Ripening Rubbery Tomatoes

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Issue # 73- January/February 1982

You can enjoy the flavor of fresh-from-the vine fruit...even in the dead of winter!

PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

"Mature green" tomatoes are ideal for ripening indoors.

and shipped to the supermarkets when their skins begin to turn pink.

Commercially grown winter tomatoes are harvested when gree.

In cubate such globes in a punctured paper sack.

or in a plastic ripening bowl until they're red, juicy, and flavorful.

David Gustafson

When January arrives, and—throughout the greater part of North America—there's no longer any doubt that freezing temperatures have set in to stay for a spell, gardeners begin hankering for fresh fruits and vegetables. And heading the list of most folks' cold-weather cravings is a yen for the succulent, juicy flavor of a homegrown tomato. Unfortunately, though, by this time of year most backyard growing plots are resting under a winter blanket of mulch. So—unless you're lucky enough to boast a greenhouse full of the ripening globes—you're forced to either raid the pantry for a jar of cooked tomatoes, scavenge (in southerly climes) in the root cellar for the remaining picked-before-frost green specimens, or bundle up and tradge to the grocery store to buy a not very red or juicy version of the tangy fruit.

But cold weather needn't put a stop to your supply of "fresh" tomatoes. The good—sized green ones that were rescued from your autumn garden can be ripened indoors... and even the hard (and generally pretty much tasteless) pinkish variety found in the supermarket can be coaxed to a ruby-red hue that will bright en up a midwinter salad. Whether you gamer your tomatoes from the basement or from the local grocery store, the trick to bringing out their full, robust flavor is the same: Simply give the pale produce a period of final ripening before you eat it. You'll find that, when the tomatoes are "cured" under the proper conditions, their taste will approach that of their vine -ripened siblings.

PICKING AND STORAGE TIPS

The flavor of your indoor-ripened tomatoes will be determined not only by the treatment the fruit receives in—its final stage of maturing, but also by the methods used for picking and storing the crop. Therefore, if you're still lucky enough to have any green tomatoes gathered from the late-fall garden, you'd be wise to glance over this next section to make certain that your stockpile is stowed properly.