Banadoura Jabaliya (‘Mountain Tomato’) is a beautiful Lebanese heirloom. It is a sturdy, compact variety with highly ribbed tomatoes that has been grown in the farmlands around Mount Lebanon for generations. The strain we are offering was collected in the town of Anjar, Lebanon in 1941 by the USDA. Our seed source was the Seed Savers Exchange (USA).
Banadoura Jabaliya’s tomatoes are medium to large in size (90 g to 280 g). The plants are about 3ft tall (90 cm).
Pick the tomatoes before they are fully ripe, you want some green on the shoulders for the best flavour.
According to the Food Heritage Foundation in Lebanon, Banadoura Jabaliya is traditionally served fresh, cut into slices and drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, garlic and sumac. Here is a recipe from their website:
Recipe | Jabaliya Tomato
Ingredients:
200 g tomatoes (approx. 2 tomatoes)
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 TBSP olive oil
½ tsp salt
1 pinch of sumac
Cut the tomatoes into approximately 1 cm thick slices and place on a plate. Crush the garlic and mix with olive oil and salt to make a paste. Spread the garlic paste on the tomato slices. Sprinkle a pinch of sumac on each slice.
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How to Grow Tomatoes? Start seeds indoors 6 weeks before the last frost. Plant seed 5mm (¼ inch) deep. Transplant after the danger of frost has passed/later spring.
