For cookbook author Ronni Lundy, the taste of a homegrown tomato can whisk her back to the summers of her childhood.

Suddenly, she's in Louisville, Ky., sitting on the back porch with her girlfriends in the evening. She's cupping a little well of salt in the hollow of her palm, and near at hand is a bushel basket of tomatoes from a neighbor's farm.

"You'd take a little bite of the tomato to open it up, then dip it in the salt. We'd sit and eat tomatoes and talk into the twilight.

"I remember the streetlight coming on and how the salt would look in your hand in the streetlight ... and then you'd dip the tomato in it and have another bite."

Nothing is more evocative of summer than a real, garden-grown tomato; but, like youth, tomatoes' time is fleeting.

No matter how good a tomato may look in the supermarket, the odds are that biting into it won't bring that explosion of juicy sweetness that sweeps you back to those long, dreamy summer days.

"You're not even getting the same creature," notes Lundy, one of two authors releasing books paying tribute to the tomato this month, as tomatoes begin to redden in home gardens and to fill the shelves at farmers markets.

The other author, Lawrence Davis-Hollander - whose "Tomato Festival Cookbook" celebrates heirloom varieties - is equally passionate about the curse of the supermarket tomato:

"The typical 'vine-ripened' supermarket tomato is grown in Florida, California or possibly Mexico in the off-season," he notes. "Some are grown in greenhouses; some are hydroponic; some are grown outside under not-ideal conditions - lower light, lower temperatures, even in California and Mexico. The whopper is that they pick them essentially green.

"'Vine-ripened' is a tomato that is breaking pink - 90 percent green and 10 percent pink, typically. Then they gas it with ethylene, which is what promotes it to ripen, not the sun. Then it's shipped from however far away. It's not local; it's not fresh; it's "not" vine-ripened."

The problem, of course, is the essential fragility of a ripe tomato.

"The very quality that makes a tomato picked from the vine such a pleasure to eat - its bursting ripe juiciness - is an insurmountable obstacle in shipping," Lundy notes in her new book, "In Praise of Tomatoes: Tasty Recipes, Garden Secrets, Legends & Lore."

So commercial farmers concentrated on breeding tomato hybrids that were thicker-skinned, firmer-fleshed and less juicy. They wanted uniformly round tomatoes for mechanical harvesting, ones that were disease-resistant and would stay edible longer, she writes.

"The one thing that wasn't given much consideration in this selective breeding was taste."

The sad corollary to all this is that, even in the summer, you may not be able to buy a locally grown tomato in your neighborhood supermarket. The price we've paid for being able to buy a tomato in December is that we can't walk into the grocery store and find one with genuine tomato flavor in August.

True, many of the tomatoes in the supermarket look riper than they used to - witness the popular cluster tomatoes, sold on the vine.

But Lundy and Davis-Hollander consider those glossy cluster tomatoes only a slight improvement on the alternative.

"Really, they're marginally better," says Davis-Hollander. "If you want to photograph them, they're wonderful, but if you want to eat them. ..."

Still, there's no question that tomato producers and supermarket chains are trying to improve upon "those gassed-up tomato wannabes," as Lundy puts it. The variety of options a tomato-buyer has at the typical supermarket is proof of this.

"I think it's already starting to change," Lundy said, noting that Roma tomatoes, valued for cooking and sauces and for being a good tomato to buy out of season, now are a supermarket staple.

The resurgence of heirloom tomatoes - varieties that came close to disappearing as hybridization became the norm - is one of the clearest indicators of our desire to return to our tomato taste memories.

With names such as Indian Moon, Aunt Ruby's German Green and Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter, each heirloom has its own idiosyncrasies of form and color. Davis-Hollander, a Massachusetts-based ethnobotanist who founded and directs the Eastern Native Seed Conservancy, has been in the forefront of the heirloom movement.

