Cape May's Candy Onion Lady — Round Two
Returning from North Cape May, I stopped by to see what my old friend the Candy Onion Lady (TCOL) had cooking. For those new to capemayX, we ran a feature story a few weeks back that created a mini-buzz with her insanely tasty home grown candy onions that capemayX dubbed the best grilling onions in Cape May...

... I pulled in to Ann Smith's farm stand in West Cape May and after bagging the usual suspects of fresh basil, onions, jersey tomatoes and a few hot peppers, TCOL asked if I had ever tried their black raspberry tomatoes. No... in fact, I had never even heard of such a thing. "We can't keep them on the shelves, people love them". Sounds reasonable. I grabbed the last pint, jumped into my truck and popped one for a casual taste test. If there were such a thing as love at first bite, this was it. I pulled onto the shoulder for closer inspection and here's what I discovered:

Sure enough, just as TCOL had described, these little tomatoes with a dark raspberry-ish hue delivered a taste best described by their name — black raspberry tomatoes. You can see the coloring in the photo, but more importantly, the color is backed up by the lingering, subtle raspberry after taste. It's a palatte pleaser that delivers back of the throat nuance and complexity to rival your best Estancia.

What was going on here? Did TCOL have me locked in some crazy marketing genius spell? Where a simple suggestion (can't keep them on the shelves) and Madison Avenue branding (raspberry tomatoes, candy onions — because they're sooooo... sweet) sprinkled with down-on-the-farm theatrics conspire to alter my sense of reality? Were these really as good as I thought, or were they just simple tomatoes benefiting from the taste bud placebo effect of a finely honed sales pitch? I don't know. But I decided it doesn't matter. Whatever kind of crazy they're selling at Ann Smith's Farm Stand I'm buying. And if fresh, uniquely different summertime vegetables are your thing too, I suggest you get some before the summer ends or they run out.
Click for capemayX map to find Ann Smith's In the time it took me to drive home I finished off the pint of purple globes (I can't help myself when something tastes good). Ever the consumate professional, I held on to one last maroon nugget to photograph for this story. And then I ate that one too. Head on over to Ann Smith's market stand. Meet the TCOL (her name is Helen). And try out these black raspberry tomatoes. As far as I know they're the only place in Cape May that sells them, and they're really good. But hurry, they'll be gone soon enough. As will the summer.


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