The past few weeks, I have been completely preoccupied with preparing for a trip to Dijon. I was very excited about the visit, but was too busy being nervous about a presentation I had to do. I just detest public speaking and all the physical symptoms that comes along with it. After the talk was over (and sleeping for about 3 hours), I was ready to explore the quaint city of Dijon. It was so much fun walking around town - very beautiful with exquisite architecture and whimsical buildings.
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| Saint Benigne Facade |
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| Very cute shop with red ribbing |
I also found some balconies with containers - but not much green yet because it was still quite cold.
I could not help but notice some wonderful tomatoes as I walked past a produce shop. These were labelled "tomate coeur de boeuf" with beautiful ripples and perfect red color. I had to buy one to taste, so I decided that instead of going to a restaurant I would have a very simple dinner with red wine, baguette, prosciutto (I know, Italian...but anyway), tomato and red gooseberries (that I also could not resist buying).
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| Aren't they beautiful? Tomato coeur de boeuf |
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| My simple dinner - should be fantastic, right?! |
I was SO excited to try the tomato and gooseberries (I had never tasted before). I thought I could not go wrong...but I did. Here is a cross section of the tomato...
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| Not so beautiful on the inside |
Even from the picture you can see that the tomato was mealy, tasteless and a huge huge HUGE disappointment. The gooseberry was also too tarte for me and didn't enjoy it. Fortunately the wine, baguette and prosciutto was delicious (with some Dijon mustard of course!)
I really like how the tomato looked though. It was absolutely gorgeous...I MAY have spilled some of the seeds on a napkin and brought it back with me....LOL. Let's see if it germinates. I checked out rare seeds and found several similar looking tomoatoes from Italy: Goldman's Italian American, Gezahnte, and Costoluto Genovese. Maybe I'll look into getting one of these next year.
It was a great trip, but I am glad to be back home. I started habanero seeds before I left but they didn't make it (got dried up). Hopefully it is not too late to start them now.
Pssttt....I have a dirty little secret. A packet of that exact tomato seeds may/or may not have accidently fallen into my luggage when I was in Paris. I planted some this year. We'll see if they're the same as those in your picture. Email me your addy and I'll mail you some! Hope you have a good time!!
ReplyDeleteI have traveled to Paris, Southern France and Italy. I remember one of my dinners being similar to yours but with fresh figs, basil, and chestnuts.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the offering of Jerusalem artichoke, but I am growing jicama
I saw your picture of water chestnut, you need to cover them with more water. until It the top of the container.
DeleteThose tomatoes do look a lot like Goldman's. I have a fried who got her original seeds from Baker Creek and grows this and one other variety each year. Her's do taste wonderful and are perfect when canned in any form so there's hope for these guys and their flavor! What a cool opportunity--thanks for sharing Dijon :-)
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add, my email is tastytravels@gmail.com. Hope you're having a great weekend!
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