The Incredible…Edible Tomato

I just ate one of my most comforting foods ever, a tomato sandwich. I’m using this delicious simple comforting dish as my inspiration for my tribute to the tomato. A tomato sandwich in West Virginia is something I can remember eating for as long as I can remember, toasted white bread, smothered in Miracle Whip with a big slice or two of fresh tomatoes, salt and black pepper. Since I live in Detroit a fresh local tomato won’t be found but I got one that was purchased at Eastern Market and it’s quite good. Tomatoes are such a huge part of our culinary diet. Think about how many dishes wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t a tomato included in them. Spaghetti sauce, pizza, sloppy joes, chili, ketchup, salads, the list is endless. We can purchase tomatoes in a few hundred ways at the store, farmer’s market or the roadside stand. Canned tomatoes coming in a variety of styles; sauce, crushed, whole, seasoned, diced, and even in paste. Tomatoes are considered a berry fruit and not a vegetable. They originated in South America and it’s use as a cultivated food may have originated with indigenous peoples of Mexico. First introduced to Europe and then brought to the United States, early in their arrival here, people believed them to be poisonous and many avoided them. I know for me they are the fruit of the vine. My family always have platters of fresh sliced tomatoes to eat with our biscuits and gravy, breakfast wouldn’t be the same without them. I remember growing up and my families always planted huge gardens, though I never enjoyed hoeing the gardens, we all enjoyed the fruits of that labor. Fresh home-grown tomatoes are the best for sure and I can remember my grandparents searching out their tomato plants during the Spring planting season. Nothing was better than going to the garden and picking fresh ripe bursting with flavor tomatoes. West Virginia is home to a variety of Heirloom tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes are an open-pollinated (non-hybrid) cultivar of a tomato. The four categories of Heirloom tomatoes are: family, commercial, mystery, and created. Heirlooms have a shorter shelf life and are less disease resistance than hybrids bred to resist against specific diseases. They are grown for a variety of reasons, such as for food, historical interest, access to wider varieties, and by people who wish to save seeds from year to year, as well as for their taste. Heirlooms are grown in a variety of colors, flavors, sizes and shapes and are dependent on their geographical location and soil conditions. According to Appalachian Lifestyles blog post in 2010, there are about 34 varieties of West Virginia heirloom tomatoes. One that I can remember is named the Mortgage Lifter, a very large heirloom developed by M.C. Byles from Logan in the 1930’s. He developed Mortgage Lifter over a six-year period by crossing German Johnson, Beefsteak and 2 other big varieties, all chosen for their huge size and grand flavor. He sold the resulting plants for a dollar each (in the 40’s) and was able to pay off his $6000.00 house mortgage in only 6 years with the profit from his plant sales.” Who doesn’t love a big bowl of creamy tomato soup and a gooey grilled cheese? I can remember my mom popping open that can of Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup, adding half milk and half water to the can, swirling it around to get all that goodness from the can to the pot. Recently I’ve had a love affair with tomato soup, and I order it anytime I find it on a menu. My favorites of recent visits are the Tomato Bisque (I always add a Texas Toast grilled cheese from the kids menu), at the Freight House in Norwalk, Ohio, The Next Door Tomato Soup topped with a swirl of truffle oil and served with crusty char-grilled French Bread at Next Door American Eatery at Pinecrest Village in Orange Village, Ohio (East side of Cleveland by I-271), the Tomato Bisque served with a fried basil leaf at Yard House at Crocker Park in Westlake, Ohio (West side of Cleveland by I-90), the Tomato Basil Soup served with tortilla strips at GP Sports Bar and Grille inside the Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids, Michigan and of course the Tomato Basil Soup at Great Lakes Coney Island in Farmington Hills, Michigan. While all of these soups are delectable and comforting and if your ever near one of the places I mentioned definitely give them a try – but nothing would be as comforting nor as delicious as to have my mom’s canned Campbells’ Tomato Soup and a plate of grilled cheese that she would lovingly prepare for my brother and I. Tomayto…Tomahto, no matter how you pronounce it, this fruit of the vine is divine!