Does Size Matter?
When you're speaking of body parts in a bedroom type scenario, I'd have to agree with whoever originally said that "it isn't the size that counts, it's what you do with it that matters." When you're speaking of tomatoes, you'd think I'd have a different answer, but I don't. I don't personally take my tomatoes to the bedroom, and if anyone else does I don't really want to know about it, but what you plan to do with your tomatoes will directly affect your opinion on what size is best.
I grow paste tomatoes every year with the intention of making the best damn dried tomatoes I have ever tasted. I have yet to succeed, but I keep trying. Generally they end up in salads (fresh) because I get discouraged by the drying results. I have dried Sungolds, which turn into raisin sized discs which, when reconstituted in water, turn out to be mostly skin. I have also dried Principe Borghese paste tomatoes, excited by its status as a well loved flavorful heirloom paste known for making great sauces and sundried tomatoes. But the Principe Borghese (as demonstrated above) is quite a small paste, drying to a size only slightly larger than the sungolds.
This year I found some Polish Linguisa starts and decided to plant those along with the Borgheses to see which I liked better. Now that the two are maturing side by side, I cant help but be astonished by the enormous difference in size. The Linguisas are HUGE, but each plant is producing a fraction of the quantity the Borgheses are. It will probably take several weeks to dry out one of those sausage sized Linguisas, but will they out-perform the smaller pastes in my kitchen? I confess I've got my hopes pinned on the big ones this year.
I've been wondering about drying methods too. I have tried drying tomatoes in my oven on the very lowest temperature, but have only managed to end up with a pile of crispy singed chips. I have also employed the use of my American Harvest dehydrator which takes over twenty four hours and makes a lot of noise, but the results are pretty good. What I'd like to do next is try drying them in the sunshine like the Italians supposedly do in the country. Only I'm not keen on inviting ants and wasps to a tomato coctail party, so I was thinking of using one of those drying racks that come with superfine netting that protect the fruit. (What do the Italians do about bugs? You see them string up clusters of paste tomatoes and hang them from their houses, do they pick out the bugs later? Or do they leave any incidental insect victims in the fruit and that's what really makes them special?
My dream is to dry tomatoes and then preserve them in olive oil with herbs, like the kind you can buy for a king's ransom in the jars. That's what I want. Those succulent, tangy-sweet, substantial, chewy, rich tomato halves you pull dripping with oil from the jar and add to pasta. Can a person produce such a culinary treasure at home? If I ever pull it off, I promise to share my methods. But if someone else has already accomplished this, would you please fess up and tell me how it's done?
I grow paste tomatoes every year with the intention of making the best damn dried tomatoes I have ever tasted. I have yet to succeed, but I keep trying. Generally they end up in salads (fresh) because I get discouraged by the drying results. I have dried Sungolds, which turn into raisin sized discs which, when reconstituted in water, turn out to be mostly skin. I have also dried Principe Borghese paste tomatoes, excited by its status as a well loved flavorful heirloom paste known for making great sauces and sundried tomatoes. But the Principe Borghese (as demonstrated above) is quite a small paste, drying to a size only slightly larger than the sungolds.
This year I found some Polish Linguisa starts and decided to plant those along with the Borgheses to see which I liked better. Now that the two are maturing side by side, I cant help but be astonished by the enormous difference in size. The Linguisas are HUGE, but each plant is producing a fraction of the quantity the Borgheses are. It will probably take several weeks to dry out one of those sausage sized Linguisas, but will they out-perform the smaller pastes in my kitchen? I confess I've got my hopes pinned on the big ones this year.
I've been wondering about drying methods too. I have tried drying tomatoes in my oven on the very lowest temperature, but have only managed to end up with a pile of crispy singed chips. I have also employed the use of my American Harvest dehydrator which takes over twenty four hours and makes a lot of noise, but the results are pretty good. What I'd like to do next is try drying them in the sunshine like the Italians supposedly do in the country. Only I'm not keen on inviting ants and wasps to a tomato coctail party, so I was thinking of using one of those drying racks that come with superfine netting that protect the fruit. (What do the Italians do about bugs? You see them string up clusters of paste tomatoes and hang them from their houses, do they pick out the bugs later? Or do they leave any incidental insect victims in the fruit and that's what really makes them special?
My dream is to dry tomatoes and then preserve them in olive oil with herbs, like the kind you can buy for a king's ransom in the jars. That's what I want. Those succulent, tangy-sweet, substantial, chewy, rich tomato halves you pull dripping with oil from the jar and add to pasta. Can a person produce such a culinary treasure at home? If I ever pull it off, I promise to share my methods. But if someone else has already accomplished this, would you please fess up and tell me how it's done?