Campari Tomatoes

Hi,

Campari tomatoes is a brand of greenhouse tomatoes, whose origins are in Europe, available for purchase at Costco and a number of other stores.

I hadn't been aware of Campari tomatoes until just before Easter, when I heard a discussion on the radio praising its good taste. I have long given up on off-season tomatoes because I am simply disappointed across the board. Yet hope springs eternal and based on this discussion I bought a box of Campari tomatoes when I visited Costco next. These are not huge tomotoes, though larger than cherry, they are golf ball sized. When I got home I split them in half, sprinkled some salt and gave them a try. The taste was evocative of summer vine tomatoes. A very good tomato for off season, one which could its own in a Caprese salad with no lamenting it is not yet August. These are not cheap tomatoes, though buying disappointing tomatoes comes at a cost, too.

Regards,

I have bought them several times at Joseph's Marketplace in Crystal Lake ... in fact had a baggie full of them for lunch minutes ago. You are right they are about 70% of the size of a golf ball.

The ones that I had were just OK. Although I left them out on the counter when I bought them last week, my wife put them in the refrigerator over the weekend.

Damn - I was expecting a recipe of some sort involving one of my favorite drinks, Campari.

Just picked up some of these babies at the Jewel moments ago. At $4.49 per 1.1 lb I might of passed without C2's rec and I'm glad I didn't. I just scarfed up half the clamshell container with sea salt and am imagining how I'm going to use the rest (or whether to share!). I will be hard pressed to subsitute any other off season tomato.

Of other tomato note, there was a big sign at Jewels extolling the virtues of Strawberry Tomatos, but none of the tomatos were labeled "strawberry." I also saw clamshells of cherry sized tomatos with Emeril's picture on it. What next? The branding of produce will have no end!


Awaiting Gene Simmon's Kiss cucumber,
-ramon

Wait till you try these during the summer - they are absolutely wonderful in salads and eaten raw with a sprinkling of salt.

These are also quite cheap at Garden Fresh Market. Often $0.99

For what I paid $4.49, others are paying $1.89 and even $.99? No wonder I'm broke .

-ramon

I saw Campari tomatoes for sale at Lincolnwood Produce today. They were .99/container. They were on a display table at the front of the store just as you get to the produce section.

And I got some for the same .99 at Cermak Foods on Kedzie.

Where I was buying my 2 chickens and Goya Mojo marinade to take STEP 1 of the infamous 5-Step program. May the deites of smoke and fire look upon me with kindness....

Giovanna

They've hit Montreal. Bought a 1-lb plastic pack, Canadian-grown, price under $3, at my IGA yesterday.

Took them home, sliced 'em, applied salt. First thing I noticed was that they *smell* like ripe tomatoes, which is pretty exciting in itself. So I tasted a slice: dang, this is a pretty good tomato, certainly the best I've had since last September. Very very well worth the $CAN or U$.

Yum.

One peculiar thing: some of the seed-surrounds were quite green. Thereby, green seedy splotches in a sort of inner circumferential ring. But even these splotches didn't *taste* greeen. How DO they do that?

Tnx for the heads-up, all you LTH'ers. This is a genuine pleasure for a tomato-head like me.

Geo

Hi,

My day was made just a bit sunnier just now: toasted sourdough bread, unsalted butter, thick slices of Campari tomatoes and a little sea salt.

(No picture. I selfishly wanted that sandwich while the toast was still hot. Another time!)

For a few moments, I wasn't in December contemplating shoveling the snow. I was in late August enjoying my summer.

Regards,