suggestions for tart tomatoes

[annietomatomad]

I have several Indian friends who have asked me if I know what varieties are more tart in flavor as this is more suitable for their cooking. I must say that this stumped me as I normally like my tomatoes to be sweeter or complex in flavor but I don't favor tartness so much. Can anyone help me?

Cheers, Annie

[Raymondo]

Jaune Flammée can be quite sharp, as can Green Zebra.

[Grub]

Nepal. Medium-sized red ball and tomatoey.

[carolyn137]

Sandpoint
Silvery Fir Tree
Tigerella, aka Mr Stripey, the small red with jagged gold stripes
Green Zebra

.......come to mind off the top of my head but I'll think about it.

Again, since taste is personal and subjective you're going to get lots of different opinions here.

[Douglas14]

Sioux would be a nice "tangy" choice.

[tomatoguy]

Brandywine
Earl's Faux
Cuostralee
Big Red
Mortgage Lifter

mater

[annietomatomad]

Thanks for all the replies. I also thought of Silvery Fir Tree but that was about as far as I got. Do you know how hard it is to look for a description in any seed catalog that says this tomato is more "tart" or acidic? Almost all of them will use the words full flavor, robust tomato flavor, sweet, but that doesn't help me at all. Tangy is probably the closest I've gotten description-wise, I guess.

Mater, your choices are what I would call complex or full flavor but I don't know about tart. Especially Bwine, EF and Cuostralee (all of which I find deliciously full flavored but not tart enough for my friends). How does Big Red and ML compare to the other three? If they're similar then they won't work for my friends. Thank you for your suggestions though.

Nepal was one I considered as well seeing that it came from that region but I've never grown it so wasn't sure.

Carolyn, I know I'm going to get differing suggestions but any help at all will at least get me started on how to point the way. And I always appreciate your suggestions being that you've tried so many of them. Green Zebra is another one I didn't think about--I've grown them twice and once they were tangy sweet and amazing and the second time they were tart so I am confused about that variety.

Thank you again everyone for your help. Keep them coming!

[SLO_Gardener]

I would say Sioux also. I'm growing it for the first time this year, and I really like it. It is on the tangy, acidic side, but in a nice way.

[tomatoguy]

Hi Annie,

It may depend on growing conditions and the hot summers we have here as well as my tendency to water very seldom but all of those tomatoes I listed I would describe as very tart. I prefer tart tomatoes above all others so these are staples in my garden. I don't like the taste of green tomatoes, though. Aside from the tartness, they have an additional taste that is hard to describe but doesn't agree with my palate. Here is how I would rank the varieties I gave you in order of tartness, as grown here.

Brandywine Sudduth's
Cuostralee
Earl's Faux
Big Red
Mortgage Lifter

I should mention that there are some varieties that I do considered fullbodied but not extremely tart. A few of those are Neves Azorean Red, New Big Dwarf and Mong.

mater

[Andrey_BY]

Most of tomato varieties from Russia and Eastern Europe are more tart than sweet.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Andrey_BY

Most of tomato vareities from Russia and Eastern Europe are more tart than sweet.

I agree that some of the smaller reds are and you've reminded me that two that you sent me and that I do like and are on the tart side are Vezha and Vodar.

Others that I can thinkof, in addition to the ones I posted above would be almost any of the earlier commercial varieties such as:

Valiant
New Yorker
Break O Day
Manalucie
Rutgers
Wisconsin 55

......and the like

[annietomatomad]

Thank you again everyone for your recommendations. I will go google where to find seeds for these varieties now. If anyone knows one place where I can find most of the seeds, that would be appreciated.

Cheers, Annie

[Tormato]

Annie,

Aunt Gertie's Gold really packs a punch, when cooked.

I've tried many of the tomatoes listed in this thread, Tigerella, Green Zebra, Sioux, Brandywine, Earl's Faux, Neves Azorean Red, Break O'Day, Rutgers, etc...

I'm trialing a tomato, that goes way beyond any of these in tartness. If I find that it's stable, would you like some seeds?

Gary

[carolyn137]

I'm trialing a tomato, that goes way beyond any of these in tartness. If I find that it's stable, would you like some seeds?

*****

Gary, you must not have tried Sandpoint, one of my very few spitters.

Purple Calabash and Noire des Cosebeauf weren't far behind.

[Tormato]

Carolyn,

I've got to establish a benchmark, first.

Sandpoint will then be compared.

Gary