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It’s July, so it is officially heirloom tomato season! These beauties are the star of summer farmers markets, but there are so many different varieties that it’s a good idea to know the basics before diving in and buying all the tomatoes. Let me introduce you to the best heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market!
What makes something an heirloom tomato?
“Heirloom” might sound like a buzzword, and to a certain extent it is, but it does have a specific meaning when it comes to produce.
While there is some debate as to the exact definition of an heirloom agricultural product, a commonly accepted definition is a varietal that has been grown for at least 50 years without cross breeding. Heirlooms are open-pollenated, meaning that they are pollenated by the wind, bees, butterflies, etc. Hybrids, on the other hand, are created by cross pollenating specific breeds with the goal of getting characteristics from both parents.
Heirloom tomatoes are famous for their variety and richness of flavor, but this is not to say hybrid varieties are bad or something to be avoided. Hybrid tomatoes have their place too. Early Girl tomatoes, a dry-farmed tomato variety, are one of my favorites for their ultra concentrated tomato flavor.
Some Basic Facts About Tomatoes in General
I recommend dividing tomatoes into three different categories. This way, you’ll be able to quickly know if a new-to-you type of heirloom tomato will work in a recipe or not.
Cherry Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes remain small even when fully ripened. Many hybrid varieties of cherry tomatoes have been specifically developed over the years to be especially sweet, but heirloom varieties are equally delicious. These tomatoes grow in a wider variety of climates and do well in greenhouse conditions, so you are more likely to see cherry tomatoes at a wider range of climates and for a longer season than the larger beefsteak tomatoes.
Grape tomatoes are similarly small, but have an oblong shape, rather than round. Cocktail tomatoes are slightly larger versions of cherry tomatoes.
Common Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes: Black Cherry, Yellow Pear
Plum Tomatoes
Plum tomatoes may also be called Roma or Paste tomatoes. They typically have an elongated shape and have a lower water content than other types of tomatoes. They are typically red, but there are multicolored hybrid varieties.
These tomatoes are typically used for sauces or making concentrated tomato paste; you’ll see that plum tomatoes are the ones used in commercial canning.
Common Heirloom Plum Tomatoes: San Marzano, Black Plum
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Beefsteak tomatoes are large, round-ish tomatoes, but they don’t always have a smooth shape. They can be full of bumps and folds as well. Beefsteak type tomatoes can be any color: purple, orange, pink, red, yellow, and green. Many beefsteak varieties are very meaty in texture. These are the most all-purpose of tomato varieties, so if you don’t have an exact recipe in mind, I recommend purchasing a beefsteak variety.
Common Heirloom Beefsteak Tomatoes: Black Krim, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple
Best Heirloom Tomato Varieties
Black Cherry Tomatoes
Black Cherry tomatoes get their name from their color. When ripened in sunlight, they turn a deep purple, almost black, color. I wouldn’t say they are super common at farmers markets, but if you can find them, they’re a great addition to summer salads or preserving them into confit.
Black Krim Tomatoes
Also known as Black Crimea tomatoes, these tomatoes originated in the Crimean peninsula and are a perennial favorite at the farmers market. They have a deep red to maroon color inside and out.
Black Krim tomatoes have especially small seed cavities for a beefsteak tomato, so they are a great all-rounder tomato. They can be sliced for salads or burgers, but the low water content means they’re also great for sauces and soups.
Brandywine Tomatoes
Brandywine tomatoes are one of the most colorful heirloom varieties: pink, orange, red, yellow, and multicolored. They’re amongst the largest of the heirloom tomatoes, with a single tomato easily reaching 1 lb or more.
While I love Brandywine tomatoes in salads, I have strayed away from using them in soups and sauces. While they are delicious that way too, Brandywine tomatoes are often full of those lumps and bumps that make them really hard to peel. And if you’re making 10 batches of tomato soup in one go, you’ve gotta be efficient when peeling them.
Cherokee Purple Tomatoes
Cherokee Purple tomatoes are my favorite heirloom variety. Characterized by their deep red skin and green tops, Cherokee Purple tomatoes are richly flavored with deep umami flavor. Look for Cherokee Purple tomatoes with dark green tops, as the darker green indicates a riper tomato.
I love using these tomatoes for soup, but they are an excellent all-rounder. They are a beefsteak variety, so they can be used in just about any application.
Green Zebra Tomatoes
Don’t be fooled by their green color! Green Zebra tomatoes stay green even when they are fully ripe.
These tomatoes are best when simply sliced and served raw. Cooking will dull the vibrant green color, and mixing them in with a batch of red tomatoes will turn the soup an orange color, maybe even leaning toward a golden brown color.
San Marzano Tomatoes
San Marzanos are probably the most famous heirloom tomato variety. In fact, because they’re so readily available canned, you probably don’t even think of these as an heirloom variety.
These tomatoes are a plum variety, so they are especially meaty. San Marzano tomatoes are mostly used in soups and sauces because they pack in flavor without having to cook off a lot of water. But that lower water content has other benefits as well; these tomatoes also do well roasted as they are more likely to brown rather than steam on the inside.
Yellow Pear Tomatoes
Yellow Pear tomatoes are an heirloom cherry variety. Their name is clearly apropos, as the ripe fruits have an elongated pear shape and have a deep gold color. These small tomatoes are amongst the sweetest of the cherry tomatoes, and are only mildly acidic.
Use Yellow Pear tomatoes in salads or as a healthy summer snack. They don’t need much work to highlight their delicious tomato flavor.
Best Recipes for Heirloom Tomatoes
Cherry Tomato Confit One of my favorite ways to preserve cherry tomatoes, this confit recipe concentrates the sweet flavor of heirloom cherry tomatoes. The confit can be chopped up and mixed into roasted vegetables, or just simply tossed into a pasta.
Heirloom Tomato Cilantro Soup My family’s secret tomato soup recipe was originally developed for Cherokee Purple heirloom tomatoes. You can use any variety of tomato in this recipe, but I recommend staying with red and purple tomatoes for the best color. Trust me, once you make this heirloom tomato soup, you’ll never reach for a can of Campbells’ soup again!
Heirloom Tomato Salad You don’t need to do a lot to heirloom tomatoes for them to be the star of the dish. This salad from It’s a Veg World After All is dead simple but has all the wonderful flavors of summer front and center. Use any of the beefsteak or slicing heirloom tomatoes for this recipe. Mix up the colors to make it extra visually appealing!
Peach Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes Combine heirloom tomatoes and ripe summer peaches for an unexpected twist on the classic tomato salad.
Roasted San Marzano Tomatoes San Marzano tomatoes aren’t just for sauces and soups, they’re also excellent roasted as a side dish. Any plum tomato variety will work in this recipe if you cannot find fresh San Marzanos.
Baked Feta with Olives and Tomatoes The extra-sweet flavor of heirloom cherry tomatoes balances out the salty feta and olives in this recipe from This Healthy Table. While this may be an appetizer recipe, it can serve a double purpose by tossing the leftovers with pasta the next day.
