U2 a.k.a. Elbonian Mud Ball

[Tormato]

U2/Elbonian Mudball

This tomato showed up in my garden in 2008.

One parent was an unknown PL pink beefsteak ("about" an F3) from saved seed of a 2 lb + tomato from an unmanned roadside stand. The other parent was likely one of several blacks that were trialed in 2007. So, unknown x unknown = U2.

The RL plant in 2008 produced very large (to 28 oz.), very smooth, black beefsteaks.

The Elbonian Mudball part of the name is sort of what I think of the flavor. I'm not a fan of most "smokey" "earthy" tasting black tomatoes. Black Cherry and Cherokee Purple are the only ones I like, of the several that I've tried.

Flavor, for me ,
would be best described as...

taking a slightly spoiled piece of fish (shark would be my first choice) out to the b-que...

dropping it in a mud puddle...

puting it on the grill and cooking...

dropping it the puddle again...

putting it on a plate and wrapping it with one slice (the thinnest possible) of an underripe tomato...

repeating with a slice of an overripe tomato...

and then taking a bite.

Can you tell that I don't care for most black tomatoes, yet?

The seed is F2, which means it could produce many different things. The seed is also fairly old, so germination may not be real high.

I last offered this in 2009, and there were only a few takers then. I guess black tomatoes are more popular than ever.

Enjoy,

Dr Lve Apple

[Doug9345]

I'm setting here lMAO. I'm going to have to grow it just for the description alone. You do have a way with describing a flavor.

[matilda'skid]

Hum What do others say of the flavor? From your description I wouldn't want to eat it, but there must be some reason you saved the seed. The slightly spoiled fish part was a killer.

[Crissyb]

Hmmmm, doesn't sound very appetizing. But I love that earthy, smoky taste of black tomatoes so perhaps it will be a smorgasbord for my taste buds. I will be trying it out this summer, going to start them tomorrow.

[Tormato]

It tastes JUST like Black Krim, Black from Tula, Vorlon, Carbon, and a few others, to me.

So, if you like those, and the F2's are anything like the F1, you'd probably like it. That's the taste I get in my garden, and with my taste buds. Absolutely NO kidding. There is one other T'villian who desribed the taste to me as spoiled fishy. We agree, but many/most others probably wouldn't agree with us.

Thread drift...

Aunt Gertie's Gold, to me, tastes like 8 parts lemon, 1 part orange, and 1 part aluminum can. A "metalicy citrus" taste. Again, it was someone at T'ville who tasted the same thing, and communicated it to me.

Dr. Lve Apple

[GunnarSK]

Originally Posted by Tormato

Taking a slightly spoiled piece of fish (shark would be my first choice) out to the b-que
Dr Lve Apple

The "fishy" part sounds like an Icelandic specialty,hákarl, fermented and dried Greenland shark, originally buried in sand at the beach and peed on to speed up/help the process. It is usually (if at all) eaten with akvavit (eg. the Icelandic svarti dauði,black death) or vodka.

[KarenO]

be needing plenty of vodka to get the fermented shark down alright. lol wowsers.
But I'd give the mudball a try without it
KO

[dice]

Black Krim, Black from Tula, Vorlon

Those do not taste alike to me. I like all of them, but each
has its own flavor. Black from Tula is the sweetest of the 3.
(Have not grown Carbon yet, but I have seeds for it.)

[matilda'skid]

Tormato I don't think you'll be getting a job writing descriptions for seed catalogs.

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by GunnarSK

The "fishy" part sounds like an Icelandic specialty,hákarl, fermented and dried Greenland shark, originally buried in sand at the beach and peed on to speed up/help the process. It is usually (if at all) eaten with akvavit (eg. the Icelandic svarti dauði,black death) or vodka.

(Icelandic) "hakarl"...hmmmm... I like the sound of that, even though I cannot pronounce it.

In my garden, Elbonian Mudball may have a hint of the taste of hakarl, but there is none of the amonia smell. So, I'll update my desription. It is like tasting a slightly spoiled piece of shark while having a clothespin over the nose.

"Hakarl", and "Black Death"...maybe those will be names for selections of the F2's of Elbonian Mudball.
I think Dilbert is on a trip to Northern Elbonia this week. I wonder if hakarl (buried in mud, not sand) would be on the menu.

Gary

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by dice

Those do not taste alike to me. I like all of them, but each
has its own flavor. Black from Tula is the sweetest of the 3.
(Have not grown Carbon yet, but I have seeds for it.)

In my garden, no black varieties are sweet, with the exception of Cherokee Purple. I also don't get any of the "saltiness" I read about.

Perhaps some of the varieties, to me, taste like slightly spoiled bluefish, rather than skark.

[tnpeppers]

Geez...I HATE seafood, but I am still going to give this a place in the garden, as I like most of the blacks...

[Tormato]

You most likely will not get the taste that I, and only one other that I know of, get.

My guess is that the F2's will produce clear skinned tomatoes being either black or perhaps pink. I'd like to hear about germination rates, since this is 2008 seed.

Gary

[matilda'skid]

I love seafood but not slightly rotten seafood.

[Tormato]

Same here.

There's a saying... never eat seafood in a place that's more than 100 miles from the sea. If only I had listened.