Juliet Tomatoes

Juliet Tomatoes are also known by many other names, most of them describing their look and how they differ from ordinary tomatoes. These name include grape tomatoes and cherry tomatoes which refers to how smaller in size they are to ordinary varieties of the same plant.

This particular hybrid is rather new and all American in its conception. They are mostly used in salads but there are also other baking and frying dishes that take advantage of their size and taste, which is no difference from larger tomatoes.

Juliet Tomato Trivia

• Aztec called tomatoes xitomatl
• The scientific name for them means wolf peach
• Tomato seeds were sent to space

Juliet Tomato Buying Guide

Juliet Tomatoes are usually bought prepacked in small containers meaning that there’s little you can do in terms of touching them before you make a decision. That’s why you should rally on look alone and focus on the tomatoes that red and that don’t have any visible spots or bruises on them.

When you’re buying from a vendor you know or from a farmer’s market you also get to touch the tomatoes and that’s where you should look for the ones that are firm and that aren’t overly ripe as you would for the normal sized ones.

Juliet Tomato Production & Farming in Texas

Texas has a good soil and climate that’s made just for growing tomatoes. There are many different varieties grown in the state both in gardens and in large scale farms. These include the Juliet variety that’s mostly sold to better markets and to restaurants directly.

It’s best to start growing them indoors before the season and thus avoiding the bad weather. After the plants are large enough to survive outside they should be transplanted into the soil. The seeds should be started inside in January and planted outdoors in late February.

This particular variety is rather resilient and it can take the changes in temperature. They can go as high as 90 degrees in Texas and this variety amongst a few others is able to withhold that temperatures and to grow just fine.

It takes 55-68 days for these tomatoes to grow to maturity and to be used fully. This includes the time that they spend indoors. There’s no special needs or problems that these tomatoes are facing and they require an average amount of water, mulch and work. At the same time, they usually cost more on the market than the regular sized ones and they are often sold to chefs.

Pesticides

Tomatoes aren’t on the dirty dozen, but there has also been a larger list that contains 36 different plants that are considered to be healthy and green but that rally heavily on the use of pesticides. Tomatoes including the Juliet are on that larger list.

Geography

Tomatoes as they are, come from the Aztecs and the Mesoamerica. They are then brought to Europe by the explorers and conquerors where the plant took root in local cultures. This is especially true in Italy where it’s used in making numerous sauces.

There have been other varieties of small tomatoes before but Juliet in particular came to the big scene in 1999. It’s a hybrid made in America and it has proven to be resilient, of great taste and qualities and it’s now grown both commercially and in local gardens.

Packaging

The size and the fragility of these tomatoes means that they need to be packed more carefully and with more safety precautions than the large ones. They are also put in cardboard boxes on the field and moved to the stores that way in trucks that are slightly cooled.

When they are put into stores there’s one additional packaging in which the tomatoes are put. Those are small plastic boxes in which the tomatoes are stored and sold.

Enjoying Juliet Tomatoes

There are many different uses for this type of tomatoes. They are often eaten raw and fresh since they come in bite size and they are delicious and refreshing. Tomatoes are also used in a variety of salads, sandwiches and pastas. This is mostly to offset other dryer and spicier tastes.

Juliet tomatoes could also be dried and used in salads in a completely different way. This way they will last longer and their taste is even made more intense when they are dry.

Tomatoes could also be used to make sauces but due to their size this is rarely done with Juliet ones, unless you have a lot of them and need to get rid of them.

Storage

Keep the tomatoes on their stem whenever you’re able to. Place them in a bag or in a plastic container and keep them in the less cool part of the fridge such as the door or a separate storage area. If you plan to eat them in a day or two, it’s also fine not to cool them at all but to keep them in a pantry.

Cooking

Beyond the usual recipes which don’t require you to do anything with the tomatoes but add spices and probably some oil, there are others a bit more complicated recipes as well. Here’s one that involves roasting the tomatoes but allowing them to keep their flavor and juiciness.

Juliet tomatoes (enough to form a single layer in roasting pan)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Pureed garlic or finely diced
Chopped Parsley Green onions, sliced
Basil, sliced
Drizzle olive oil over tomatoes

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Layer your Juliet tomatoes to cover the bottom of your roasting pan.  Sprinkle the remaining ingredients over the entire layer of tomatoes.  Bake for approx. 45 minutes stirring at least once.

Nutrition

Tomato is one of the most widely consumed vegetables, connected with reduced risk of chronic diseases and specific types of cancer. Tomato contains important bioactive compounds, including carotenoids, polyphenols, and vitamin C. Carotenoids, such as lycopene, are responsible for the red color, and β-carotene, zeaxanthin, and lutein are provitamin A. Polyphenols, including flavonols and flavonoids, are potent antioxidants. All of these compounds have different benefits for human health.

Carotenoids are a class of isoprenoids that generally consist of eight isoprene units joined together so that the linking of the sub units is reversed at the center of the molecule. They are divided into two groups on the basis of functional groups: carotenes, which contain only the parent hydrocarbon chain without any functional group, such as lycopene, α-carotene, and β-carotene; and xanthophylls, which contain oxygen as the functional group, and include lutein and zeaxanthin.

Flavonoids are a group of polyphenolic secondary metabolites with low molecular weight that have health promoting properties. Flavonoids have been involved in protection against cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, age-related diseases, and oxidative stress. Their structures consist of two benzene rings, which are connected by an oxygen-containing pyrene ring. According to the modifications of the central pyrene ring, they can be divided into different structural classes, like flavonols, anthocyanidins, leucoanthocyanidins, catechins, flavanones, flavanols, and flavones. Flavonoids are synthesized as part of the phenyl propanoid pathway on the epidermal cells of tomato fruit and transported into the cuticle of the fruit as it ripens.

When Are Juliet Tomatoes in Season in Texas?