Italian tomatoes and other wonders

Linda and I just got back from a two-week tour of Italy. We were absolutely astounded by the quality of the tomatoes there. I used to think that the heirloom tomatoes we get around here were the best, but they pale in comparison with the tomatoes we had in Italy. They were so good that we must have had Caprese salad (or something very like it - say tomatoes, with fresh buffalo mozzarella and herbs - 10 times in the two weeks. We even had it for breakfast when it was available on the buffet.

The other amazing food was the prosciutto and melon. I don't care much for cantaloupe, but the melon there, which looked for all the world like cantaloupe, was sweet and delicious. Again, I must have had it 8 or 10 times.

One other discovery was a Caprese pizza, which we had at the Mercato Centrale in Florence, that was a Neapolitan pizza crust (thin and chewy) baked with a smear of tomato sauce, then topped with chopped fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil once it came out of the oven. I made one last night at home, and it was almost as good.

Interestingly, none of the Neapolitan-style pizzas we had in Sorrento, FLorence or Venice) were quite as good as the ones we get here in Toronto (at Queen Margherita Pizza, in case any locals are reading this). Unfortunately, we didn't get to Naples itself for pizza.

We also discovered that even in Italy one can get lousy pasta (and also sublime).

The other amazing food was the prosciutto and melon. I don't care much for cantaloupe, but the melon there, which looked for all the world like cantaloupe, was sweet and delicious. Again, I must have had it 8 or 10 times.

There are many varieties of orange-flesh melons, and I agree, what we call 'cantaloupe' in North America is generally one of the most bland and insipid kinds.

[Robin Garr]

We grow two Italian heirlooms here as the bulk of our tomato garden every summer, and they're great. San Marzanos, which look like plum tomatoes but are large and meaty, and something we got from seed called Italian oxhearts, which are full-size tomatoes with a funny pointy oxheart shape and very meaty bodies, almost as if a plum tomato grew up to full size. Great flavor, too.

[Jenise]

Last night we watched an episode of "I'll Have What Phil's Having" on PBS. He was travelling in Italy. At one place, he was given a tomato to eat straight out of the garden and was absolutely floored by the rich flavors that, he said, he can't get growing tomatoes in California. The secret, the old chef told him, is "cow caca".

Last night we watched an episode of "I'll Have What Phil's Having" on PBS. He was travelling in Italy. At one place, he was given a tomato to eat straight out of the garden and was absolutely floored by the rich flavors that, he said, he can't get growing tomatoes in California. The secret, the old chef told him, is "cow caca"

Yeah that sounds like the tomatoes we had there. Nothing I've ever had here even comes close. We did manage to bring back 100 gm of salt-free sun-dried Sicilian cherry tomatoes that are quite yummy. Unfortunately, we found them in an outdoor market in Venice, but weren't sure if we could bring them back to Canada, so just bought enough that we could eat them before our flight home the next day. On checking the Canada Customs web site back at the hotel, we found to could have brought 20 kilos each of dried (but not fresh) tomatoes home . Of course we would have had to jettison all the rest of our luggage, but lets keep our priorities straight here.