Black Krim tomato

Tomate noire de Crimée

What it is

Seed collected from a farmer near the Crimean coast reached the Seed Savers Exchange in 1991 through a Swedish gardener, Lars Olov Rosenström, and it became the first dark tomato sold widely in the West. Its acidity is unusually low, which is why the fruit reads as savoury rather than sharp.

In the kitchen

Dress it with olive oil and salt alone — vinegar flattens the saline finish that is the whole reason to buy it. Never refrigerate: below about 12 °C the fruit stops making its aroma compounds and does not start again.

Goes with

Olive oil Fleur de sel de Guérande Basil Burrata Anchovy Red onion Oregano Black pepper

Same species

Bintje potato Bonnotte de Noirmoutier Chuño Datterino tomato Eggplant Green tomato

In season alongside

Bergeron apricot Saltwater conger (anago) Apricot Bell pepper Blackberry Blueberry

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