Plump, juicy, ripe - what's not to love in a Massachusetts tomato?
BOSTON - Tomato lovers can rejoice!
The challenging weather that has wreaked havoc this year on Massachusetts, freezing peach blossoms, flooding farmlands and washing away acres of crops, hasn’t totally devastated the state’s tomato crop. It has just delayed its ripening.
“It has extended the season,” said Ashley Randle, the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources at the 38th annual Massachusetts Tomato Contest, held Tuesday at Boston Public Market. She predicted tomato season would stretch through September and maybe last into October this year.
While there is a silver lining to the heavy rainstorms and flooding that beset the state in July, Randle estimated that Massachusetts farmers lost about 3,000 acres of crops to weather, costing around $15 million. But despite the setbacks, Randle said shoppers have reported excellent flavor in tomatoes this year. Massachusetts' 517 farms produce about 5.9 million pounds of tomatoes on an annual basis, valued at $10.9 million. Another 16.8 acres of tomatoes are grown in the state's greenhouses, valued at $4.1 million.
The tasting was sponsored by the New England Vegetable and Berry Growers Association in conjunction with the state, the Mass. Farmers Markets and the Boston Public Market. Winners received a “Tomie” trophy and bragging rights.
Some 16 local tomato experts, including chefs, caterers, produce experts, food writers and state staffers, flocked to the market to weigh in with their favorites in three different categories. They were asked to sample varieties of cherry tomato, field-grown or slicing tomatoes and heirloom varieties. The fourth category, the heaviest tomato, only needed a scale to determine the winner, an Aussie tomato weighing in at 2.37 pounds and entered into the contest by Verrill Farm in Concord.
Judges were asked to rank the colorful fruit using four criteria. Taste being paramount, the perfect tomato could receive up to 10 points. The judges also assessed firmness or sliceability for up to five points, exterior color for up to five points and shape for up to five points.
Sarah Blackburn, the publisher of Edible Boston and Edible Worcester, was assigned to the cherry tomato table.
“I look for a little flavor bomb, with skin that’s not too thick,” Blackburn said of her process, adding that she found some she liked. But she refused to reveal which ones.
Also judging at the cherry table was Ahmad Yasin of Kareem’s Catering in Watertown. He has been eating tomatoes since he was a boy in Syria, where his father was a farmer. While not a farmer, Yasin still grows his own tomatoes.
“I like medium-sized tomatoes, just right for slicing,” Yasin said, explaining that he uses the fruit in many of the dishes he prepares and also slices some up for salads.
For Tina Bemis of Bemis Farms Nursery in Spencer, one of the cherry variety judges, growing and eating tomatoes offers a trip down memory lane.
“The first plant I ever grew was a tomato,” Bemis said, remembering how she found a packet of tomato seeds in her father’s workshop after he died when she was 7. She planted and grew tomatoes as a youngster and has been doing it yearly ever since, for love and pleasure, and for almost 60 years. Other crops have been included over the years and she proudly brags that everything on her Thanksgiving Day table is from her own garden except the turkey and the flour she uses in her recipes.
“I looked for sweetness,” Bemis said. While cooking her sauces last year, she found herself adding sugar to the recipe. She believes a sweeter tomato will ensure a sweeter sauce without the need to add sugar.
Representing the Mass. Farmers Markets as a judge, its executive director, Edith Murnane of Worcester, was asked to judge the field-grown or slicing varieties.
“It’s all about the taste,” Murnane said, explaining that as she savors the tomato, she tries to imagine how it will blend with mozzarella or balsamic vinegar, or sit on top of a burger. She ascertains its slice-ability and how it will function as an integral part of a dish.
“I look for firmness, the texture. It can’t be too mushy and it can’t be too tough,” Murnane said. “There’s a sweet spot where you can feel yourself bite through the tomato. That it has heft.”
Cheryl Cronin, the CEO of Boston Public Market, looks for richness in the tomatoes.
“Sometimes, a tomato’s flavor can be a little faded,” Cronin said, explaining that the perfect tomato is one caught at just the right moment of time in its evolution — just tart and sweet enough, just firm enough.
“I kept wishing for some basil or mozzarella, maybe a Caprese salad,” Cronin said.
The Mass. Farmers Markets, a resource and support system for the coordinators of the markets across the state, wants to bring farming and food to the next generation to enjoy. The group hosts its own tasting event, this year during Farmers Market Week held at the beginning of the month.
Winners were announced at 12:30 p.m. by Randle:
Slicing or field-grown tomatoes
Langwater Farm in North Easton won first: BHN589
MacArthur Farm in Holliston, second: Tomimaru Muchoo
Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell: Early Girl
Cherry tomato
Red Fire Farm, Montague: Starlor
Grant Family Farm, West Newbury: SunGold
Falls Farm, Montague: Five Star Grape
Heirloom tomatoes
Ward’s Berry Farm, Sharon: Valencia
Freedom Food Farm, Raynham: Moonglow
Ward’s Berry Farm, Sharon: Arkansas Traveler
Heaviest
Verrill Farm, Concord: Aussie, 2.37 pounds
Langwater Farm, North Easton: Striped German, 2.26 pounds
Ward’s Berry Farm, Sharon: Pink Jazz, 2.18 pounds
In all some 19 farms from across Massachusetts entered 87 tomatoes in the four different categories for judging. In the slicing category, won by BHN589, three other farms entered the same varietal only to have Langwater Farm take the trophy.
Farmers Peter and Helen MacArthur in Holliston who took second prize, have been growing food for decades and tomatoes for even longer. It was a point of pride for Watertown residents, said Peter MacArthur.
“My father repaired Zenith color televisions, but he had his own tomatoes. He’d tell everyone to check out his patio plants,” said Peter MacArthur.
When their go-to prize winner, the camuso, was discontinued by their seed supplier, they went on a hunt for a new variety. They stumbled upon the Tomimaro Muchoo, a Japanese variety, at a farmers market they visited in California. They fell in love with the flavor and their customers have as well.
A proven winner, it took third place this year in the tasting competition. It’s a high-maintenance crop, requiring a steady 75 degrees from germination to harvest. They grow it in their greenhouses and while they delayed sowing from January to May due to the high cost of water and fuel, the crop was not adversely affected by the changeable weather.
In North Easton at the Langwater Farm, it's Maddie O'Dwyer's job to pick the fruit the family will be entering in the contest.
"I really like the cherry tomatoes. They're not super juicy or messy," Maddie, 12, said as she accepted the trophy for the family. She and her sisters, Rachel, 9 and Charlotte, 7, were at the tasting, keeping a keen eye on their tomatoes and the competition.
"We have 75 acres of certified organic vegetables and some fruit," said farmer Kevin O'Dwyer. "It's been a strange, crazy year."
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Tomato experts judge local fruit, pick flavorful favorites
