How do you get tomatoes which actually taste nice?

[H1B1Esquire]

I could tell you how to grow delicious tomatoes, but, not here, because some people deserve to suffer.

What I'll openly say: Hunt's Best Ketchup Ever, really is one of the best tomato "sauces". Ever.

 

[FAST6191]

Relevant


I am pleased to see there are more people in the tomatoes are vile camp. I hate them and they hate me -- tomato powder was one of the last ingredients in the random chicken seasoning I got the other day, had no idea it was in there two days after wherein me and the tattered remains of my ringpiece traced back through all the food I had eaten the (chicken on the night, thought it just an occurrence the next day and then ate the leftovers) and found that. You would not believe how much stuff shoves tomatoes or powder thereof in things, or changes the recipe to add it when previously it was safe.

Anyway as others have mentioned if you actually have liked them at one point you might want to step away from the basic beef tomato and small tomato that constitutes most supermarket offerings. I don't know what you will have around you (for all I know it could be the equivalent of the US potato offerings where you have two, bad, choices, or here where you have about 15 aimed at various uses but not others) but around here there are a wide selection of everything from ones still on a vine, American football shaped things, ones with sweet in the name, yellow ones and some less hardy varieties that don't make much commercial sense to try growing as a bulk good.

 

[Reynardine]

For tomato sauce I prefer canned tomatoes over fresh ones. Just make sure you get some without citric acid.

 

[Youkai]

Pretty much all the Vegetables and stuff was so much better back in the days ....

I am a total Potatoe freak but at one point when my Favorite Brand was forbidden as the big Licensing companies didn't allow anyone anymore to plant them I started to hate the taste of these "new" white potatoes they sold at most supermarkets.
It got slighly better again and my former favorite brand is allowed again after fans fought for it many many years so now sometimes at the towns market I buy the good ones even though they are 2-3 times as expensive, still worth it.

(brand is called Linda and was one of Germanys favorite brands many years ago till it got forbidden most people here loved it withouth even knowing its name XD)

Same with Apples ... some of them (same brand) taste so horrible nowadays, funny enough I had one batch which was surprisingly delicious but the next batch my supermarket got tasted like nothing


About Tomatoes, in my Local towns marked they have 2 stalls with more then 60 different kinds of tomatoes and even though I don't eat them my gf said there are some really good ones.

 

[gohan123]

I love tomatoes although I must admit I probably never ate a proper one. I'm fine with the super market gargabe. but the one from netherlands are the worst, mostly huge and size and waterly (atleast the super market ones). I'm into slimey seeds, does it make me gay? #nohomo

 

[Reynardine]

They are a bit more expensive, but I find Roma tomatoes to be much tastier than the standard round ones.
I'm just too lazy to grow my own tomatoes...

Those egg shaped ones:

 

[Chary]

Fresh grown or go home, really. I started growing cherry tomatoes and they’re amazing. Grocery store tomatoes make me sad. Maybe you should look for a farmers market in your area?

 

[spotanjo3]

Fresh tomatoes from the supermarket have no flavour. What is the best alternative? Homegrown tomatoes, a farmer’s market, canned tomatoes, dried tomatoes, tomato powder?

You forget.. An organic is much better. A little expensive but I always bought them if I don't have them on my farm garden. Always organic.

I prefer Plum Tomatoes.. less watery and flavour. And a dried tomatoes is awesome too! Again.. always organic, period.

 

[FAST6191]

Pretty much all the Vegetables and stuff was so much better back in the days ....

I am a total Potatoe freak but at one point when my Favorite Brand was forbidden as the big Licensing companies didn't allow anyone anymore to plant them I started to hate the taste of these "new" white potatoes they sold at most supermarkets.
It got slighly better again and my former favorite brand is allowed again after fans fought for it many many years so now sometimes at the towns market I buy the good ones even though they are 2-3 times as expensive, still worth it.

(brand is called Linda and was one of Germanys favorite brands many years ago till it got forbidden most people here loved it withouth even knowing its name XD)

Same with Apples ... some of them (same brand) taste so horrible nowadays, funny enough I had one batch which was surprisingly delicious but the next batch my supermarket got tasted like nothing


About Tomatoes, in my Local towns marked they have 2 stalls with more then 60 different kinds of tomatoes and even though I don't eat them my gf said there are some really good ones.

On the other hand here things are about as good as I have ever had them as far as supermarkets go -- most have local brands, fancy brands and such that you get to pay a bit more for but have different tastes. Even without that you have always been able to do reasonably well from market gardens, roadside stalls, farm shops and local markets. At times of year you end up with south American, African and middle eastern stuff that I don't like as much (I am not even a great fan of some of the Spanish and Portuguese varieties of fruits) but as soon as the greenhouse crops kick in then it is great. It also seems modern farming methods have also allowed farmers to shift away at least a little bit from growing the biggest, more hardy and usually least tasty crops so you get some more tasty stuff for cheap.

I am curious about this potato brand thing though. I do have a favourite one called anya that is grown exclusively for a supermarket here, and medicine (which informs a lot of food patents/IP law) does something similar but this is the first I am hearing of such things. As far as Linda variety goes then https://heritage-potatoes.co.uk/product/linda-1974/ . That said what I am reading here is they are super prone to blight so I don't know if that is forbidden/someone having some fun with IP law as much as just not viable to grow.

