Know How to Pick Them
The closer to home they're grown, the better the flavor.
The best way to ensure that you get a flavorful tomato is to buy a locally grown one. Why? First, the shorter the distance the tomato has to travel, the riper it can be when it’s picked. Second, commercial high-yield production can strain the tomato plant, resulting in tomatoes without enough sugars and other flavor compounds to make them tasty. Third, to withstand the rigors of machine harvesting and long-distance transport, commercial varieties are bred to be sturdier, with thicker walls and less of the jelly and seeds that give a tomato most of its flavor.
The best-tasting tomatoes always come from your own garden. But if the supermarket’s your source, here’s a guide to the most commonly available options.
Heirloom Varieties
Grown for decades from naturally pollinated plants and seeds that haven’t been hybridized (unlike commercial varieties), heirlooms are some of the best local tomatoes you’ll find. In addition to this Cherokee Purple, you'll find varieties like Green Zebra, Brandywine, Cuban Yellow Grape, Golden Jubilee, and Black Cherry.
Cherry Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes make a great all-season tomato option as they are consistently sweet year round. That’s because they have more sugar in their flesh and more savory glutamates in their gel. If cooking them, cherry tomatoes contain mostly soluble pectin, so they collapse readily into a lush, saucy consistency in just 10 minutes.
Grape Tomatoes
Grape tomatoes are about half the size of cherry tomatoes, are oblong in shape, firmer in texture with more flesh and fewer seeds, and have slightly thicker skins. While not as sweet as cherry tomatoes, they are a great year-round option with their balanced flavor and slightly acidic taste.
Roma
The firm texture of these plum tomatoes makes them great for cooked sauce. But when eaten fresh, most supermarket Roma tomatoes underdeliver on flavor.
Vine-Ripened
“Vine-ripened” tomatoes are left on the plant until at least 10 percent of their skin has turned red. They are often sweeter and juicier than regular supermarket tomatoes.
Campari
Often sold with a portion of the vine attached, these deep-red, relatively compact tomatoes are prized for their sweet, juicy flesh.
