It isn’t that I have a hard rule against it, but I don’t tend to buy tomatoes out of season.
We were having burgers for dinner last night, though, and I just wanted a tomato on top.
The last time I broke my rule, I tossed the whole thing out before I even served it. You can absolutely tell, when you cut into a tomato, if it is going to taste like crap. There is no need to torture your mouth – color and texture are a dead giveaway. Thankfully, last night’s tomato was passable (especially with the addition of a hearty blob of siracha mayo).
I have a similar policy on strawberries and maybe blueberries too (though I am still undecided on that).*
Despite modern growing technology, the out of season versions are just not worth it. And for that I am grateful.
I like to wait for the good stuff and celebrate it when it comes. We use a chalkboard to keep track of how many half gallons of egg nog we guzzle in December, and sour cherry gummies and Reeses Pieces come only once a year – in April, in plastic eggs. Good strawberries are picked in June, and Tomatoes are amazing only in August and September.
Wait for it.
This morning, I stumbled across a post by Jenny at Dinner a Love Story titled Death of Anticipation. It is a timeline that was originally published in an old favorite magazine (Cookie).
Jenny says:
“I have convinced myself that if we eat together every night and fight hard against The Death of Anticipation, our kids will turn out just fine.”
Dinner A Love Story is written by Jenny Rosenstrach with sometimes contributions by her husband Andy Ward.
*I can’t fully associate my best blueberry experiences with being fresh picked. Sometimes they are bland and mealy right from the shrub – but then sometimes not (same goes for the market bought versions). I suspect it has to do with weather or when I am picking them (recent rain or picking in the morning vs the heat of the day vs the evening?) – but I just haven’t quite worked out all the variables yet.
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