beware food science

I am less and less able to buy food at the grocery store. This is partially my problem, I got used to having our CSA decide what we were eating (and when) but then the end of February came... and the winter share is over, and the summer is just in planning... nothing growing yet.

So I warily re-entered the grocery store, which I don't like to do for meat, dairy, vegetables or fruit. (yes, that is pretty much everything except grains, isn't it. Oh yeah, and CRAP which is mostly what stores have--and what I also buy-- chocolate covered pretzels, etc., we all know the crap list.) But, we are still eating, even though our farm is done sending us food, so off to the store I go.

I read Joan Dye Gussow's book, and laughed at her, (it was before February) because she accurately describes going into the grocery store, buying a few things, wanting to ask if the fruit is local, etc, and realizing you are just the crazy lady. I just wish I could garden like her, then it wouldn't be as much of a problem.

ANYWAY. I know tomatoes aren't growing right now in CO and i've gotten very very picky about my tomatoes actually being real. (meaning taste and act like tomatoes do) And it didnt take long for that to happen, just one plant in the garden, and then i knew.

but, after a few months of going o the grocery store, and refusing to buy almost every vegetable in it for reasons like it was grown in chile, or isn't organic. or isn't in season, or or or... I saw these tomatoes. They weren't organic, but they kind of looked real. and they felt real too, kind of full and heavy, slightly soft, a slightly bit irregular. I went gonzo and bought two. At home I took some of my favorite sliced french bread from the freezer. (really fresh when toasted) and thought i'd make up some Pan con tomate, sevillano style. But minus the garlic.

There, you get toast, and if it's a really good place, some quarter chunks of tomato and a few cloves of garlic. you smear these on your bread-garlic first-which is hard and sort of tears the tomato and garlic apart and oozes them into the delicious bread, you usually just have the tomato skin left, the rest you get to eat. Then you top the whole thing with olive oil and salt and VOILA. heaven.

Well, I cut open the "tomato" and then toasted my bread, and then attempted to smear the "tomato" onto the bread. But this apparently ripe thing maintained its shape entirely. the seeds did come out, but no juice, it was an IMPOSTOR!!!!! It almost fooled me except then I tried to EAT it!@!!!!!!@

Bastards, who did that to food? who made that look so real? WHO bothered, when the taste is what is important?