One of my favourite discoveries this year has been the ‘Egyptian’ tomato, which is a fabulous heritage plum variety. If I’m honest, I was first attracted by the rather spurious story that this tomato seed was originally found in an Egyptian tomb: never mind that tomatoes hail from South America.
Urban myths aside, I’m glad I grew a cordon of ‘Egyptian’ tomatoes this year as they are quite the loveliest plum tomatoes. They cropped very well (although San Marzano, the plum I grew last year, just beats them in the harvest stakes), and over a good period of time as well.
Like most plums,these tomatoes have a lot of thick flesh, which makes them ideal for cooking. And oh, how fantastic that flesh tastes. It’s a rich, bitter, smoky flavour which becomes even better when roasted and make into passata or slow-roasted into sundried tomatoes. In fact, ‘Egyptian’ was the best tomato I used for making sundried tomatoes this year.
These are the sort of tomatoes that made me realise that there’s so much more to this South American fruit than those hideous watery ‘Moneymaker’ lumps that supermarkets flog. ‘Egyptian’ is beautifully complex and flavoursome, and utterly beguiling. Ignore the silly tomb stories: this tomato holds its own without the myths.
Buy ‘Egyptian’ tomato seeds from Victoriana Nurseries and get 10% off.
10% off at Victoriana Nurseries
Anyone visiting Victoriana from F&F will automatically get a discount on their order. Click the link above.
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Lisa Ueda
I love tomato folklore, even if not true it’s a cute story. I’m always happy w. the hybrid sandwhich tomatoes I grow, but next year am planning on trying cherokee purple, and maybe an Egyptian for a little bit of variety.
Misti
It’s been awhile since I’ve been here. I didn’t get to grow tomatoes this year for hiking reasons, but those are such beautiful specimens!
isabel
Glad you like them Misti – and your hiking sounds extreme!