Summer is the season of bright, plump, sweet and juicy tomatoes — perfect for slicing into salads, simmering into pasta sauces or piling into sandwiches. But which tomatoes are best for those applications? How do you know if a tomato is any good? How do you store them to preserve their integrity? Never fear, chef Joel Gamoran is here — to answer all of your red-hot tomato questions.
What should you look for when buying tomatoes?
- Blemish-free skin
- Stem and any leaves are vibrant green — not dried or brown.
- The heavier, the tomato the juicier it will be, so gently pick them up and compare.
- Smell your tomatoes! They should smell sweet and a little grassy.
Tomato ground rules
- Storing your tomatoes in the fridge makes them last longer, but they'll get mealy.
- Cut your tomatoes with a serrated utility knife — small but with teeth!
What are the different types of tomatoes?
Sungold tomatoes
- Best stored at room temperature out of direct sunlight.
- Perfect for salads, snack platters or roasting.
Heirloom tomatoes
- Store at room temperature, upside-down on a plate or tray.
- If they're ripe, you can store them in the fridge upside-down for 3 to 4 days.
- Perfect for dicing for bruschetta, Caprese salad or slicing to put on top of burgers or sandwiches (hello, BLT!). Amazing just sliced and sprinkled with sea salt.
Roma tomatoes
- Store at room temperature.
- Great for salsa, tomato sauces, canning and preserving.
Beefsteak tomatoes
- Store at room temperature.
- Use them on burgers and sandwiches, in salads, pasta sauces and tomato soup.
Charred Bread Rubbed with Tomato
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
- 4 slices of bread
- olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 overripe tomatoes
- 4 slices serrano ham
Preparation
- Brush bread with olive oil.
- Grill bread.
- Rub garlic clove on bread.
- Cut tomato and a half and rub it on bread.
- Top with ham.