Why heirlooms and paste tomatoes matter

Heirloom tomatoes are open-pollinated cultivars passed down through generations — chosen not for shelf life or uniformity, but for flavour, texture, and the stories they carry. A Brandywine tastes nothing like a supermarket tomato. It is sweet, complex, sometimes tart, with flesh that collapses on the tongue. Black Krim brings smokiness. Green Zebra stays tart even when ripe. These are tomatoes worth the effort.

San Marzano and its Italian cousins belong to a different tradition: paste tomatoes bred for sauce, with dense, meaty flesh, few seeds, low water content. San Marzano Lungo is the classic — long, pointed, deeply red. San Marzano Lampadina is rounder, earlier. Roma and Datterino (the small, sweet paste type) also belong here. In pots, they are compact, heavy-cropping, and transformative in the kitchen.

Both groups thrive in containers if you understand their needs: deep pots, consistent water, warmth, and patience. The flavour you gain over a supermarket tomato is not subtle — it is the difference between eating a tomato and tasting one.