Grape tomatoes kick cherry tomato butt on Long Island

Lately, I have had difficulty finding cherry tomatoes. I have checked in several supermarket chains and only find grape tomatoes or Campari tomatoes on the vine. What happened to cherry tomatoes? This reader, who prefers to remain anonymous (threat of grape-tomato reprisals?), is not imagining things. On Long Island, cherry tomatoes have largely been eclipsed by grape tomatoes, which have a longer, more ovoid shape and thicker skins.

Peter Romano, produce manager at Fairway Market, attributes "the phasing out" of cherry tomatoes to grape tomatoes' superior qualities. "The grapes have a higher sugar content and they are more consistent in flavor year-round than the cherries," he said. "In our area, people are hooked on grape tomatoes, and they don't want to go back." The shift from cherry to grape started "a good 10 to 15 years ago," according to Gary Ibsen, aka "The Tomato Man," a tomato farmer and advocate whose Web site, tomatofest.com, sells more than 600 varieties of tomato seeds - and all manner of tomato-related information and advice. Ibsen lives in California, a tomato-growers' paradise, where, he said, cherry tomatoes are still holding their own. "Whenever I do a tomato tasting," he said, "the cherries win. I have not seen many grapes that challenge the taste of the cherries."

Still, he acknowledges that in many parts of the country, the grape tomato is ascendant. "They have more taste than they used to," he conceded, "and with their thicker skins, they can be shipped without being damaged." Not to mention that their thick skins and smaller size make grape tomatoes less likely than cherries to squirt onto your shirt when you eat them.

Fairway's Romano is partial to the Sunset Splendido, "a big, fat, sweet grape tomato." The Sunset brand, owned by Ontario's Mastronardi Produce, is also responsible for the Campari tomato, which is sold on the vine and "looks like a big fat cherry tomato." The Campari, Romano said, "is our best-selling tomato, the number-one killer tomato."

The world of so-called "specialty tomatoes" is dominated by a few big companies. Procacci Brothers of Philadelphia sells a grape tomato called Santa Sweet, one of the very sweetest on the market. It is produced from a hybrid seed, the Santa F1, which was first grown in this country by a Florida farmer, Andrew Chu, in 1994. Procacci began selling the Santa Sweet tomato, also grown from the Santa F1 seed, in 1999, by which time use of the name "grape tomato" was being contested in federal court. In the end, the term was not granted trademark status and "grape tomato" can be used by anyone selling the fruit or its seed.

Another heavy-hitter in the tomato leagues is Nature Sweet, a brand belonging to Desert Glory Ltd. of Texas. Nature Sweet markets the D'Vine, a largish cherry on the vine, and the Cherub, a grape tomato with a distinctive pointy end. Ibsen (the Tomato Man) thinks Nature Sweets are the best commercially grown tomatoes on the market. No matter which size, variety or brand of tomatoes you buy, do not refrigerate them. It will kill the taste.

Source: newsday.com

Publication date: 5/28/2008