Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tomato nostalgia as I relive my Croatian island childhood

croatiaweek.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–219 of 219 posts

Re: Tomato nostalgia as I relive my Croatian island childhood

#211

Post by [deleted] »

0xffff2 wrote: post #208
jihadjihad wrote: post #196

It's hard to describe how drastic the difference is between a store-bought tomato and one that is homegrown. It's something you immediately miss once the season is gone and the tomato plants are composted, and you're hoping you saved enough jars to make it until next summer. But one thing that surprised me after a little while gardening is that there is a similarly stark difference for homegrown carrots. Everybody kn…

> It's hard to describe how drastic the difference is between a store-bought tomato and one that is homegrown. Everyone says this, but I either have defective taste buds or defective garden tomatoes, because my garden tomatoes aren't really any different from a decent store-bought tomato when eaten fresh. For sauces, quality canned tomatoes are overwhelmingly superior to either.

[deleted]

Re: Tomato nostalgia as I relive my Croatian island childhood

#212

Post by mythrwy »

jihadjihad wrote: post #196

It's hard to describe how drastic the difference is between a store-bought tomato and one that is homegrown. It's something you immediately miss once the season is gone and the tomato plants are composted, and you're hoping you saved enough jars to make it until next summer. But one thing that surprised me after a little while gardening is that there is a similarly stark difference for homegrown carrots. Everybody kn…

Carrots are really the best if they freeze lightly in my opinion. So sweet!

Re: Tomato nostalgia as I relive my Croatian island childhood

#213

Post by devilbunny »

guizzy wrote: post #199
brrt wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm from the Netherlands and > The imported junk we get from Netherlands is abysmal compared to anything grown locally, and the reality is that we want the good stuff for ourselves, not the tourists. This hurts, and it's absolutely true. Makes me wonder why we spend so much in subsidies for the dutch tomato growers, if nobody actually likes eating them. For what it's worth, I get them in the supermarket, grown in spa…

Maybe the Netherlands are different, but I find it's usually not that specific countries make trash fruits and veggies, but export-bound fruits and vegetables have transport concerns that require them to be picked before they reach their peak. Here, american blueberries and strawberries are big, bland and watery, local ones are juicy, sweet, tart and delicious. Or corn, theirs is bland, ours is sweet. But I'm not con…

> corn, theirs is bland, ours is sweet.

Maize starts converting sugars into starches the moment it's harvested. That's why fresh-picked is so important: even within a few hours, the flavor changes.

That's also why frozen or canned corn is a good idea: picked at the peak of ripeness and almost immediately has its enzymes deactivated either by freezing or boiling. Aside from texture issues (which won't matter for many applications like soups and smoothies), frozen vegetables and berries have better taste than "fresh" from the produce department for most products, most of the year. Also why so many cooks swear by canned tomatoes for sauces: they're better quality tomatoes picked at peak ripeness, but the only way they can travel is frozen or canned. And nobody freezes tomatoes; it screws up the texture so badly that canning is no worse and possibly better, plus it's expensive to deal with cold chain (whereas a pallet of San Marzano tomatoes can sit on a shelf until it rusts through with little loss of flavor and no maintenance other than the shelf it sits on).

Re: Tomato nostalgia as I relive my Croatian island childhood

#214

Post by zwaps »

0xffff2 wrote: post #208
jihadjihad wrote: post #196

It's hard to describe how drastic the difference is between a store-bought tomato and one that is homegrown. It's something you immediately miss once the season is gone and the tomato plants are composted, and you're hoping you saved enough jars to make it until next summer. But one thing that surprised me after a little while gardening is that there is a similarly stark difference for homegrown carrots. Everybody kn…

> It's hard to describe how drastic the difference is between a store-bought tomato and one that is homegrown. Everyone says this, but I either have defective taste buds or defective garden tomatoes, because my garden tomatoes aren't really any different from a decent store-bought tomato when eaten fresh. For sauces, quality canned tomatoes are overwhelmingly superior to either.

I mean you have to have the climate and soil first

Re: Tomato nostalgia as I relive my Croatian island childhood

#215

Post by swiftcoder »

positr0n wrote: post #209
swiftcoder wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think maybe this is only a big problem in climates that are on the cold side for tomatoes. The only problem I've had the last few years is tomato blight during one particularly rainy spring, and growing the tomatoes up a trellis and cutting away the excess lower leaves has been sufficient to control it. Companion planting aromatics may help control pests as well - I usually plant as many of basil, rosemary, parsley…

How hot does it get where you live? In Texas no one I know has ever had their tomatoes survive into August. Blight and the heat kill the plants usually by mid July. You can plant new ones around this time for a fall harvest if you want, but most home gardeners I talk to are pretty burnt out by this time of the season. The heat contributes to that too I'm sure :-)

Probably not as hot as Texas. Rarely goes above 105 F in summer here. Tomatoes seem to do ok at that temperature as long as I irrigate (drip irrigation at ground level specifically - tomato plants don't like getting their leaves wet)

Re: Tomato nostalgia as I relive my Croatian island childhood

#216

Post by jakupovic »

dayjah wrote: post #116
imp0cat wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, where in Makarska region should one go to get some? ;) Are those "local" sellers near the beach really local? Or do they just resell stuff from Kaufland/Lidl to naive tourists for inflated prices?

Not a Croatian, but I visit the Zadar / Ugljan area every couple of years. Last time a Bosnian friend visited from Banja Luka and she brought some tomatoes with her. They were phenomenal <3

Bosnian here from near Banja Luka and fully agree. Like others said it's mostly about being home grown and most importantly picked at the right time. But, Krajina tomatoes kick things ;).

Re: Tomato nostalgia as I relive my Croatian island childhood

#218

Post by snowpid »

foobarian wrote: post #122
imiric wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Croatia has horrible food Anthony Bourdain disagreed[1]: > This is world class food, this is world class wine, this is world class cheese. The next big thing is Croatia. This was in 2012, before Croatia joined the EU, but the culture of quality cuisine doesn't change in a decade. I can't speak about the prices, but I'm sure there are affordable restaurants and markets outside of touristy zones. Go to any popular pl…

There is a lot of quality perhaps. But two things I noticed about Croatia (and maybe wider Europe) food: 1) They don't know coffee. There is no equivalent of the American half&half creamer. 2) I find that there is not that much in the way of vegetables when eating out. I wonder if perhaps it's a cultural thing where you give your guest the best, i.e. most caloric/tasty food possible. The tavern/grill places are espec…

You state because you couldn't find your prefered way of coffee you think your visited country (and maybe a while continent) doesn't know coffee?

Re: Tomato nostalgia as I relive my Croatian island childhood

#219

Post by SergeAx »

I live in Serbia, which shares some history and traditions with Croatia, including great local food. I buy my fruits and veggies at the local market and in a couple of specialized shops and can't get enough every time, especially for raspberries and blackberries. We also have large pink tomatoes, which are just marvelous.
Post reply on HN