Tomato Tasting 2013 "Stupice"

The 1st tomato tasting for 2013, even though the first tomato of 2013 was the cherry tomato, Gold Nugget. Stupice is a new tomato for me. Nearly every other Pacific North West (or North Wet as we like to call it) tomato grower I know already grows Stupice, but I stubbornly stuck to her sister Siltz, which is still one of my favorites. Normally tomato season in the PNW does not start until late July but in this exceptional year, I picked my first vine ripe Stupice on June 30th. That is probably earlier then I will get ripe tomatoes in the coming years. Gold Nugget's first was on June 15th. In normal PNW years the first Gold Nugget does not get ripe until the last weed of July.

Catalogue Description

60-65 days. This cold-tolerant tomato ripens sweet, red, slightly oval, 2 inch fruit that make an excellent choice for first-of-the-summer salads, lunch boxes, and juicing. Stupice consistently gets high marks for taste throughout the summer. Pumps out fruit over the entire season. Bred in the former Czechoslovakia. Indeterminate potato leaf variety.

Territorial Seed Company

Score Card:

Eye Appeal

• At A Glance: Poor little Stupice does not look like much. The apricot I was snacking on was larger then the tomato I was scoring.
• Size: Bigger then a cherry tomato but too small to call a slicer. Stupice is often described as "golf ball size" but since I do not golf, I have to say that they are about the size of an apricot.
• Shape: Globe
• Color: Deep orange-red to bright red.
• Inside: Surprisingly meaty for such a small tomato.

Taste:

• Texture: Silky. The skin looked tough but seemed to be tender in my mouth.
• Fresh off the vine: Stupice is just slightly on the acid side, but just slightly. I might call the flavor, "bright"
• Sliced and salted: Salt brings out just a hint of classic tomato flavor, slightly sweeter then the unsalted taste.
• Cooking thoughts: Already this year (2013) I have been chopping (quartering really, it is very small) Stupice and adding it to guacamole with Gold Nugget cherry tomatoes. Stupice is not too "wet" for guacamole, even though I don't scoop out the gel (a tedious job due to the small size). The bright flavor leads me to think that I can toss ripe Stupice tomatoes into zipper bags to freeze whole and add frozen to sauce and soup in winter. Gold Nugget and Stupice are abundent this year. I think they will be good raw with cold angel hair pasta, fresh mozzarella, basil and an olive oil and balsamic dressing.

Will Deb grow this one again? Yes. I need to find out how Stupice preforms in a "normal" PNW summer.