Beefsteak tomato facts for kids
A beef tomato (British English) or beefsteak tomato (American English) is one of the largest varieties of cultivated tomatoes, some weighing 450 grams (1 lb) or more. Most are pink or red with numerous small seed compartments (locules) distributed throughout the fruit, sometimes displaying pronounced ribbing similar to ancient pre-Columbian tomato cultivars. While popular among home growers for beef sandwich toppings and other applications requiring a large tomato such as toppings on large steaks, beefsteaks are not grown commercially as often as other types, since they are not considered as suitable for mechanization as smaller slicing tomatoes.
Common varieties include:
- Beefmaster VFN (a popular hybrid beefsteak)
- Beefsteak VFN
- Big Beef
- Brandywine (a pink heirloom variety)
- Bucking Bronco
- Cherokee Purple a dusky red/purple beefsteak, said to have exceptional flavour
- Marmande
- Mortgage Lifter (another popular heirloom tomato)
- Pink Beefsteak
Cuore di bue in Italy and cœur de bœuf in France
Both in Italy, first, and France, later, a variety of beefsteak tomato is produced which looks like a beef heart in shape, as it is pointing down.
In Italy, the cuore di bue has been registered, but not in France, where some companies continue naming tomatoes with different qualities cœur de bœuf.
