Tomato talk

The latest buzz in the fresh tomato business is the heirloom tomato. Remember those great-tasting tomatoes you ate as a kid but can't find anymore? Chances are they were grown with seeds to suit our climate, not seeds engineered to create long-lasting fruit suited to truck travel, like many of the tomatoes we find in supermarkets today.Paul Hotchkiss is a commercial grower who is committed to growing heirloom species like the ones grown in Canada years ago. Unlike most greenhouse tomatoes, which are grown hydroponically (without soil), the 30-plus varieties of heirloom tomatoes growing in the Hotchkiss greenhouse are rooted in soil. Other farmers, such as David Cohlmeyer in Cookstown, Ont., grow organic heirloom tomatoes outdoors each summer.

The heirloom tomatoes these farmers plant produce a rainbow of beautifully coloured fruit, but it's the sweetly acidic, true tomato taste that makes them such a coveted treat. Tomatoes provide several nutrients that are essential for our bodies to function well. While many recipes call for peeled, seeded tomatoes, many of the nutrients are found in the skin and juicy bits around the seeds.

Tomatoes are good sources of vitamin C, beta carotene and lycopene, a powerful antioxidant found in the fruit's pigment that may reduce the risk of cancer.

Make raw tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato juice a regular part of your diet to get these important nutrients in an enjoyable, delicious way.

Yellow Tomato and Lemongrass Salad

Chilled Tomato Soup with Herbed Tomato TapenadeFresh Tomato Salsa

Fusilli with Summer Tomato and Seafood Sauce

Mixed Baby Greens with Tomato Toasts

Tomato tips

• Always choose tomatoes that are firm but not hard.
• Give each tomato a sniff -- a truly fresh tomato retains the pungent, musty aroma of the vine.
• Since the juiciest, most flavourful tomatoes are those ripened on the vine, look for tomatoes sold with stems and vine attached for superior taste.
• Don't refrigerate tomatoes. Leave them at room temperature -- chilling suppresses the flavour.
• Eat tomatoes as soon as they're ripe; overripe tomatoes lose their firm texture.
• Store tomatoes stem-side-down, spread in a single layer, to prevent them from going bad.