We admit it – we have a tomato obsession.
One thing we love about traveling outside the United States is the way that most people shop locally for food.
Whether we’re in Barcelona ogling the fresh fish or in China drooling over the variety of mushrooms or in Montreal perusing the vast cheese selection, we often comment on how we are so deprived at home with supermarkets filled with non-local food.
However, this year is different. We have fallen into the habit of shopping at our local Philadelphia market, the historic Headhouse Farmer’s Market, every Sunday.
We have been enjoying different produce like peaches, cucumbers and long beans. But most of all, we’ve been loving the tomatoes.
Yes, we have a tomato obsession that cannot be abated.
We can’t help ourselves. We keep buying heirloom tomatoes, the uglier the better.
Our favorites are the little multi-colored tomatoes from Happy Cat Farm in nearby Kennett Square. Kennett Square is referred to as the mushroom capital of the world, but apparently it’s also a tomato mecca.
Every time we go to the market, we buy lots of tomatoes. The organically grown tomatoes are not cheap, but sometimes you have to pay for quality.
We’ve even developed our own tomato tartine recipe to enjoy the tomatoes this year! Since it’s summer and we aren’t cooking a lot, it’s a simple, low-calorie dinner with just a handful of ingredients and no oven required.
Every time we start to wonder what we’ll do when tomato season is over, we remind ourselves that it will soon be apple season. It will then be time to feed our honeycrisp apple obsession.
We see an apple tartine in our not-so-distant future…
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About the Authors
Daryl & Mindi Hirsch
Saveur Magazine’s BEST TRAVEL BLOG award winners Daryl and Mindi Hirsch share their culinary travel experiences and recipes on the 2foodtrippers website and YouTube. The married Food and Travel content creators live in Lisbon, Portugal.
Original Publication Date: August 11, 2014
Jenn
Sunday 9th of November 2014
you wanna know something weird? I have a TERRIBLE and unexplainable phobia of tomatoes. Dont know and dont know how but somehow you made these tomatoes look and sound somewhat appealing. just a bit ;) haha
Daryl and Mindi Hirsch
Monday 10th of November 2014
Hopefully you don't have a phobia for tomato sauce!
Paul
Wednesday 17th of September 2014
If you have a tomato obsession, it sounds like you need to get yourself along to La Tomatina! :)
Elena
Tuesday 16th of September 2014
How funny, tomato obsession! But I have to admit that I also like to have good tomatoes. I am from Bulgaria and my family has been growing tomatoes since I remember...I´ve lived in Barcelona for the past 7 years, where the fruit and vegetable markets are pretty good, but I find it difficult to find really tasty tomatoes, especially the big pink ones, i think you call it heirloom...Interesting post!
Maria Falvey
Thursday 11th of September 2014
When I was a kid, living in the SE US - we used to get German Johnson tomatoes, slice them thick, lay them on your favorite bread, sprinkle pepper over them, and add mayo or cheese (up to the end user) and have a beautifully refreshing summer sandwich.
Daryl and Mindi Hirsch
Thursday 11th of September 2014
Sounds like a delicious sandwich!
Shere
Thursday 4th of September 2014
I love tomatoes too!!! I even have a little green house in the garden to grow my own :)