Tomato Variety Q

[Isabella Woodhouse]

What did they mean by "everlasting"?

[gunner]

Try pomodori di Pachino

[Andrea McGrath]

Hello All, I was was watching a cooking show this morning while pondering a seed catalogue and they mentioned an Italian variety of tomato that they were calling an ever lasting tomato. It looked bigger than a cherry tomato but smaller than a regular tomato and I was hoping some one might have a clue as to what variety of tomato this might be? The programme made it sound like it was the sort of tomato I should be growing this summer :oD

TIA Andi

[Andrea McGrath]

Thanks Gunner, I had a look at the di Pachino, but that wasn't it. Pomodori eterne, I think it was called, but I haven't been able to find it so far. The search goes on :oD Andi

[gunner]

Good luck. I think it may be a nursery or sellers trade or brand name. Pomodori eterne or eternal tomato doesn't show up in any searches or catalogs I have looked through. If it is supposed to be Italian you could ask some folks from there. It was not a name I ever heard when I lived there (76-81). Guisi

over at Rec.Food.Cooking is an ex-pat living in Umbria, and there is another Italian named Vilco hanging there, you would have to search him out.

[Pat Kiewicz]

Just a thought, but I wonder if the 'eterne' is somehow a confusion of 'indeterminate.' An old Italian vining type rather than one of the more modern determinate tomatoes usually grown for cooking.

The one other thing 'eternal tomato' brings to my mind is is the tropical perennial 'tree tomato.'

[gunner]

That was one my first thoughts but didn't get very far with any specific name using that angle. From the limited description sounds like a Roma or some such Plum varietial , maybe a Campari. Andi are you in AU/NZ?

[Andrea McGrath]

Yes, I'm in Australia, but the show I was watching was Rick Stein (English) and he was in Puglia, Italy. On reflection I'm starting to wonder if the 'eterne' wasn't a reference to how the tomatoes were stored... but I don't know. They were a little bigger than golf balls, round so not a plum variety. Thanks for giving this some thought. I live in a sub tropical area and we can grow cherry tomatoes year round, but I've had no luck with bigger varieties, so I thought these might be perfect for where I live. Andi

[Andrea McGrath]

Hi Pat, They weren't tree tomatoes, the name 'eterne' was explained as 'everlasting'. It's possible it was just a regional name or it could well be that it was the way they were stored. Thanks, Andi.