An Adventurous Plate: The Kumato

I read an article on MSN last week suggesting some new and different foods that are worth trying.  I was interested to see kumato on the list, which is basically a small, brownish tomato.  I had seen them before at Trader Joe's and wasn't sure about them but if the internet says it's a good idea...

Tangent: note the packaging in the photo.  Trader Joe, why did you need a cardboard box and plastic wrap for these little guys?  I would have been happy picking them out of a bin.

Admittedly, eating a kumato wasn't all that adventurous.  Tomatoes are easily my favorite food, which I attribute entirely to my grandparents for spoiling me with juicy home-grown "Better Boys" throughout my childhood.  So how did the kumato taste?  A lot like a regular tomato.  For a store-bought one it actually had a lot more flavor than I expected.  It was sweet, only slightly acidic, and I think it had more of the umami flavor than a regular tomato, which I liked very much.

I'd like to try growing these myself to compare store-bought with home-grown taste next year.  I don't think you can buy the seeds anywhere commercially, so we'll have a future post learning how to save kumato seeds!