Edit

You forget.. An organic is much better. A little expensive but I always bought them if I don't have them on my farm garden. Always organic.

I prefer Plum Tomatoes.. less watery and flavour. And a dried tomatoes is awesome too! Again.. always organic, period.

Why is organic better? What if you grow the same variety as might be grown in an organic batch but don't use certified (not that it means much) organic methods?

 

[Chary]

You forget.. An organic is much better. A little expensive but I always bought them if I don't have them on my farm garden. Always organic.

I prefer Plum Tomatoes.. less watery and flavour. And a dried tomatoes is awesome too! Again.. always organic, period.

I agree with that for the most part, but there’s a lot of companies that get away with selling crappy produce with an organic label and price, (in America at least) but with hardly any benefit to taste. If you do buy organic, at least make sure the brand is good/reliable. (To OP)

 

[spotanjo3]

I agree with that for the most part, but there’s a lot of companies that get away with selling crappy produce with an organic label and price, (in America at least) but with hardly any benefit to taste. If you do buy organic, at least make sure the brand is good/reliable. (To OP)

Absolutely. Of course!

 

[duwen]

I had one from my girlfriend's garden yesterday and I had to take a break after 2 bites because the flavor was so strong

...surely a euphemism

 

[Youkai]

On the other hand here things are about as good as I have ever had them as far as supermarkets go -- most have local brands, fancy brands and such that you get to pay a bit more for but have different tastes. Even without that you have always been able to do reasonably well from market gardens, roadside stalls, farm shops and local markets. At times of year you end up with south American, African and middle eastern stuff that I don't like as much (I am not even a great fan of some of the Spanish and Portuguese varieties of fruits) but as soon as the greenhouse crops kick in then it is great. It also seems modern farming methods have also allowed farmers to shift away at least a little bit from growing the biggest, more hardy and usually least tasty crops so you get some more tasty stuff for cheap.

I am curious about this potato brand thing though. I do have a favourite one called anya that is grown exclusively for a supermarket here, and medicine (which informs a lot of food patents/IP law) does something similar but this is the first I am hearing of such things. As far as Linda variety goes then https://heritage-potatoes.co.uk/product/linda-1974/ . That said what I am reading here is they are super prone to blight so I don't know if that is forbidden/someone having some fun with IP law as much as just not viable to grow.

Didn't try lots of stuff while I was in the UK (only worked there for 1 month) so I don't know ...

Well there are I think 3? big companies owning the rights to pretty much every crop there is in the World to "protect" them and Catalog them and so on but if they have the rights to it and don't prolong the license it is basically forbidden to plant them. And yes because they are Economically not the best because as you said they have some problems ... but as your links says "Linda (1974) is an older variety that was originally from Germany and was saved from extinction and re-instated because they taste so good." saved because of good taste


The major problem with fruits and vegetables from faraway places is mostly they they are plugged while not beeing ripe so it is impossible for them to generate all the good taste.
Like with Bananas they are delivered completely green and hard and then put into some gas chambers for 1-2 days to ripen them ... how the hell are these things supposed to taste well ? if you would try them in a Country that produces them you probably won't want to eat the supermarket stuff anymore


This might be an interesting read https://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/background

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Fresh tomatoes from the supermarket have no flavour. What is the best alternative? Homegrown tomatoes, a farmer’s market, canned tomatoes, dried tomatoes, tomato powder?

Smaller tomatoes taste better. Cherry tomatoes etc. Try to look for ones with a strong red color.
We have some small tomatoes similar to cherry tomatoes in stores here that are specifically labeled "sweet tomatoes" and those are pretty good.

They also have the benefit of not containing as much water as bigger tomatoes so they won't make your food soggy.

 

[Hardline]

talk to them, give them sun and water

 

[CosmoCortney]

Homegrowing them. I can recommend "Indigo Rose". (It's a bit tricky to distinguish whether they're ripe since the fruits are black/purple. But if you can squeeze them a few millimeters without problem they should be ripe)

 

[NinjaTurtle]

That's why I stopped buying them.
Couldn't get any that tasted good and were fresh.

 

[DANTENDO]

Best tomato out ther https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill's_Tomato_Game

 

[MohammedQ8]

Tomatoes ..... Male

Towatoes ..... Female

 

[nyaanko]

tomatoes can be wonderful and a great addition to a salad if found at a good source! if you're having trouble with thinking they're slimy, then cherry tomatoes or a similar small tomato are the way to go- the acidic, less ripe ones are my favorite. they pair wonderfully with oil and vinegar. i usually go to a local supermarket to get mine, always organic, but the fresher the better, whether gotten at a farmer's market or grown yourself. if you find yourself some green tomatoes, frying them with panko breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper is DELICIOUS. a good quick salad recipe i've learned from my 1st gen italian father is: olive oil, your favorite vinegar (i use a mix of balsamic and red wine, you can use white wine as well), salt, and pepper. add to taste to any mixture of vegetables. my favorite vegetable mixtures to add them to are: just shredded, crunchy cabbage; lettuce, cucumber, and tomato; chopped white onions and kidney beans; and tomato and mozzarella.