have swirls of white evoking stars in their pink underbellies).
That while these items are indeed rare, they can still be found at farms around Massachusetts.
Finally, we learned that for these items to move back into the mainstream, or at least off the rare-and-endangered ARK list, people have to eat them -- and this Bostonist is happy to oblige.
Here's a list of some of these very special fruits, and (roughly) where to find them.
Five tomatoes you need to try and the local farms that grow them (check the Mass Farmer's Markets site to find out if these farms have stands in your Boston 'hood).
1) The Sudduth Strain Brandywine: with a name that evokes the color of its jewel-toned flesh, this sweet and salty tomato is tasty even eaten raw. Look for it at Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell and Farmer Dave's East Street Farm in Tewksbury
2) The Mortage Lifter: named for a strain of tomatoes that helped its farmer out of debt in the '30s (full story here), this tomato is even sweeter than the Brandywine, making it perfect for pairing with watermelon and balsamic vinegar in a salad. You can find this one today at Kimball Fruit Farm and Allandale Farm in Brookline.
3) Cherokee Purple: the flesh of this tomato is indeed almost purple, and has a somewhat smoky taste, making it a good choice for sauces and -- we think -- a damn good homemade Bloody Mary. This one's also available at Kimball Fruit Farm and Allandale Farm.
4) Amish Paste: this unassuming tomato may not stand out in a salad, but its fresh, clean, mellow taste makes it an ideal vehicle for tomato sauce or bruschetta. Amish Paste is grown by Green Meadows Farm in Hamilton, Brox Farm in Dracut, and East Street Farm.
5) Aunt Ruby's German Green: the green tomato has a place in Southern cooking and film, but until recently, we rarely saw it sold in conventional grocery stores. This gorgeous, striped green and its cousins have been cropping up in "heirloom tomato" salads lately as both a beautiful color constrast to its red counterparts and a signifier of unconventional tomatoes. Aunt Ruby's is a great example of its kind, and can be found at Allandale Farm.
Note: Elizabeth Dayton, the personal chef behind From Scratch, prepared these tomatoes in a simple salad with basil leaves, beans (she recommends cannelini for home cooks), olive oil (you should use "the best you can afford") and sea salt for a simple late-summer salad.
Other rare and tasty fruits to look for:
- Moon & Stars Watermelon: a sweet, pale watermelon that will surprise even those who do not like watermelons. Just slice and serve. Available at Allandale Farm and Web of Life Organic Farm in Carver
-Clapp's Favorite Pear: the ones we tried at Slow Food's event were just shy of ripe, small and tart. Again, just slice and serve, or chop into a salad with a strong bleu cheese or goat cheese. Available at Kimball Fruit Farm.
-Elephant Heart Plum: as mentioned above, this plum is beautiful inside and out, and has a taste that is slightly sweeter and juicier than your typical plum, with flesh that is red instead of yellow. Slow Foods obtained their plums through Specialty Foods Boston, which supplies many of Boston's chefs and is located in Newmarket Square.
-Blenheim Apricot: Julia Grimaldi, a personal chef and Slow Foods volunteer, prepared these small, sweet and sour apricots by roasting them, spicing them with cinnamon and lemon, and serving them alongside cuts of pork with a side of dill and mint yogurt sauce. Slow Foods also purchased these through Specialty Foods; they are grown in CA.
-Gravenstein Apple: a small, tart apple with a yellow-green skin, this apple makes incredible pie -- or so thought Amie Swanson, manager of Ula Cafe in JP and former head chef of Veggie Planet, who prepared a pie dinner with a great, crumbly crust (made with Earth Balance spread, amazingly enough) and then served the cut fruit alongside for contrast. Baking mellows the flavor, of course, but since the apple itself has a stronger, sweeter taste than many conventional apples would, Swanson used minimal spices and sugars to flavor the pie, so the apples really shine. You can find this apple at Keown Orchards in Sutton, Kimball Fruit Farm, and Russell Orchards in Ipswich.
You can also find lesser-known heirloom fruits and vegetables at the following specialty grocery stores:
Lionette's Market in the South End
Savenor's Markets (both locations)
City Feed & Supply (JP)
Harvest Co-op (both locations)
If you'd like to grow your own heirloom goodies, check out Seed Saver's Exchange, a nonprofit exchange that helps connect farmers and gardeners seeking rare seeds and promotes biodiversity.
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