Quote:
Originally Posted by Malabar Circle
Hi there,
I beg to differ. "to dry" was not the best word i could choose. We have many dry tomatoes and it is a different thing. Maybe seasoned..not sure, but the point is they are used a few months after harvesting them.
|
Well, usually, when you select a tomato for its long keeping qualities, you, well ... store it for a while. That's what you are selecting for, and that's why you grow it. It's more a decision than a need.
Here, drying tomatoes are not rare, I only have 1 drying tomato variety in my collection, and it comes from the mountains far from the sea. Nobody even tries to dry tomatoes here, it's a waste of time. You can't store dry tomatoes here fall to spring, at least not without plastic.
The solution was "de colgar" tomatoes. It was the only way to store tomatoes for winter. It was the perfect tomato for subsistence farms. Cheap, easy, productive ... providing fresh tomatoes all year long.
They can be used in many ways, and there are different varieties for different uses. Some are intended for salads, for cooking, for salsa ... and the most important use ... for bread rubbing.
It's true that they change in storage, and taste and aroma change in storage. Aroma specially can increase in storage. Most varieties are better for bread rubbing after some time in storage, as softer flesh works better. Some varieties are soft from day one, but for other uses, you don't need to wait. Other varieties never get soft, while others are fantastic in salads for over 4 months.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Malabar Circle
In one of the videos i embedded, the guy is cooking spaghetti with Piennolo, when he cuts them you will see that inside they are not dry at all.
I've lived in Spain 2 years, 1 in Sevilla. While in marbella i' ve seen many women utilizing tomatoes de colgar in a similar fashion to the Piennolo, when they had already been harvested for a while. They were consumed fresh as well, but trust me...not only.
If you speak Spanish, this is a video that will clarify this for you. And she says that they consume them in winter as they last long time...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXqXtivaTOw |
I've lived in Spain a bit longer than you , and right in the middle of these tomatoes center of diversity. I don't consider Sevilla nor Marbella, places were there's a huge use of these tomatoes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Malabar Circle
No, i haven't tried all varieties of the colgar, but certainly the most common ones, those that are readily available.
The only way to know if Piennolo works good in your climate is to get some real Piennolo seeds (if it is something you care about obviously), as the ones you said you tried, sound a bit bogus to me.
|
I have a seed bank devoted to these tomatoes, starting, but already over 100 varieties, so I've tried a few. There are not many readily available in the markets, and probably over half of what is sold around are fake hybrids. I would be surprised if you really have a good perspective from Sevilla and Marbella.
We are talking at probably around 1000 surviving varieties. I believe they are the most diverse tomato group in the world. Basically they only share their long storage capabilities, and usually are on the small size with hard skin. Every other trait can and does change among varieties.