Heirloom tomatoes rich in history, taste

Eastern Shore tomatoes aren't just rich in flavor, they're rich in history.




During the canning era, the Eastern Shore was the tomato capital of the world, according to Jeff Bacon, a tomato enthusiast and volunteer at Sunday's annual heirloom tomato tasting at Furnace Town Heritage Museum in Snow Hill.

The fruit, often mistaken as a vegetable, is a favorite among the summer's locally grown produce, according to Sarah Meyers, museum director, which is why the museum devotes an entire day to its tasting. But the tomatoes aren't the kind that can be found in grocery stores or as the topping on a fast food burger. Bacon said heirlooms are different, delicate and delectable.

"They just have a better flavor," said Ron Buckley, an Ocean City resident who grows his own heirlooms. "Most of the time the ones you buy in the store just don't taste as good because people appreciate the size and look of a tomato, they're not thinking about the flavor."

While heirloom tomatoes may be smaller, can become more blemished due to their growing conditions or attractiveness to pests and just plain strange-looking, they pack a sweetness and depth of flavor the average beefsteak, hydroponics and early girls don't.

"They taste better. They're more interesting and they are older varieties," Bacon said.

The name heirloom refers to the way the seeds are preserved, according to Bacon, who said they're saved every year from generation to generation. Most heirlooms date back about 100 years, he said, but no further because before the 1880s tomatoes were largely thought to be poisonous.

"People thought they were poisonous because they didn't look pretty," Bacon said.

When varieties were developed that were "more pleasing to the palette," work largely done in England according to Bacon, the now-favorite fruit began to catch on and the Eastern Shore had the perfect growing conditions.

But this year, the weather hasn't been as kind as during the golden age of tomatoes, when Bacon said baskets of the ruby fruits were piled high to the sky across the Eastern Shore. Buckley said the tomatoes he tasted on Sunday didn't get enough rain.

"Everything isn't really, really ripe," he said. "It's been a bad year. The product is decent, but they don't have enough juice in them."

Without a wet summer, the fruit can lose its flavor, while too much rain can water it down, said Joan Filmer, an artisan at Furnace Town. Filmer tends the gardens on-site where 15 varieties of tomatoes were grown this year. She said she's had vegetable gardens her entire life and this year, everything was slow to ripen.

In Bivalve, the annual Mater Mania festival, usually sponsored by the Lower Eastern Shore Sustainable Organic Network in early August, was canceled this year. LESSON President Patty Ericson said she hopes to partner with Meyers next year for a large-scale event, making it an Eastern Shore attraction.

Meyers said she sees a niche in heritage tourism for local produce, especially tomatoes.

"Tomatoes are wonderful things," Bacon said.