About a month ago, I was at the farmer's market and asked one of the vendors a question that has been plaguing me. What does "heirloom" mean?? I felt foolish for asking it, but no one had ever explained it to me before. The kind lady explained that heirloom meant that is was the ORIGINAL plant. There are hundreds and thousands of varieties of any given fruit or vegetable these days due to cross breeding (both intentionally done in a lab, and done by mother nature spreading seeds through bees, animals, wind etc for cross pollination). Heirloom means that the seed was saved from the first variety of that plant and they continue the legacy today. The first difference you'll notice when looking at heirloom tomatos, is that they are less symetrical, more bumpy, and vary in color. The next thing you'll probably notice is the price: expensive! My first thought was, "why are these ugly, odd shaped tomatoes MORE expensive?" The answer: they are heirlooms. So what's so great about heirlooms (other than its the original plant)? one word: TASTE. It just takes one try, and you will be hooked. I never ever ever could understand how people could eat tomato plain, and now, I am eating them like apples!! They are juicier, sweeter, less acidic, and just wow, that tomato flavor! It doesn't get much better than a ripe, squishy heirloom.
That was a month ago. Now I'm in love. The average price for heirlooms is $2.50/lb, so it is definitely a splurge item of mine. Sometimes I find vendors selling them for $2/lb. Today I found this sweet old lady that sold me 10lbs for $10!! I was ecstatic! They are unfortantely going out of season now, so that's a huge bummer. I look forward to enjoying a full season of tomatoes next summer.
A great recipe for salad dressing I've been loving:
2-3 cups tomaotoes
2 cups mango
1-2 stalks of celery
1 T chopped chives
1/4 c chopped onion
herb of choice (dill, basil, cilantro, parsley)
1-2 pitted medjool dates
blend and serve on top of favorite salad! Add more tomato, jalepeno, and pepper to make a sweet and spicy salsa
...So get your heirlooms while they're hot!
