Hweecat's Tomato Challenge

Hweecat meow.

Apologies for the month-long hiatus as we have been busy with various projects these days. Firstly, I shall write about a personal project of mine involving my favourite fruit - tomatoes!

Heard of Movember, the annual event which involves men growing moustaches during November? It's a campaign to raise awareness on men's health issues, such as prostate and testicular cancer.

(Aye aye, mo bros!)

Do you know that tomatoes are associated with cancer prevention, notably prostate cancer? Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, a carotene (plant antioxidant) which blocks the action of free radical, reactive oxygen molecules that can damage cells. And we know that cancer is caused by uncontrolled tissue growth due to a series of mutations in the genes which regulate cell growth and differentiation. Added incentive for the bros to eat tomatoes, eh? :D

Look at these juicy red fellas, bros?

I like tomatoes, because tomatoes are bright red in colour and taste juicy. Cat used to not like tomatoes because the taste of conventionally-grown tomatoes offend his taste buds; he usually consumes them for health benefits (until he tasted his first grilled organic tomato and fell in love with it). Now he only consumes homegrown or organic tomatoes.

With the organic vs conventional food debate ongoing, I am curious to find out for myself how organic tomatoes fare with their conventional cousins - and why Cat finds the latter offensive in taste. Moreover, tomatoes = good for men against prostate cancer, so why not maintain my tomato diet while the men maintain their moustaches? :P

While the mo bros were growing their moustache, I embarked on my own Tomato Challenge: to consume tomatoes as often as 5 times a day for the month of November.

For the past month, I made every effort to include tomatoes in my diet. Tomatoes with noodles, tomatoes with veggie stir-fry, tomatoes in yong tau foo, tomato with pasta etc. I also made sure to include organic tomatoes in my diet during the month, to compare the taste between organic and commercial tomatoes.

Tomatoes with noodles and yong tau foo stir-fry, anyone?

As a self-proclaimed tomato lover, I have to admit that conventional tomatoes are more offensive to my taste buds compared to its organic counterparts.

Conventional tomatoes don't even TASTE like how tomatoes are supposed to taste.

A tomato is supposed to taste fresh, juicy, and sweet. You know how conventional tomatoes taste? Not sweet, not sweet at all. In fact, some conventional tomatoes even have an unpleasant sour taste! These tomatoes are pumped with fertilisers, sprayed with pesticides, and are grown to be larger and "hardier" such that they can survive long travels. No wonder that the sweet taste of the tomato gets so diluted to the point that you can't even taste the sweetness anymore.

Grilled Veg Tomato Pasta from Real Food - organic vegetables

With regard to conventional vs organic, there are significant differences in taste between conventional and organic tomatoes. Organic tomatoes are fresher, juicier, sweeter and have a savoury (umami) taste that pleasantly stimulates the taste buds. Conventional tomatoes lack the umami taste that is present in organic tomatoes, hence tasting more one-dimensional as a result (either just sour or tasteless).

Before: Go away, pimples!

After: Hello, (almost) flawless face!

Regardless of the source of the tomatoes, I noticed that my complexion is generally better after efforts to consume to consume tomatoes for the whole month (see photos above!). This means "Girls, you'd better eat your tomatoes too for good skin." (: But if anyone would prefer to get the best out of its taste and nutritional value without budget constraints (or with enough space for a garden), I'd agree with Cat's judgement and stick to organic tomatoes as much as possible!

Okay, back to my list of backlogs. Sorry Cat! :S