Black Krim tomato

The Black Krim is an heirloom tomato that traces its origins to the Isle of Krim in the Black Sea. It is thought to be first cultivated in the late 1800s.

A few words about heirloom tomatoes. Heirlooms are defined as tomatoes whose cultivation can be traced back at least 50 years and have not been genetically modified. Note that I don't say they have not been hybridized. That is because almost all tomatoes were hybrids at some point.

In this context hyrbidizing tomatoes simply means that people have cross bred these plants to get more of the characteristics they want. The most important characteristic they bred for was flavor.

Today companies don't breed plants for flavor, but instead for characteristics like shelf life, shape and color. These plants are also often genetically modified for disease and pest resistance.

Heirloom tomatoes are so popular because of their excellent flavor. However, they don't ship well, so you don't often see them in supermarkets. They also tend to ripen unevenly, which is why you see heirloom tomatoes with green shoulders, but ripe on the bottom. And, without disease resistance bred into the plant, you have to watch out for blight and other tomato diseases.

Why go to all this trouble? One word: taste.