Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes like all tomatoes are actually a berry, so a fruit. For culinary purposes it has been used a as vegetable so tends to be categorised as such. The first tomatoes were brought over from South America, and were thought to be about the size of the cherry tomato, later being bred to be big and red. Cherry tomatoes, often sold on the stalk as 'vine' tomatoes are sweet and juicy, with thin skins. Some are yellow, some are red, and generally grow in clusters on the plant. Look for fresh stems if sold on the vine, or fresh calyxes if sold loose. A good guide to a freshness of a tomato is not the colour. Tomatoes are often packed when unripe and green, and then artificially turned red with ethylene gas, resulting in red skin but poor flavour and flesh. Instead smell them, it's the green stalk that smells of tomato when ripe. Where possible, store at room temperature rather than in the fridge to preserve the flavour and texture.
Inside, cherry tomatoes are the same as other tomatoes, the edible skin enclosing juicy flesh and seeds, all of which is tasty. The green stalks must never be eaten as they are mildly poisonous. The seeds, are surrounded by a 'jelly' which has the highest concentration of vitamin C in the fruit. In addition to vitamin C, tomatoes also contain vitamin A, K, potassium, manganese and lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. They can be cooked, but are delicious just eaten on their own.