Vegetable
Plum
A tier
Plum tomatoes are the broader trade category of oblong paste fruits—including Roma and related shapes—used for sauce, canning, and drying. They share thick pericarp, modest gel, and cooking concentration. In some markets “plum” and “Roma” are near synonyms; in others plum is the umbrella and Roma a type within it. Cook down for ragù, oven-roast with herbs, or peel for passata. Fresh plum tomatoes can slice for sandwiches when ripe but shine when heat drives off water. Choose heavy, fragrant fruit without green shoulders for best flavour.
Track this ingredient
Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
History
Processing industries favoured plum-shaped tomatoes for peelability and solids content.
Mechanised harvest and canning locked plum types into industrial tomato culture.
Fresh plum packs for home cooking sat beside cherry and beefsteak in retail.