Sorrento

[PNW_D]

Curious if this is the real deal - nice small plant, good sized fruit, fairly early, tasty, blemish free?


Received some in a trade without description ...

[carolyn137]

Pomodoro di Sorrento (Tomato
of Sorrento)

This large, round, ribbed eating tomato is light red in colour, verging on pink with green hues when harvested, it is very fleshy and firm and has a sweet, delicate flavour. Today the main production area of the Sorrento tomato coincides with its native land and is a limited hilly area on the Sorrento peninsula, in the communes of Piano di Sorrento and S. Agnello. It is these farms that have reproduced the "Sorrento ecotype", which was probably derived by selection from the "Cuore di bue" or "bull's heart" tomato (so-called due to its shape).According to others however, the cultivation of this variety was developed at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Sorrento shipowners, who shipped lemons to the Americas, imported the seed directly from the New World. Since the beginning of the nineties, when demand increased, this tomato has also been grown in limited areas of plains in the communes near Vesuvius, such as Gragnano, Boscoreale and Torre Annunziata (though the tomato has slightly different pomological and organoleptic characteristics to the Sorrento tomato grown in the traditional production area). The Sorrento tomato owes some of its success to the famous Caprese salad, the classic dish of tomatoes, basil and local fiordilatte cheese (mozzarella) from the Lattari Mountains. The renewed and considerable interest that this product has raised with local vegetable farmers has lead to the setting up of a promotional committee to apply for the IGP brand (Protected Geographical Indication).


******
D, found the above by Googling the variety Sorrento. It's also listed in the 2007 SSE YEarbook by someone from Italy, who describes it as indet, round, light red/pink, few seeds, juicy, tasty, from Sormento. And I checked and Sormento is a specific region.

But the statement that the variety arrived from the New World in the early 12th century is very wrong, b'c the Spanish hadn't even landed in Mexico yet, by several hundred years, to take back to Spain and the Caribbean and the Far East on thier trade routes those primitive tomatoes they found in Mexico. And those primitive tomatoes weren't large beefsteaks, as the picture suggests.

I'd select the other possibility of origin that they suggest, and why they mention two heart shaped varieties as possible origins I don't know given that there were plenty of red beefs available as possibilities. Ah well.

[PNW_D]

Ah, great pics Carolyn - now you've got me dreaming of a winter vacation - I wish!!

Thank you for the extra info - back to trying to pare down my grow list

[Raymondo]

D, The web site you linked to belongs to a Luc Fichot. I'm guessing here but I think it's the same Luc Fichot who is/was a listed member of the SSE. He certainly was in 2005 as that's the SSE Yearbook on my computer desk where he offered 1 bean and 33 tomatoes.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Raymondo

D, The web site you linked to belongs to a Luc Fichot. I'm guessing here but I think it's the same Luc Fichot who is/was a listed member of the SSE. He certainly was in 2005 as that's the SSE Yearbook on my computer desk where he offered 1 bean and 33 tomatoes.

He's still a listed member in the 2007 Yearbook with 55 tomatoes and the 2008 should be out soon and I'll see if he's there again.

[cdntomato]

Unfortunately, Luc has passed away. There's a thread 'Sad News' under General Discussions which mentions this.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...&highlight=luc

Not sure if that's the way to link, but....

Jennifer, now reassured that Sorrento the tomato is not from Sorrento, B.C. and therefore not another must-have Canuck

[Raymondo]

Oh, I missed that thread. What sad news!

[Mischka]

Bumping this thread because I grew Sorrento in 2006 and again last season, after an exhaustive search for a commercial seed source.

The plants are regular-leaved, indeterminate and set copious amounts of lightly ribbed, deep pink beefsteaks, each averaging from 12 oz. to over 2 lbs. The seed locules are small, making them very meaty and not watery at all. The flavor is excellent for fresh eating and it makes a flavorful fresh marinara sauce, too.

Maturity is 70-75 days.

Thanks to Bill McKay at Seeds From Italy, http://growitalian.com/Qstore/Qstore...ROD=1076383313 for locating a new source for this hard-to-find wonderful tomato. The seed packets are VERY generous, with well over 300 seeds in each one!

I highly recommend that folks here give Sorrento a try this season. I think you'll be very pleased with this variety.

[RinTinTin]

That looks like the one we grew in Argentina. The owners of the (egg) farm were 3rd & 4th generation Italians from Calabria, and brought the original seeds from home (along with 2 dozen hens & a pair of roosters, all sharing a cabin from Naples>Buenos Aires with their 2-3 children). "Mamma" did make a wicked sauce!

[DanishGardener]

I bought a packet of these in Italy earlier this year, I sent some of them to Ami.

the cultivation of this variety was developed at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Sorrento shipowners, who shipped lemons to the Americas, imported the seed directly from the New World. Since the beginning of the nineties, when demand increased, this tomato has also been grown in limited areas of plains in the communes near Vesuvius, such as Gragnano, Boscoreale and Torre Annunziata (though the tomato has slightly different pomological and organoleptic characteristics to the Sorrento tomato grown in the traditional production area). The Sorrento tomato owes some of its success to the famous Caprese salad, the classic dish of tomatoes, basil and local fiordilatte cheese (mozzarella) from the Lattari Mountains.

The information Carolyn posted seems to be correct, I don't know why she started to talk about the 12th century though, the text says 20th century.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by DanishGardener

I bought a packet of these in Italy earlier this year, I sent some of them to Ami.



The information Carolyn posted seems to be correct, I don't know why she started to talk about the 12th century though, the text says 20th century.

(According to others however, the cultivation of this variety was developed at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Sorrento shipowners, who shipped lemons to the Americas, imported the seed directly from the New World. Since the beginning of the nineties, when demand increased, this tomato has also been grown in limited areas of plains in the communes near Vesuvius, such as)

.... was the info I got off the net and clearly says 20th Century..
So why did I even talk about the 12 th century? I don't know. I thought perhaps it referred to the blurb I said I saw in the 2007 Yearbook, but looked there today and still can't see where the 12th century was mentioned.