"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 18 May 2005 13:58:05 GMT, "graham" wrote:

My local supermarket (in Calgary) often has Dutch ones! The cost of
flying
them that far must be horrendous!

When I was in Canada 2 years ago (Vancouver to Calgary) we were amazed
that we seldom saw a tomato in any hotel or restaurant. We were told
that they are very expensive because most are exported to USA! What
is the world playing at? LOL

Pam in Bristol

The Yanks were/are suckers enough to pay the high prices for them...I bought
a single tomato to 'check 'em out'....not even good enough for fried
tomatoes...H

On Wed, 18 May 2005 10:12:47 +0100, "RichardS"
wrote:

Incidentally, why are they described as being "on the vine" rather than "on
the truss"? Are both correct, or is it marketing-speak?

Vine? Hand? Truss?
Vine = grapes; Hand = bananas; Truss = tomatoes!
Wonder who thought up the use of the word "vine", and in which
country. LOL

Pam in Bristol

Pam Moore wrote:
On Wed, 18 May 2005 10:12:47 +0100, "RichardS"
wrote:

Incidentally, why are they described as being "on the vine" rather
than "on the truss"? Are both correct, or is it marketing-speak?

Vine? Hand? Truss?
Vine = grapes; Hand = bananas; Truss = tomatoes!
Wonder who thought up the use of the word "vine", and in which
country. LOL

Pam in Bristol

AFAIK "vine" is a growth 'habit' of a plant:

Vine= twining/climbing plant with relatively long stems, can be woody or
herbaceous.

Truss=a branch with tomatoes on it.

Consequently not necessarily different. I would have thought that 'vine
tomatoes' is a marketing term, maybe stretching the term 'vine' as usually
used, but not actually wrong.

In article , Pam Moore
writes
On Wed, 18 May 2005 10:12:47 +0100, "RichardS"
wrote:

Incidentally, why are they described as being "on the vine" rather than "on
the truss"? Are both correct, or is it marketing-speak?

Vine? Hand? Truss?
Vine = grapes; Hand = bananas; Truss = tomatoes!
Wonder who thought up the use of the word "vine", and in which
country. LOL

I suppose 'truss' was thought to be too associated with hernias
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

quote The other veg I don't normally give two hoots for fresh (from
supermarkets)
are peas - IMHO frozen wins on flavour hands down.


Of course if you're growing them yourself everything changes..... :-)

Well I'm shortly to be moving to Spain, and will really enjoy the local
fresh food there, so much nicer than it is in the UK. Spain, of course,
supplies a huge amount of the food, especially tomatoes, sold here in
the UK.

Mike

sarah wrote:

Noises Off wrote:


Alan Holmes wrote:


'Vine' tomatoes are becomming fairly common in the
shops, but:-

What, exactly, are 'Vine' tomatoes?

Isn't the main point of the 'vine' so that the check-out
person can distinguish them from ordinary tomatoes? And
charge you more.


nah, the plastic packaging and bar code do that :-)

Err, well, in the nicest possible way, err, no. In this
piece of paradise I call my own (south/central London) I
have seen loose 'vine' tomatoes in Marks & Sparks and
Costcutter.

Noises Off

Noises Off wrote:

sarah wrote:

Noises Off wrote:


Alan Holmes wrote:


'Vine' tomatoes are becomming fairly common in the
shops, but:-

What, exactly, are 'Vine' tomatoes?

Isn't the main point of the 'vine' so that the check-out
person can distinguish them from ordinary tomatoes? And
charge you more.


nah, the plastic packaging and bar code do that :-)

Err, well, in the nicest possible way, err, no. In this
piece of paradise I call my own (south/central London) I
have seen loose 'vine' tomatoes in Marks & Sparks and
Costcutter.

I guess Waitrose doesn't trust its staff to recognise them :-)

regards
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.

On Tue, 17 May 2005 21:10:54 GMT, "Alan Holmes"
wrote:


'Vine' tomatoes are becomming fairly common in the
shops, but:-

What, exactly, are 'Vine' tomatoes?

Do they taste any different to 'ordinary' tomatoes?

Are they just a scam so that the growers don't have to
bother picking each one, just cut the whole bunch off
the plant, making them cheaper to grow, but charging
the silly cutomer more?
Nearly all fruit and veg in the supermarkets are sprayed with
chemicals to prolong the shelf life, wash or peel before using.
Better still go back to the days before fridge and freezers and grow
your own seasonal fruit and veg. Tastes better and does you good.

On Wed, 18 May 2005 18:17:22 GMT, (Neil Cairns)
wrote:


| Nearly all fruit and veg in the supermarkets are sprayed with
| chemicals to prolong the shelf life,

Water is a chemical, as are salt, sugar etc. Everything else in this world
is either a chemical or a mixture of chemicals. I assume you are against
air http://www.mistupid.com/chemistry/aircomp.htm which is quite a complex
mixture of chemicals

Mind you I am not happy about washing root vegetables with water which IME
*reduces* shelf life.

