beefsteak

Nor is it a juicy hunk of a beefsteak tomato or a pleasantly plump eggplant.

"For me, a beefsteak really shines as a slicing tomato," Botta says.

For tomatoes, I like a bunch of different varieties — mostly the famous San Marzano tomatoes for sauce and canning, plus beefsteak, red and yellow cherry tomatoes for eating fresh.

I hope that his customers followed this advice, otherwise instead of juicy beefsteak tomatoes in August, they would have dead plants in May.

But until tomato season ends, I grate every tomato I can: the bumped and bruised beefsteaks, half off at the grocery store, and the delicate heirlooms warmed by the sun at the farmers’ market.