Black Tomatoes!

Black Tomatoes!

Yes, there are black tomatoes, well, not really black, more like mahogany or brown. I have a friend who absolutely refuses to even consider eating one. She associates the label “black” and food as meaning spoiled. Spoiled they are not. They are one of the tastier types of heirloom tomatoes. Black tomatoes are beautiful to look at, tasty, and they are healthier than red tomatoes to eat. Research has found them to be higher in anti-oxidants and anti-cancer properties than red tomatoes. What do they taste like? Well, they taste like a tomato but fuller flavored. Often, it is a taste that is complex, tending toward more acidic than hybrid red tomatoes. They are an interesting addition to salads, fresh salsa (especially when mixed with red, yellow, white, pink, green, and orange tomatoes) , and the sauce types make a wonderful, dark, rich sauce full of flavor and goodness. By the way, the research also found that cooked tomato is actually higher in the anti-oxidants and anti-cancer compounds so the best way to eat tomatoes, black or red, is to make them into sauce or stew them.

Heirloom tomatoes in general are getting easier to find so the chances of finding black ones are better than they used to be. Searches on line often result in many sources of seeds and plants. I grow 80 varieties of heirlooms and have several black heirlooms among them. Below are descriptions and links to pictures of a few of them so you can see how nice looking they are.

Cuban Black.This is a somewhat rare variety that I got from a woman in Greece. It is a new variety for me this year. It is a good producer and has a good mix of meat to seed which gives the best flavor. Cuban Black has the typical flavor of a black tomato and is multipurpose fresh, canning, and sauce. Its country of origin is Cuba.

Carbon. This indeterminate (needs staking or cages because it grows very tall) plant bears medium size beefsteak type tomatoes. I've seen references that state that this tomato wins taste test after taste test. The idea that an heirloom is a variety that has been grown by generations and passed down from person to person is really very fascinating. And they just taste better.

Slovene Black. Very rare This variety is from the country of Slovenia. It is a medium sized beefsteak type black tomato. It has excellent black tomato flavor and as with all black tomatoes, is healthier for you because of the extra anti-oxidants. This variety is great sliced for sandwiches, cut up for salads and can be made into a rich, dark, healthful sauce. This variety produces well even in cloudy, rainy, cool summers. I picked quite a few tomatoes of this variety during our lousy summer last year.

Gypsyrare This indeterminate plant bears small to medium very flavorful black tomatoes. This is the first year I've grown this rare variety. I'm quite pleased with its production and flavor. Makes an interesting addition to summer salads, sandwiches and home made fresh salsa...especially mixed with red, white, yellow, pink, and black tomatoes. Being small to medium sized, makes them great for eating out of hand.

Indian Fleisch..Rare. I got the original seed for this variety from Germany. I don't have a positive country of origin for these. Indian was in English and Fleisch means "meat" in German. I'm thinking it means it's an Indian Meat tomato meaning it's from India. No info came with the seeds. This is the first year I've grown this and am pleased with its production and taste. It's a medium size tomato, black, with rich flavor. Fruit is born in clusters of 6 or so. Being a black tomato, it is healthier to eat than a red tomato.

Japanese Truffle Mystery Tomato. OK, I'm going to be very upfront about this tomato. This is the first year I have grown it and the fruit that is being produced is NOTHING like the description. The description is a pouch shape, pleated tomato which is quite dark black. This is not what I got. The plants are producing large, round, beefsteak type tomatoes that are black and remind me of Carbon, but not quite. So, if you are looking for Japanese Black Trefel, this may not be it. I think the seller mixed up seeds, which is incredibly easy to do because they all look alike. All the Japanese Black are growing fruit not to description. And yes, the picture is Slovene Black, but this is a very similar tomato, except the mystery tomato is larger and I forgot to take a picture of the fruit. Whatever this tomato is, it is large, often over a pound, and very flavorful. I will call this Japanese Black Trefel Mystery because I don't know what else to call it.

Braun Plaume This indeterminate plant bears small to medium size dark mahogany tomatoes in profusion. In my humble opinion, this is the best sauce tomato on the planet. Its size is perfect for dropping whole into a food strainer (like Victorio). This variety came from a Russian woman living in Germany. She called it by its German name because I couldn't read Russian. It means brown plum. The original seed was grown by her parents at their home in Russia.

Brown Berry is a sweet little jolly to pop in your mouth when working in the garden. It is dark brown, somewhat like Chocolate Cherry. It bears well and the flavor is excellent. These are great on a vegetable dip platter and it really looks attractive if you have a mix of black, red, white, green, and yellow cherry type tomatoes. This is an indeterminate tomato and the fruit is borne in clusters of 8 or so. The tomatoes are said to be 78 days. I've never been one to believe the numbers because my tomatoes apparently can't read to know if they are early, mid, or late season and all ripen at once. The only thing consistent seems to be the larger the fruit the plant grows, the later in the season it ripens.

Chocolate Cherry I've seen a lot of claims for the blackest tomato but I think the little Chocolate Cherry wins hands down. The inset picture shows it compared to a red tomato. It is dark, rich brown with green seed gel. It is sweet and it’s so easy to pop many into your mouth. So easy, this is one of the cherries that my kids devastate during a garden grazing. It’s difficult for me to get any! This is an indeterminate tomato and the fruit is borne in clusters of 8 or so.

Black StarThis is the first year I've grown this tomato. I got the seeds for this variety from Germany. The name on the packet was in English making me think it is a variety from an English speaking country. Sorry, I've forgotten to take a picture of it, but it is black, round, and is medium in size. It would have been more productive if a storm hadn't broken the stake and the plant at the base.. The taste is good, like a tomato ought to taste and could be used for fresh eating as well as for sauce. Sorry I don’t have a picture of the tomato itself, but the link will take you to a picture of a bowl of fresh salsa made with all the colors of tomatoes.

If you would like to learn more about growing heirloom tomatoes, see my article on Growing Heirloom Tomatoes