Do the Dutch ones end up tasting less like water or are they still just as crap as anything not from a garden? Sort of joking sort of not, mass produced tomatoes end up tasting like nothing most of the time
Serious answer: it entirely depends on the variety of tomatoes being grown. There are some varieties that have been selected for taste. Typically, they will also have a very efficient supply chain with a super short duration between harvest to packaging to supermarket (packaging at the greenhouse, straight to distribution, to retail). They are typically about three times the price of the cheapest 'bulk' tomatoes (and also have a higher margin, in the end).
The main challenge with fruits, and especially tomatoes, is ripening versus shelf life. A tomato tastes best when it's as ripe as possible. Sweet, fragrant and full of flavor. However, at that very special time, it will burst on the vine or fall apart in your fruit basket within a day. Which is why you'll never find this quality in a supermarket. And why I grow tomatoes in my garden every summer :)
Great answer. I honestly love a great tomato, it can make 5th place burger #1, and I can eat it like an apple no problem, but it's tricky to get in the city.
Since there was such an emphasis on quantity, the Dutch tomatoes became known in the 80s as Wasserbomben in Germany. Taste has become more of a priority after we saw exports diminish.
If you’re really interested:
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/...
Cool, thanks for the link. I didn't know there was any aspect of that phenomenon specific to the Netherlands, since I'm in Canada and everything at the shops is the same.
They are notorious around Europe for being mostly tasteless, but I think it's changing a bit. Many supermarkets here now often have "luxury" tomatoes that try to compete on taste. For example try the "Tasty Tom" variety when you can find it, it actually tastes pretty good despite being a hydroponic greenhouse tomatoe.
