Azoychka: Hanna’s Tomato Tastings 2006

Part of Hanna’s Tomato Tastings 2006

Azoychka! Almost sounds like something you yell at a Russian wedding reception right before you toss back a shot of vodka and give the bride or groom a good long kiss.

As you might have guessed from the name, Azoychka is a Russian strain of tomatoes, so it is suppose to be a good cold weather performer.

It sure does have a great color. The vibrant yellow is consistent all the way to the center.

The description from the company I bought it from reads:

One of the first to ripen in your garden, this lovely lemon yellow 7 to 8 ounce tomato has a delightful sweetness with just a touch of acidity. Ripening in only 70 days from planting out, it has a delightful yet subtle hint of citrus with a rich lingering flavor. This beguiling Russian heirloom has become a favorite of chefs and tomato lovers world wide.

The Beauty Pageant:

Size: Just a tad bigger than the palm of my hand.

Shape: This tomato is not a pretty tomato as far as the shape department goes. Twice as wide as it is tall, it comes across looking like a play-do pie done by a very proud kindergartener.

The inside: This tomato has many small chambers inside it. The walls are medium thickness, but the fact that there are so many walls makes this a pretty meaty tomato.

The seeds are average size. The gelatin is pretty tight in that the gelatin does a good job of keeping the seeds in place, but is rather wet, making the tomato juicer than you might expect.

Texture: Firm but very smooth. I really like the texture on this one.

Tasting:

Off the Vine Tasting: I was pleasantly surprised. Normally yellow tomatoes tend to lack acid and therefore the tang that I like in a tomato. It is not that way at all with this tomato. Very tangy, almost to the point of tasting like a mild lemon. The skin adds just a hint of sweetness at the end. Nice tangy aftertaste too.

Sliced and Salted Tasting: The salt tones down the nice tanginess the tomato has and eliminates the sweetness as well. I like it better without the salt, but it’s not bad with the salt.

Cooking Thoughts: I think I may have found a tomato for my raw tomato recipes. The texture is excellent, the color is just lovely and, most importantly, it tastes really good. Combine this with a good red tomato, and you have the makings for some striking looking and great tasting salsa and bruscettas. It also seems like it would be a good candidate for sauces.

Since it is a nice firm tomato, it should still keep a little chunkiness while cooking. The only fault I see with this tomato is the whole many chamber thing. This would be a hard tomato to de-seed. I personally don’t mind seeds in my sauces and tomato recipes, but I know some people do.

Growing Notes:
Seems to be growing well. This tomato turns color very quickly. Yesterday morning, this was a totally green tomato and today it was yellow and ripe. The plant is on the smaller side and was easily held up with a chinzy, bought it at Home Depot type tomato cage. But other than being small, it is healthy. As mentioned, this is a Russian variety, so it should keep producing even when the weather gets cold.

Will Hanna grow this one again:
Yes. I very much like this tomato. As I said, I was not expecting much from a yellow tomato and this one made me sit up and take notice. This is an excellent tomato and I will happily welcome it back into my garden in the future.