--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
On any Usenet newsgroup, *truth* is defined by the person or
group who shout longest and loudest.
It is not related to any reality. :-(

"Dave Fawthrop" wrote in message
...
: On Wed, 18 May 2005 18:17:22 GMT, (Neil Cairns)
: wrote:
:
:
: | Nearly all fruit and veg in the supermarkets are sprayed with
: | chemicals to prolong the shelf life,
:
: Water is a chemical, as are salt, sugar etc. Everything else in this world
: is either a chemical or a mixture of chemicals. I assume you are against
: air http://www.mistupid.com/chemistry/aircomp.htm which is quite a complex
: mixture of chemicals
:
or gamma rays, which is not a chemical. Had a chat, once, with someone from
Sainsburys, (no name no packdrill etc.) who said it was possible to taste the
difference between irradiated and non-irradiated food. This guy was a scientist,
not a marketing man.
cheers
Wazza

On Wed, 18 May 2005 18:48:04 +0000 (UTC), "Wazza"
wrote:

|
| "Dave Fawthrop" wrote in message
| ...
| : On Wed, 18 May 2005 18:17:22 GMT, (Neil Cairns)
| : wrote:
| :
| :
| : | Nearly all fruit and veg in the supermarkets are sprayed with
| : | chemicals to prolong the shelf life,
| :
| : Water is a chemical, as are salt, sugar etc. Everything else in this world
| : is either a chemical or a mixture of chemicals. I assume you are against
| : air http://www.mistupid.com/chemistry/aircomp.htm which is quite a complex
| : mixture of chemicals
| :
| or gamma rays, which is not a chemical.


http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/r...d/irradfoodqa/

It is required that all foods, or ingredients of foods listed on the label,
which have been irradiated, are labelled as 'irradiated' or 'treated with
ionising radiation'. When irradiated food is not pre-packed and is sold for
immediate consumption (for example, in restaurants) it must be marked or
labelled on a menu, notice or ticket that the consumer can see when
choosing the food.


I read many labels a week. (sad) :-(
I have never seen a label which said anything had been irradiated. So
irradiated food must be very rare, because that would be something which
would hit me in the face.

--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
On any Usenet newsgroup, *truth* is defined by the person or
group who shout longest and loudest.
It is not related to any reality. :-(

Dave Fawthrop wrote:
On Wed, 18 May 2005 18:17:22 GMT, (Neil
Cairns) wrote:


Nearly all fruit and veg in the supermarkets are sprayed with
chemicals to prolong the shelf life,

Water is a chemical, as are salt, sugar etc. Everything else in
this
world is either a chemical or a mixture of chemicals. I assume
you
are against air http://www.mistupid.com/chemistry/aircomp.htm
which
is quite a complex mixture of chemicals

Gosh! I never realised that before. You're so clever, Dave!

Mind you I am not happy about washing root vegetables with water
which IME *reduces* shelf life.

Well, amazing, nobody knew that, either. Next?

--
Mike.

On 18/5/05 2:56 pm, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough" wrote:

The message
from "Harold Walker" contains these words:

....how long have they been imported this way in the
UK...

At least six years if not longer. They started as a speciality but
demand quickly spread, and every supermarket has them now.

They've been around at least 8 or 9 years to my knowledge.

Last winter, I spotted a new one to me in the supermarket... a couple
of feet of brussels-sprout stalk, neatly trimmed at both ends, with
sprouts still attached all the way along :-)

Same here - never seen those until a year ago.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

On 18/5/05 2:58 pm, in article NRHie.1405514$6l.1138425@pd7tw2no, "graham"
wrote:


"Harold Walker" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
AFAIK thay are tomatoes allowed to ripen naturally, most tomatoes in
the shops are picked green, then artificially ripened when they arrive
in the UK. They certainly do ahve a much nicer taste that the
equivalent loose ones.

Mike
I find this interesting....how long have they been imported this way in
the UK...for many years on the western edges of the big puddle tomatoes
have been shipped from Florida to the north via a lorry filled with
ethylene gas...by the time they arrive up north they too have been
converted from green to red...taste wis would just as soon eat cardboard.
We too now have the 'vine ripened' ones. While better than the lorry
ripened ones they are still far from the local or home grown
jobbies....but not worth the asking price....H


My local supermarket (in Calgary) often has Dutch ones! The cost of flying
them that far must be horrendous!
Graham


And they taste of nothing. I *never* buy Dutch tomatoes!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Following up to

Well I'm shortly to be moving to Spain, and will really enjoy the local
fresh food there, so much nicer than it is in the UK. Spain, of course,
supplies a huge amount of the food, especially tomatoes, sold here in
the UK.

and its much better in Spain, not having travelled.
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-Photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap