Mikado Tomatoes

In the south of Ukraine we eat a lot of tomatoes and know lots of varieties, many of which are heritage. In Odesa, the Mikado is the king of them all. It has a delicate, thin skin and a perfectly balanced sweet-and-sour flavor. This huge, rosy-red specimen can weigh up to 21 to 25 oz (600 to 700 g) and can be a meal in itself. The Mikado is notoriously difficult to grow. The plant is prone to disease, with tomatoes of different sizes growing from the bottom to the top very fast. To protect the fruits at the bottom, they get smeared with clay over one side to prevent cracking. Otherwise, they would go bad before they ripen. So growing a Mikado is a labor of love.