📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Dix Doigts de Naples
- 🌍 Origin: A classic heirloom paste tomato from Italy. It is most commonly found in seed catalogs under its French translation, Dix Doigts de Naples, which means “Ten Fingers of Naples” (in Italian: Dieci Dita di Napoli).
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. A very vigorous and highly productive vine. Unlike some large beefsteaks, this variety handles being pruned to 3 or 4 leaders (stems) exceptionally well without sacrificing fruit size.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Red, elongated, pepper-shaped paste tomatoes. They grow in large clusters and typically weigh around 1.7–2.1 oz (50–60g).
- 👅 Flavor & Texture: Dense, firm flesh with very low moisture and few seeds. Mild, classic tomato flavor.
- 🥫 Best Uses: An absolute workhorse for the kitchen! Perfect for canning, making thick sauces, and sun-drying. It also boasts an incredibly long shelf life off the vine.
Ten Fingers of Naples (Dix Doigts de Naples).
Indet, you can easily run it to 3 or 4 leaders. The fruits are red, firm, pepper-shaped, weighing around 1.7 to 2.1 oz (50-60g). Great for whole-fruit canning and sun-drying. It has a super long production window and stores incredibly well.
I was wondering why the variety got this name. Turns out Naples is actually divided into 10 municipal districts!
This variety is awesome for canning and stores exceptionally well. Today is October 22 and I’m eating a fresh salad made out of these Fingers.
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Lyudmila brings up a fantastic piece of trivia about the name! The city of Naples, Italy (the historical epicenter of world-famous paste tomatoes like the San Marzano) is indeed divided into 10 distinct municipalities or “Municipalità”. The name “Ten Fingers of Naples” is a brilliant homage to its origins.
Also, take note of Lyudmila’s harvest dates. She is eating fresh tomato salads on October 22nd in USDA Zone 4! Elongated paste tomatoes with low water content and thick skins (like this one) are notorious for their post-harvest shelf life. If you pull the last green and blushing fruits off the vine right before your first fall frost, you can easily ripen and store them indoors in a cool, dry place for a month or longer.
