Foodie News
Red and green and juicy all over: Houston gets a tomato takeover
Backstreet's Hugo Ortega shows his tomato love.Photo courtesy Backstreet Cafe
In Spain they throw tomatoes at each other. Here we just put them on salads.
Sometimes eating local means missing out of favorite foods when they're out of season. But this week it means plenty of excuses to get your hands (and more importantly, your mouth) on the quintessential summer crop — tomatoes.
Urban Harvest kicked off their Tomato Fest last weekend, but Saturday is the official Tomato Fest Day at Eastside Farmers Market, with "Tomato Doctor" Bob Randall on hand providing growing tips and 15 varieties of tomatoes to sample.
If you want to go straight to the source for some of the best tomatoes in town, Frank Crapitto has created a cult around his award-winning crop, grown at his farm in Huntsville. Patrons at Crapitto's Cucina Italiana and Frank's Chop House can taste the tomatoes on daily specials and buy them buy the pound.
Or if you'd rather have someone else prepare your produce, head to Backstreet Cafe for their summer tomato menu. Chef Hugo Ortega is creating dishes like heirloom tomato salad, fried green tomatoes, rustic heirloom cherry tomato tart, heirloom and vine-ripened tomato cocktail. The menu will last as long as the tomatoes — through June but not much longer.
Where do you get your tomatoes, and what's your favorite thing to make with them?
