Inciardi's Paste

Pepper-shaped tomato. Red, cylindrical fruit with a pointed end. Very meaty. Good flavor. Low acid. Indeterminate. Regular leaves. Very productive when grown in 2015 at Heritage Farm. 3-4 fruit per cluster. Slightly ribbed at stem end. Locules are often partially hollow. Some cracking and splitting. 3-4" long; 2-3" wide; and 4-7ozs. Mid to late-season maturing. Brix score: 5.6. Donated to SSE in 2014 by Vicki Nowicki of Downers Grove, IL. Vicki has been growing and saving seed from this tomato variety since about 1995, when she received a fruit of it from her friend’s neighbor, John Inciardi (deceased). John’s father, Henry Inciardi, immigrated with his parents to the US from Sicily in 1900. They sewed the seeds of this tomato and other vegetable varieties into their clothes for fear of them being confiscated upon entering the US. Henry and his parents settled in Chicago, where they grew this variety each year. In 1915, Henry and his first wife, Antoinette, were aboard the 'Eastland' ship when it capsized on the Chicago river. Tragically, Antoinette drowned with about 800 other victims. This variety has been boarded onto Slow Food's Ark of Taste. SSE Accession # 132334