Datterini are a southern Italian tomato variety — small, elongated, and named datterino ("little date") for their shape and their sweetness. They have one of the highest natural sugar contents of any tomato type, with a correspondingly low acidity that makes them taste noticeably sweeter than a standard cherry tomato even before cooking. The flesh is thick relative to the seed cavity, which means more substance and less water — a ratio that matters both for eating raw and for making sauces. The thick skin is a feature, not a drawback. It gives the fruit a clean snap when bitten into raw and helps the tomato hold its shape when roasted or sautéed rather than collapsing immediately into liquid. This is why datterini are favoured in professional kitchens for pasta sauces where you want bursts of intact tomato alongside a concentrated base — halve them, sear cut-side down in a hot pan with olive oil, and they caramelise quickly without disintegrating. The yellow variety in particular tends to run slightly sweeter and less acidic than the red, with a milder, more floral character. The colour holds when cooked, which makes them visually useful as well as good to eat. Store at room temperature. Like all tomatoes, refrigeration dulls the volatile compounds that give them their aroma. Origin: Italy
