 A Word About Heirlooms
Happened to catch an Emeril episode the other night, where he used the term "heirloom" as if it represented a specific tomato variety.
He's not alone. More and more I notice chefs, home cooks, greengrocers, and others using the term that way.
So, just to clear the air a little, here's what heirlooms are:
Heirloom refers to oldtime vegetable, fruit, and livestock varieties that share certain things in common. In terms of the fruits and veggies, they are:
1. Open pollinated. In the absence of cross pollination or mutation, these varieties will breed true-to-type. In other words, the kiddies are just like the parents. It also means you can save seed, year to year---which is what makes them heirlooms; they've been passed down, one generation to the next.
2. Time in grade. There are some great modern open pollinated varieties. And more being bred every day. But to qualify as an heirloom, the variety must have been around for awhile. 50 years is the most common figure used, but there are others. There's a movement afoot, for instance, to use 1940 as a cut-off date.
3. Taste!: Hybrids are selected for characteristics that help them meet the needs of the modern food distribution system. Flavor is not one of those; so if hybrids have any flavor it sneaks in as genetic baggage. Heirlooms, on the other hand, have been selected, though the years, with flavor as the only criterium. So they just taste better, as a class.
In the subgroup "family heirloom" (as opposed to those which were commercial introductions) there are some great stories as well, which makes them even more appealing.  |