39th Annual Creole Tomato Festival returns with delicious tomatoes, recipes

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The French Market District celebrated the 39th annual Creole Tomato Festival, where farmers gathered to showcase their best tomatoes.

“So many people say, oh wow, you’re a farmer,” said Creole tomato farmer Matt Renatza. “I feel like I’m a unicorn or something because there’s not many of us left,”

Over the weekend, farmers showed people where some of the best tomatoes in Louisiana come from.

Renatza has been grading tomatoes since the age of five. He’s continuing a family tradition that started with his grandfather and was passed down to his father.

“That means everything to me,” Renatza said. “That everything that my grandpa started in 1933 and Plaquemines and my daddy and I, that’s very important to keep everything going. And keep growing those tomatoes in the same ground my grandpa did.”

Renatza says coming to the festival isn’t just good for business, it’s a chance to teach people more about what they’re eating and where it comes from.

“Does well for people to see me and ask the questions that they always wonder about why this has happened or why that doesn’t happen,” Renatza said. “I think it helps our brand when people want to go to the stores more and buy more tomatoes.”

Just down the French Market, Brad Collins said they’ve been selling creole tomatoes for over sixteen years. They were the first to reopen after Hurricane Katrina.

Not only can you buy tomatoes, but if your love for the vegetable runs deeper they’ve got something even better.

“Fantastic tomatoes,” Collins said. “Best ones we’ve had in probably about five years. We’re selling them with the killer seasoning. Right here. It’s a seasoning we make specifically for creole tomatoes, black pepper, sea salt, vinegar powder, cayenne pepper, and sweet basil.”

As crowds filled the festival, Collins said one bite usually turns into a box.

Beyond the taste, visitors walked away with fresh ideas on how to cook with creole tomatoes.

“They come down here and they buy some tomatoes,” Collins said. “They’ll get like two or three. They’ll eat them on the wall, come back, and buy a whole case. Creole tomatoes are grown outside the levee system. It’s grown on alluvial soil that with the heat and the humidity, you can really see why tomatoes are fruit. You bite into it. It’s almost citrusy and delicious.”

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