In Spain tomatoes were called pome dei Moro, or Moor's apple. When tomatoes were introduced in Italy, Italians changed the name to pomme di amour. That slight twist in pronunciation altered the meaning significantly to "love apple."

This is when the tomato's reputation began to get spotty. The tomato plant resembles nightshade, and in medieval times nightshade was associated with witchcraft and werewolves. With a name like love apple, implying aphrodisiac properties, and its similarity to nightshade plants, people jumped to the conclusion that tomatoes were a dangerous and mystic food.

Colonists brought tomato plants to the New World as ornamentals, but it wasn't until the early 19th century when the fruit's stigma was overcome and people regularly ate them. Today there are more tomato varieties than can be counted, with new ones being developed all the time because people know how exceedingly healthy they are. They're also delicious.

While grocery stores used to commonly carry one type of tomato and perhaps some cherry tomatoes if you were lucky, during the winter the pickings were slim, and they were flavorless and mushy. 

Now, because of more hothouses with better technology and faster shipping, almost any supermarket regularly stocks at least half a dozen varieties, all year round. When it isn't growing season around here, the fruits are imported mostly from Florida and Mexico but also from Canada and even as far away as Holland. While nothing beats a fresh tomato straight out of the garden, the quality of imported tomatoes has improved. 

At Lee's Farmers Market in Murrells Inlet, S.C., there is always a wide variety of tomatoes, from beefsteaks as big as softballs to bite-size grape tomatoes. Many area chefs such as Jimmy Pronesti, owner of Bella Napoli in Myrtle Beach, S.C., go there almost every day to hand-pick produce.

The market's owner, Skeeter Dombrowski, says one of Jimmy Pronest's favorites, baby Romas, are the hottest new fruit. "They eat like sugar," he says.

At any given time, Lee's might also have acid-free yellow tomatoes, tiny sweet Red Pear tomatoes or multicolored heirloom tomatoes.

Dombrowski is eager to stock a variety of tomatoes because his sales of the fruit keep increasing. While tomatoes are more readily available, their health benefits -- in particular their cancer-fighting antioxidant levels -- drives a booming market. "This year, my sales have double from last year," Dombrowski says. "I go through 30, 40 cases a day."

Tomatoes also continue to soar in popularity with home gardeners. Jean Cribb, owner of The Chesapeake House in Myrtle Beach, grew up on a farm and knows the difference between garden fresh and hothouse tomatoes. She craves fresh ones, and every summer grows them at home. Sometimes lucky friends receive jars of the salsa she makes, but even luckier restaurant customers might get Tomato Pie made with her home-grown produce.

"It's better if you grow your own," Cribb says. "There's nothing else like it."
If they're at the peak of freshness, tomatoes are an exhilarating sensory delight. Get one a little too ripe and an anticipated dish becomes pulpy mush. If it's too green, the zest is lacking.

That's the tricky part about selecting tomatoes. The fruits may have a gorgeous red color, have the right amount of firmness and even look good when cut open, but when eaten, it might be flavorless or the texture is pithy.

Three local culinary instructors sat down to sample 15 tomato varieties and give their thoughts on what makes a good tomato, and how different varieties are best suited to certain recipes. If you get home and discover you've bought less-than wonderful-tasting, overripe tomatoes, the chefs say the best way to use them is to marinate them or make salsa or some other highly seasoned dish that will draw attention away the tomatoes' flavor. If the tomatoes are too green, try putting them on the windowsill for a few days before using.

The experts
 
 

• Carmen Catino, department chair of the culinary arts program at Horry-Georgetown Technical College in Conway, S.C., and a member of the American Culinary Federation. 

• Eric Wagner, adjunct professor at HGTC, chef at Sam Snead's restaurant in Myrtle Beach, owner of Ice Sensations ice carving company and former president of the Myrtle Beach Chapter of the American Culinary Federation. 
• Lindsey McInville, pastry instructor at HGTC.