I can’t be the only one who never had the subject of “vine-ripened tomatoes” elaborated for them so here goes:
If you have ever seen someone from a rural community eating a tomato like an apple and wondered what was wrong with them, the answer is nothing – what’s happening is they’re eating a totally different fruit (or vegetable, if you will) than what you’re used to being fed.
Mass market tomatoes for grocery stores and restaurants are plucked and packed on the shipping trucks green and are allowed to ripen in the trucks on the way to their destinations. What is gained by this method in efficiency and profit is lost in flavor.
The way a tomato tastes changes drastically when it is allowed to mature while still drawing nutrients from its vine. Instead of coming out watery and bland it achieves a full-bodied sweetness that you really can just devour like an apple.
Vine-ripened tomatoes are not a fancy fad or a meaningless, flowery descriptor that people staple on their tomatoes for marketing purposes. They are truly a different flavor class that anyone who can try them should experience.
