Look for fleshy fruit with shiny smooth skins, with no wrinkles or blemishes; The stem end should give off a good leafy smell;
If you do not want to use all your tomatoes at once or in a short time, choose tomatoes at different stages of maturity;
Be careful: the riper the tomato, the more fragile it is.

Store tomatoes in a fruit basket, not in the refrigerator, since cold destroys the fruit's organoleptic qualities. Keep tomatoes unwashed and uncovered at room temperature, out of sunlight, for up to a week. Keep in the refrigerator crisper to slow down their ripening.
To ripen them, place tomatoes in a paper bag at room temperature.

Tomatoes are low in calories, and high in vitamin A and minerals. So that they don't lose their nutritional value, use as little water as possible when preparing tomatoes.

When washing them, do not let them soak in water for a long time. Just rinse them under running water before removing the stem.

Make the right choice:

Nice red, juicy tomatoes are excellent raw, plain or stuffed.

If pale and starchy, use them in soups or sauces with spices to enhance their flavour.

Yellow tomatoes are slightly sweet and cut the acidity of certain dishes.

Overripe tomatoes can be turned into uncooked sauce, gazpacho, cream of tomato soup, sorbet or a basil-flavoured granita.

Try tomatoes preserved in honey and thyme or rosemary with cream cheese or a cutlet.

Worldwide Gourmet
Italy - put in the blender with garlic, olive oil and basil; use hot or cold

Provence - Hull, seed and slice tomatoes. Season with salt, sugar and garlic powder. Coat lightly in sifted flour. Place on a baking sheet coated with olive oil and cook under the broiler until caramelized. Crush and season with lemon juice, olives, capers and chopped chives and chervil.

How do you peel tomatoes?

1. Make a cross-shaped cut on the base of each tomato and remove the stems;
2. place the tomatoes into boiling water and remove them as soon as the skin begins to curl;
3. let cool; the skins will now come off easily.

How do you seed tomatoes?

1. Cut the tomato in half;
2. holding the tomato in the palm of your hand, gently squeeze it; remove the remaining seeds with a knife if necessary.