Tomatoland

The drippy, seedy guts that explode out of a tomato used to seriously disgust me when I was a kid. I found them highly suspicious, I just didn’t trust them. Cherry tomatoes in the salads at fancy restaurants were the worst.  So aggressive! There was just nothing subtle about their punch. I was conflicted though. I wanted to enjoy those shiny red globes with taut skin, like a cute red ball for a tiny squirrel! Awww. I wanted to like them, I really did, but there is no easing into the tomato. The goo just hits and spreads all over your mouth no matter how small the bite. It’s a brash fruit, saying “I’m here, love me!” regardless of how slow you want to take things. 

At some point in my early 20s, I decided to re-examine my food dislikes and will myself to get over them. This didn’t work with everything (sorry, raw oysters), but thankfully, I was truly successful with the tomato. And l like just about every other eater in this town, by the time July rolls around I have got serious tomatobrain. 

I crave tomatoes in every form at every snacking opportunity, but if I had to choose, I would say my favorite preparation would be sliced with a few grains of Kosher Salt for breakfast, elevenses, lunch and dinner. And a midnight snack. I love visiting the Carrboro Farmers’ Market, where I can count on buying dozens of tomato varietals in shades of pink, red, orange and yellow that make the most brilliant sunset seem dull. Of course I can’t wait for the Market’s Annual Tomato Day on Saturday, July 16th, but we’ve also got ACME Food & Beverage celebrating my favorite fruit with their annual tomatofest, and the Outrageous BLT at sandwhich on Franklin Street could not taste any better (especially on Saturdays, when their wines by the bottle are 1/2 price all day!). 

With all this tomato enthusiasm at my favorite snacking spots in town, I thought the highly edumacated readers of Chapelboro might be interested in reading Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook, the James Beard Award winning author of the blog Politics of the Plate. The NYTimes loved it. Serious Eats loved it. Just try it. You’ll like it.