Having recently had some wonderful tomatoes in Athens it made me realise quite how tasteless the ones we can get are in comparison. I have tried various 'Finest/The best/Something Special' types but just can't find anything that goes near.

What's your favourite locally obtainable tomato?

I check the country of origin and then refernce it against the time of year. Ie tomatoes in the shops in January grown in Holland will be force grown under poly tunnels or hydroponics. Dont be fooled by them being vine ripened as superior taste. You can get vine ripened tomatoes that have been grown out of season in greenhouses too.

The more naturally grown and ripened the tomato the better the taste.

Saying that my favourite are vine ripened plum tomatoes in season from Italy.

totally have to agree with you i love tomatoes the ones i love the best are on the vine they are a little smaller but they smell like they have just come out of the greenhouse

I tend to buy the 'taste the difference' ones from sainsburys but i do really like the Sungold ones. They're really sweet and add some colour if you mix them in with normal red tomatoes. I also like the pomodorino. I've used that when making brushetta with them, basil and mozzarella and given to a friend who doesn't like tomatoes but failed to tell me. Much to his girlfriend's surprise, he really liked it and put it down to the type of tomatoes as he hadn't had them before.

How i tell about the quality of as tomato before i buy them is by smelling them:hihi: yep thats my snorting the toms in asda:loopy: I usually go for the top ranges as you can't beat them like taste the differance and extra special but i always give them a good sniff and if they have the smell of a greenhouse then there in! I love the vine ripened ones but i also really like beef toms ohhhh so big and great with steak and mushrooms r with a nice goats cheese salad drizzled with olive oil mmmmmmmmmmm.................... god i'm starving:hihi: