If you go
› What: Top Tomato contest at Chattanooga Market.› When: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, July 24.› Where: First Tennessee Pavilion, 1829 Reggie White Blvd.› Admission: Free; $10 for Bloody Mary ticket (must be at least 21 and show ID).› Phone: 423-648-2496.› Website: ChattanoogaMarket.com.
Classic Bloody Mary
6 ounces vodka3 cups tomato juice6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice1 1/2 teaspoons horseradish1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce1/4 teaspoon kosher salt1/4 teaspoon pepper1/4 teaspoon TabascoIn a pitcher, mix together all ingredients. Serve over ice in a tall glass garnished with lemon wedge or celery stick.Source: realsimple.com
Six mixologists will compete in a Bloody Mary tasting contest Sunday, July 24, at Chattanooga Market, putting their own twists on the classic tomato juice and vodka mixture.
"Top Tomato is a fun take on tomatoes because they are in season now," says market spokeswoman Melissa Siragusa. The contest is sponsored by Tito's Vodka and will benefit the Stadium Campaign Corp.
Admission to the market is free, but Top Tomato tickets will be $10. Anyone purchasing a ticket must be 21 or older, will be carded and will receive a wristband that must be worn to sample drinks. Each ticket entitles its holder to a sample of all six competitors' drinks. Siragusa says tickets will be sold at a table in the center of First Tennessee Pavilion, where the drink event will take place.
Competing for the Top Tomato title will be The Daily Ration, Southside Social, The Fix, The Pickle Barrel, The Bitter Alibi and Matilda Midnight. Alcoholic and nonalcoholic versions will be available.
In addition to Bloody Mary drinks, a variety of other tomato products will be for sale by market vendors ranging from baskets of the fresh produce to salsas. Siragusa says peaches, a variety of peppers, cucumbers, beans, lettuces, eggplant and zucchini are among the seasonal vegetables currently being sold.
Siragusa says Signal Mountain Farms has already brought to market its organic, heirloom tomatoes, including the Cherokee Purple, a Tennessee tomato with strong, rich flavor. The Striped German is a big, sweet, low-acidity variety. The farm also carries a white beefsteak tomato that is popular not only for its unusual color but its acidic, full flavor.
Tom O'Neal, owner of Signal Mountain Farms, suggests the Italian Genovese tomatoes for a good pasta sauce made from scratch. They are also good for slicing, he adds.
Marketgoers will be entertained by Dana Rogers at 12:30 p.m. and Bear Medicine at 2 p.m.
Rogers' musical style is a combination of acoustic fingerstyle jazz, folk and blues. Performing since 1997, she has played Soup Plus, the oldest jazz club in Sydney, Australia, and the New York Singer Songwriters Sessions in Manhattan.
Bear Medicine is a Lexington, Ky., quartet comprised of Joshua Wright, Seth Murphy, Severn Edmonson and Kim Smith.
A review by Aquarium Drunkard of the group's debut album, "The Moon Has Been All My Life," praised "the unlikely combination of cello, flute, piano, acoustic guitar and skittery percussion to create songs as beautiful as they are odd, as lucid as they are meticulously composed."
Contact Susan Pierce at spierces@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.