The Heirloom Tomato

From Garden to Table: Recipes, Portraits, and History of the World’s Most Beautiful Fruit
by Amy Goldman, photographs by Victor Schrager

Amy Goldman, Ph.D., a self-described "vegetable rights activist," works to preserve the agricultural heritage and genetic diversity of the world's fruits and vegetables.

Her newest book features 200 heirloom varieties of tomato selected from the 1,000 she grew and tested herself on her farm in Rhinebeck, New York, from glorious heirloom beefsteaks—that delicious tomato you had as a kid but can’t seem to find anymore—to exotica like the currant tomato, a pea-sized fruit with a surprisingly big flavor. A comprehensive tome, the book includes the pedigree of each tomato, data on size, sweetness, and more, as well as charming vignettes about the people involved in developing and preserving the seeds. Also included are recipes and seed sources.

Each tomato is brought to life--and a thing of beauty--in Victor Schrager's remarkable still-life portraits.

The Heirloom Tomato, An Exhibition of Photographs by Victor Schrager is currently on display in the Arthur and Janet Ross Gallery here at the Garden. It features 33 glorious portraits of the historic tomato varieties featured in the book.

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