Whenever, in late summer, I bite into a perfect, ripe, juicy tomato, I marvel at how we manage to make do with those pale, pathetic fruits that pass themselves off as tomatoes throughout the year. Imposters! Tomato season is in full swing right now, hooray. I've been poaching small, beautiful red tomatoes from my parents' garden and mooching little fellas known as Mexican Midgets (which, miraculously, taste like sunshine itself) from my friend's P-patch. I've been using heirloom tomatoes in salads and pasta. Yesterday, on a trip to Pike Place Market, I bought a basket of sweet, sweet Sungolds and was unable to stop eating them until I experienced acid-induced stomach pains.
While brushing up on my tomato knowledge with the help of The Penguin Companion to Food, I was tickled to see how the tomato inspired another writer to wax poetic about its beauty: "For a foodstuff which has come up to the front from almost nowhere in under two centuries, the tomato has proved to have astonishingly vigorous penetrative qualities, so that it is as close to being ubiquitous in the kitchens of the world as any plant food... It is also relevant that the tomato is highly marriageable."
From September 10 through 15, Earth & Ocean (1112 Fourth Ave) will be offering an "Ode to the Tomato Dinner," a five-course dinner featuring heirloom tomatoes (Green Zebras! Yellow Taxis!) and their myriad flavor mates. Cost is $55; for more information visit www.earthocean.net or call 264-6060.