Best-Tasting Tomatoes

American seed catalogs offer hundreds of tomato varieties, but the catalogs don’t always reveal which ones have really great flavor. But now, thanks to Amy Goldman’s extraordinary book The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table, we have a comprehensive source for flavor ratings of 200 heirloom tomatoes. Goldman describes 56 heirloom tomatoes — all grown in the same location — that have “excellent” flavor: “Scarcely equaled in texture of flesh and richness of flavor. Distinctive, delicious, deep and complex, with luscious, rich flavor. Savory, mouth-filling and juicy. No grave faults. Finely balanced sugar-acid ratio yet endowed with intense flavor. Extremely desirable.” Yum! Here is a quick, random sampling of the 56 tomatoes receiving this honor: ‘Black Cherry,’ ‘Ceylon,’ ‘Burpee’s Globe,’ ‘Pruden’s Purple’ and ‘Amish Paste.’ In describing, evaluating and photographing such a large number of tomatoes in such a beautifully produced book, Goldman has done gardeners an unprecedented service. Plus, she’s included an outstanding selection of recipes to help us make the most of our tomato harvests. The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table is already a classic.