Red Teardrop Cherry Tomatoes
Estimated Inventory, 12 ct : 0
Description/Taste
The Red Teardrop cherry tomato is small like grape tomatoes, and more pear-shaped than plum tomatoes. Its unique figure is source for its two most common names, Teardrop or Pear tomato. It is a popular tomato cultivar that produces uniform, crack resistant fruit with a sweet and tangy flavor. They have a firm texture, juicy interior, and their teardrop shape and translucent yellow flesh distinguish them from other cherry tomatoes. The Red Teardrop plants are an indeterminate, or climbing, variety, as they are large, prolific vining plants that will continue to produce clusters of the one-inch fruit throughout the entire season.
Seasons/Availability
Red Teardrop cherry tomatoes are available year-round.
Current Facts
Red Teardrop is a name given to the variety of tomatoes that developed from a natural occurring mutation on a cherry tomato plant, resulting in their distinctive shape. Cherry tomatoes are natural tomato, or Lycopersicon esculentum, variants. They are sometimes distinguished botanically as Lycopersicon esculentum var. cerasiforme. Although after years of horticulturists' preference for the name and authority Lycopersicon esculentum, there are those now promoting a return to the tomato’s original classification, Solanum lycopersicum.
Nutritional Value
Red cherry tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and lycopene, a natural antioxidant that may help lower the risk of prostate, lung, and stomach cancers. Tomatoes are said to stimulate the body’s ability to filter toxins, and they may also help support liver health and protect the body against appendicitis.
Applications
Red Teardrop cherry tomatoes are best used raw, but they can also be prepared with heat, such as roasting, sautéing, or tossing in stir-fries. They add bright color and tangy flavor to appetizers, salads, pastas, kebabs, and sautés. Try using them for making sauce, tomato paste, vegetable drinks, or even tomato pie. Complimentary ingredients include fresh corn, chilies, watermelon, shelling beans, fresh cheeses, scallops, prawns, eggplant, okra, cucumbers, fresh nuts, avocados, zucchini, and herbs such as mint, arugula and basil. Cherry, pear, and grape tomato types are interchangeable in recipes. Like all tomato varieties, store Red Teardrop cherry tomatoes at room temperature until ripe, after which refrigeration can slow the process of decay.
Ethnic/Cultural Info
The word tomato is derived from the Aztec word xitomatl, which was shortened to tomatl when the seeds arrived in Europe. The French originally referred to the tomato as pomme d’amour, or love apple, when it was believed to be an aphrodisiac. In France today, it is simply called la tomate. In Italy it was originally termed pomi d’oro, meaning golden apple, which later became il pomodoro as it is still called today.
Geography/History
The Red Teardrop cherry tomato is believed to be one of the oldest American heirlooms dating back to the 1700s. All tomato cultivars can trace their roots to coastal South America where eleven species of wild tomatoes have been growing for millions of years. Cherry tomatoes evolved from wild tomatoes, and are believed to be the first domesticated species, originally cultivated in Mexico or Peru. Variants within the tomato species increased with time and cultivation, and spontaneous mutations resulted in unique cultivars, such as the Teardrop tomato. Today, more than one hundred cultivated varieties of tomatoes exist with new types being developed each year.
Recipe Ideas
Recipes that include Red Teardrop Cherry Tomatoes. One
is easiest, three is harder.Podcast
