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Fried Green Tomatoes


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We recently returned from a short trip to Charleston, just as it's closing in on time (in Colorado where the nights are still cold) to put out tomato plants.

What, does the collective wisdom around here believe, is the best varietal for fried green tomatoes, a new favorite of my wife, courtesy this trip to a town where the dish is hard to avoid even if one wanted to? (We didn't want to)

A google search turned up something on yahoo called "Southern Table" by Frank Stitt; he says "A freshly picked old-fashioned tomato variety like Atchison has that green leaf aroma that smells of the farm even when green."

Unfortunately a google search for "Atchison tomatoes" is complicated (to the point of forcing my surrender) by the fact that an actress named Nancy Moore Atchison starred in the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes"....

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

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After reading your post, I repaired to Google to do some googly googlin' of my own. About ten minutes of it led me to suspect that there actually isn't any such tomato variety as "Atchison". This site, for example, lists 600 varieties of tomato (in seed), and nary an Atchison to be found. A search on "Atchison tomato" returned zero exact hits.

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After reading your post, I repaired to Google to do some googly googlin' of my own. About ten minutes of it led me to suspect that there actually isn't any such tomato variety as "Atchison". This site, for example, lists 600 varieties of tomato (in seed), and nary an Atchison to be found. A search on "Atchison tomato" returned zero exact hits.
I can only say, here's the link to Stitt's quoted comment:

http://food.yahoo.com/blog/southerntable/1...-quick-and-easy

I also found a couple of heirloom tomato seed sources who didn't have "Atchison" in their massive catalogs either.

So--scratch Atchison, and thanks for the wild goose chase, Chef Stitt...but what IS a good variety? I would think it would be pretty meaty but not too hard, when green; low moisture content.

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I can only say, here's the link to Stitt's quoted comment:

http://food.yahoo.com/blog/southerntable/1...-quick-and-easy

I also found a couple of heirloom tomato seed sources who didn't have "Atchison" in their massive catalogs either.

So--scratch Atchison, and thanks for the wild goose chase, Chef Stitt...but what IS a good variety? I would think it would be pretty meaty but not too hard, when green; low moisture content.

My best advise is to go to your farmers markets, and see who sells them. Look for large, firm, and totally green tomatoes. If they are turning red already, they won't have the constitution to hold up to the breading, frying and eatin'!

For example, I know a vendor at the Del Ray market who virtually always carries them. Early in the season, they are a bit small (but I'd still get them without hesitation if I were in the mood). Later, the tomatoes will get bigger and I'll surely enjoy them with a nice remaloude.

I have no idea what variety they are, it's just experience!

I hope this helps.

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My best advise is to go to your farmers markets, and see who sells them. Look for large, firm, and totally green tomatoes. If they are turning red already, they won't have the constitution to hold up to the breading, frying and eatin'!
While this is pretty good advice, it doesn't entirely jibe with my experience. Fried green tomatoes have never been a part of my family's or my food culture; we never had them at home when I was growing up, and I have actually only eaten them a handful of times in my life. I wish I could remember what the variety was, but alas I cannot: I bought some big, meaty green tomatoes a few seasons ago to make this dish for myself for I believe the first time. I really did not like them; the sourness they bore on the tongue didn't please. So a few days passed, and I still had one of these tomatoes, and it had started turning red. I decided to try again with this somewhat riper but still unripe tomato, and the result was far more to my liking. They stood up to the breading, the frying, and indeed the eatin', and had a much nicer flavor. The key fact that this story should contain is obviously the variety of tomato involved, and the fact that I can't remember it renders it rather pointless, but here I am, posting it anyway.
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My best advise is to go to your farmers markets, and see who sells them. Look for large, firm, and totally green tomatoes. If they are turning red already, they won't have the constitution to hold up to the breading, frying and eatin'!

For example, I know a vendor at the Del Ray market who virtually always carries them. Early in the season, they are a bit small (but I'd still get them without hesitation if I were in the mood). Later, the tomatoes will get bigger and I'll surely enjoy them with a nice remaloude.

I have no idea what variety they are, it's just experience!

I hope this helps.

I want to grow them myself, I'm sorry I didn't make that clear enough, though I did mention setting out plants.

This IS the "shopping and cooking" forum, so I understand the confusion, I didn't see a better sub-forum to post on and there are so many knowledgeable folks here I thought someone might know. Given that the "payoff" is going to be months away, I wanted to give myself the best chance of getting it right. My grandmother did a great job on these and hers were probably standard ol' Big Boys or something.

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We recently returned from a short trip to Charleston, just as it's closing in on time (in Colorado where the nights are still cold) to put out tomato plants.

What, does the collective wisdom around here believe, is the best varietal for fried green tomatoes, a new favorite of my wife, courtesy this trip to a town where the dish is hard to avoid even if one wanted to? (We didn't want to)

A google search turned up something on yahoo called "Southern Table" by Frank Stitt; he says "A freshly picked old-fashioned tomato variety like Atchison has that green leaf aroma that smells of the farm even when green."

Unfortunately a google search for "Atchison tomatoes" is complicated (to the point of forcing my surrender) by the fact that an actress named Nancy Moore Atchison starred in the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes"....

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Sauvignon Blanc?
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Sauvignon Blanc?
You know, I had read the original post all the way through and then thought about it a few seconds before realizing that the poster wasn't seeking wine-pairing recommendations. I doubt that any wine would pair very well with a really green, sour tomato.

After thinking for a while about the cooking experience I wrote about above, I do believe that the tomatoes I used were some form of beefsteaks. Heirloom tomato varieties can be really lovely, but some of the best tomatoes I've ever eaten have been modern beefsteaks, and I do believe these were some of those.

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My best advise is to go to your farmers markets, and see who sells them. Look for large, firm, and totally green tomatoes. If they are turning red already, they won't have the constitution to hold up to the breading, frying and eatin'!

For example, I know a vendor at the Del Ray market who virtually always carries them. Early in the season, they are a bit small (but I'd still get them without hesitation if I were in the mood). Later, the tomatoes will get bigger and I'll surely enjoy them with a nice remaloude.

I have no idea what variety they are, it's just experience!

I hope this helps.

Slightly OT but one of my more depresssing memories of Denver is that it was virtually impossible to find a tomato that was worth a damn. Hydroponics only, due to the altitude (blazing, low-ozone sun being very harsh on the dear plants). Every now and then, I'd be in DC over a weekend and bring some back but, other than that, good tomatoes were few and far between. I wonder if heirlooms have made it to the Queen City.

We used to go to the City Park and Cherry Creek markets, and the one behind the Sears on 1st (I think).

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You know, I had read the original post all the way through and then thought about it a few seconds before realizing that the poster wasn't seeking wine-pairing recommendations. I doubt that any wine would pair very well with a really green, sour tomato.

After thinking for a while about the cooking experience I wrote about above, I do believe that the tomatoes I used were some form of beefsteaks. Heirloom tomato varieties can be really lovely, but some of the best tomatoes I've ever eaten have been modern beefsteaks, and I do believe these were some of those.

I know. I was making fun of myself that when I see varietal, I think wine.
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