Trio Taste Test

(Initial post edited)

For those of you who clicked the link on my October 10 entry to the battle between Kellogg's Breakfast and Box Car Willy -- two heirloom tomatoes new to me -- you might like to know how they fared.

I threw a third contender into the ring today -- Chocolate Stripes, one of my favorite heirloom tomato varieties.

Box Car Willy is at the top of the plate, with Chocolate Stripes below on the right and and Kellogg's Breakfast below on the left. P and I tried all three at lunch today, first on their own, and then with some whole wheat bread. (I know that sounds austere, but we also had some excellent local cheese, and we had another fabulous four-course meal at Ciao Thyme in the Kitchen tonight, so lunch was a modest repast.)

Here are the results:
-- Box Car Willy was really disappointing -- just blah. I won't be buying that kind again at our farmers' market.
-- Kellogg's Breakfast, on the other hand, had glorious color and a pleasant flavor -- P said it reminded him of tomatoes eaten when a youth in Wales. I checked back on my photo of the tomato and its description -- "meaty texture with a fantastic sweet, tangy flavor."
-- Chocolate Stripes remains my favorite -- full-flavored, with a hint of salt about it. The vendor's description said "complex, rich, sweet, earthy tomato flavor." It isn't as flashy as Kellogg's Breakfast, but I find it tastier. Alternating slices of those two with a sprinkle of chopped chives would be beautiful.

(Just for fun, I tried drying a few slices of each tomato in the oven with my last tray of San Marzanos. They couldn't take the heat, low as it was, and ended up as tomato "chips/crisps," being much less fleshy than the Italians.)