Montserrat Pera Girona (Catalonia)

The Montserrat tomato is believed to be a relative of the Marmande tomato. It is an old heirloom from Catalonia (northeast region of Spain). The Montserrat tomato is especially important to Catalan gastronomy. The seeds are carefully selected by local farmers to preserve the genetic integrity of this varietal. While an exceptional tomato, the Montserrat is hardly known outside of Europe, and is primarily found in Spain. Besides sharing the name with the famous opera singer, Montserrat is a mountain village in Spain that was devastated by volcanic ash in 1995. Today the volcano is still active, but not considered a danger and is open to tourist visitors. The Montserrat tomato is a beautiful cavernous red fruit with green shoulders, perfect for stuffing and baking. It is medium-sized, markedly ribbed, and has hollow spaces in the seed cavity. There are few seeds that reside in a cluster at the blossom end, little pulp and almost no juice. When you slice it open it has the appearance of a flower. The inner cavern has an unusual wet texture while holding its shape, similar to the inside of your mouth. There are two varieties with distinctively different morphological expressions, one is flattened while the other one is more characteristically pyriform (pear shaped). The Montserrat (Pera Girona) fruits are pyriform. The flavor is delicate, yet savory and special. Our seeds were sourced from an old tomato farmer selling fruit in the Mercado de La Boqueria, in Barcelona.

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