Heirloom Tomatoes
Yesterday I picked a small sack of heirloom tomatoes from the organic garden – beautiful red , Green Zebras, and the yellow, slightly fuzzy, Wapsipinicon Peach. My lovely wife, who always knows exactly what to do with fine produce, sliced the toms, arranged the slices on two nice plates and then crumbled a bit of local goat cheese on top. Just before serving she splashed about one tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar over each plate, followed by a healthy drizzle of Michel-Schlumberger olive oil. Then we dug in. Oh my. Not just good or really good or even REALLY, REALLY GREAT – this simple and nutritious little salad was insanely brilliant.
My point here is actually not to gloat about my dinner or my wife’s fine cooking skills (though that’s fun, too). My point is that such a delicacy could not come from Safeway or Food Maxx. Modern hybrid tomatoes picked green and trucked in from huge, chemical-dependant, mono-culture “farms” are not, in fact, tomatoes. To be honest, I don’t know exactly what they are but I do know they have nothing in common with the organic heirloom gems I feasted on last night. And don’t get me started about that flavorless, pre-crumbled packaged goat cheese shipped in from God knows where.
Certainly, organic farming produces better food (and wine). And careful selection of plant varieties, soils and farming practices will doubtless influence the quality of the product. But there’s something else that’s very important, too. It’s The Love. The Love makes everything better. We don’t work long hours 7days week for 2 months during the grape harvest for the money or the glory (frankly, there’s not that much of either). We do it because we love it. And whether it’s tomatoes or olive oil or grapes or wine, the fine folks at Michel-Schlumberger take great pride in everything we grow, everything we produce. So treat yourself. Eat well. Drink the good stuff. And share The Love.
Tony 'Love' Wasowicz
Love,
Tony
