A travelling tomato!
By Clive Larkman
The nursery industry supplies plants to all sectors of horticulture including home gardens. Originally the home garden provided edible and medicinal plant material for the occupants of its house. It is now primarily a source of ornamental plants to both beautify the garden and give pleasure to those working in it. However, over the last ten years there has been a resurgence in people growing edible and edimental plants, including tomatoes.
People need to eat, and many want to grow their own food and herbs. Cost saving is one reason, but satisfaction, taste and variety are other reasons people like to grow their own food. Tomatoes are a mainstay of the home vegetable garden because they are easy to grow, produce plenty of fruit and taste good. In the supermarket there are usually two or three types of tomato – gourmet, truss and Roma, plus a few cherry forms if you are lucky. There is the odd greengrocer who may have five or six varieties, however, no retailer has the range of tomatoes available that home gardeners can find through seed suppliers.
At last count, there are more than 4,000 tomato cultivars around the world. Tomato fruit range in size and colour from tiny green to giant red and include most colours of the rainbow. Some odd-coloured tomatoes include the large yellow ‘Pineapple’, the attractive purple/red ‘Indigo Rose’ and the pretty white form ‘Ice’. One odd variety is ‘Reisetomate’ which is also known as the travelling tomato. Its botanical name is Solanum lycopersicum ‘Reisetomate’ and it is a true heirloom variety whose origins can be traced back to Central America. The English common name for this variety is traveller tomato, a translation of the cultivar name that comes from the German word reise meaning ‘travel’ or ‘journey’.
So how did this unique tomato get its name? In the modern world, with all its different types of packaging and storage, the idea of carrying fresh tomatoes as a travelling food may seem a little odd. However, going back to the nineteenth century, the only real choices for people on the move were fresh and dried food. ‘Reisetomate’ was perfect as a travelling food due to the unique form of its fruit. It looks like a bunch of grapes and the little tomato buds break off easily. The ability to tear this tomato apart one piece at a time, with no need for a knife, made it easy to store, carry and eat.
‘Reisetomate’ is a beautifully ugly heirloom. It has an unusual bubbly or distorted appearance. It looks like multiple, small baby tomatoes fused together into one medium-sized fruit. When ripe, it has a deep red colour with a rich, juicy and acidic flavour. It is an indeterminate variety, meaning the vine continues to grow and produce fruit throughout the season until frost. They are high-yielding and produce a central fruit with little babies on the side and typically require staking or support.
Like all tomatoes, ‘Reisetomate’ are high in the cancer-fighting agent lycopene and vitamins A, B1, B2 and C. The bright red tomatoes taste quite sour, and are best eaten fresh with mozzarella, basil and a fig or quince paste to mellow the strong acidity. Alternatively, bake with olive oil, garlic and sweet spring onions to make a tasty sauce. The segments can be broken off and make a tangy snack when eaten whole on their own or mixed in a tossed salad. This tomato is excellent in chutneys and pickling.
The ugly appearance and unusual form make the ‘Reisetomate’ a fun tomato to grow for kids and adults alike. As a parent it can be hard to find good snacks for the children’s lunch boxes so this cute, easy-to-eat tomato may just be a winner.