Golden Mama & Little Mama Tomatoes

Here's a look at some of my Golden Mama and Little Mama tomatoes in varying stages of ripeness.

The Little Mamas are anything but: some are five or six inches long with that odd nipple on the end. The flavor is classic Roma but obviously better from the garden than from the store. I love the ripening pattern, as in the early stages they look like big chile peppers.

The Golden Mamas are definitely intended for cooking: firm meat, not much juice. I was surprised to see one starting to ripen with a red blush, but the interior remained bright yellow. Both of these varieties are known as paste tomatoes, meaning that they're great for salsa and tomato sauce.

As long as I'm here, I ought to point out some of my mystery maters from the Mystery Garden. I had assumed that these were Fourth of July tomatoes based on the size, but part of me thinks they may have crossed with the Brandywines. Though they're similar in size to the Fourth of July tomatoes, these ones are ribbed, not smooth, have six or more chambers rather than three, and are much deeper in flavor.

Here's a shot of slices from all three varieties, cut up using my Henckels tomato slicer. These were all dusted with Kosher salt and eaten by hand. Fresh tomatoes don't have time for forks.