Job Discussion Forums

[Captain Willard]

So I am here in the tropics, and they can't serve a ripe tomato. I keep getting half-green tomatoes. I saw a woman riding around on her bicylce with a whole basket of green tomatoes.

Do they pick them early so they don't get stolen?

I am thinking of growing my own so I can have a nice red tomato.

[DNK]

I'm no farmer, but I would assume the reason they are picked early is so that higher volume can be created. Assumedly, the market does not care if tomatoes are partially green, and therefore it makes perfect sense to pick early and often rather than late and less often.

That would be my first reaction to the given information. I personally have not noticed this problem, though, but then I don't care if a tomato is a little green as they tend to hold up better to cooking, etc, that way. Fully ripe ones fall apart too easily.

[Oh My God]

Young vegetables, fruit, and even meat(s) are all the rage in VN

[hot_rock]

As with many things here, that it is takes precedence over what it is.

[deadlift]

[Kornan DeKobb]

What color are fried green tomatoes supposed to be served, or are you complaining that they are only half-green?

[tonyjones01]

Viet people like most of their fruits and veggies 'unripe'. They love taking something sour and dipping it in a salt/chili pepper mix to even out the taste.

Anyway, if you take a green tomato, wrap it in newspaper and put it in a dark place, it will rippen.

[Captain Willard]

Thanks.
Grandma taught me to put the green ones in a paper bag with an apple, then set it on a window sill. They do, however, taste better if they ripen on the vine.

The farmers in the U.S. pick them at first blush, when they just start to turn red. They hold up better in shipping that way. I was just expecting riper tomatoes here.