"We've done a lot of tastings, thousands of people, and universally, people go, 'Oh, wow; that's what a tomato tastes like.' Even 10-year-olds. They know it when they taste it. People's taste buds haven't changed that much in 50 years."

Heirloom tomato plants are cropping up among the Big Boys and Early Girls at local nurseries in the spring, and the tomatoes are starting to show up in supermarkets. In Fort Worth, produce farmer Payton Scott supplies Central Market and Roy Pope Grocery with the most widely known heirloom variety, Brandywine, which he grows in his hothouses near Cisco.

"We can't grow enough of them to satisfy their needs," said Scott, who also peddles his big Brandywines direct to customers at Fort Worth's Rail Market and the North Central Texas Farmers Market Association's other markets.

Scott tried growing Brandywines in the field but found they do better in the hothouse. On the other hand, Davis-Hollander said, they are "a perfect tomato to be raising in your backyard."

After all, this is the time of year when we don't really have to worry about finding a good tomato at the supermarket. If we don't have a couple of plants on our deck or in one of our garden beds - and many of us do, as tomatoes are by far the most popular home-grown vegetable - we can find fresh ones overflowing the shelves at the nearest farmers market or farm stand.

"The tomato is the best way to demonstrate why you want to patronize local farmers," says Lundy. "The closer to the source, the better taste you're going to have. People who don't have to be fretting about early production, ease of picking or shipping long distances can concentrate on flavor.

"There are certain foods, like strawberries and tomatoes, that are harbingers of the season," Lundy adds. "When you taste that first strawberry, it's like the promise of summer.

"And that first tomato is the delivery."

1½ pounds fully ripened tomatoes, thinly sliced (3 large)2 small onions, thinly sliced3 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided4 flour tortillas1½ cups coarsely shredded Pepper Jack or Monterey Jack cheese (about 6 ounces)Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a large baking sheet, place tomato and onion slices in a single layer; brush with 2 teaspoons of the oil.Roast on lowest rack until tomatoes and onions are tender and golden, about 10 minutes. Remove vegetables to a platter.Clean baking sheet and brush with the remaining oil. Arrange tortillas in a single layer.Sprinkle half of the cheese on top of the tortillas, dividing evenly. Top with roasted tomato and onion slices and the remaining cheese.Bake about 8 minutes, or until tortilla edges are golden and crisp. Top with mixed greens, if desired.Makes 4 servings.

2 large, fully ripened tomatoes2 large zucchini and/or yellow summer squash (about 1 pound)1 large potato, peeled (about 6 ounces)¼ cup chopped onion1 cup shredded Swiss cheese, divided2 eggs, lightly beaten1 teaspoon salt½ teaspoon Italian seasoning¼ teaspoon ground black pepperPreheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9-inch pie plate or shallow casserole with cooking spray.Remove stem ends from the tomatoes. Cut tomatoes in halves through the stem ends and thinly slice crosswise, set aside.Cut squash and potato in halves lengthwise, and then thinly slice crosswise. In a large bowl, combine squash, potato, onion, ¾ cup of the Swiss cheese, eggs, salt, Italian seasoning and pepper until well mixed.Arrange half of the tomato slices on the bottom of the prepared pie plate. Evenly spoon vegetable mixture over the tomatoes, pressing slightly to flatten.Arrange remaining tomato slices on top; sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup cheese.Bake about 40 minutes or until vegetables are tender.Makes 8 servings.

2 pounds fully ripened tomatoes (about 4 large)1 jalapeño pepper, seeded, finely chopped1 tablespoon grated lime rind¾ teaspoon salt½ teaspoon ground black pepper2 tablespoons tequila2 tablespoons lime juice1 tablespoon orange-flavored liqueur (optional)1½ pounds large or jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined and cookedRemove stem ends from tomatoes and finely chop. In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, jalapeño, lime rind, salt, pepper, tequila, lime juice and liqueur (if desired) until blended. Chill.Spoon an equal amount of the tomato salsa into 6 margarita or wine glasses or on lettuce-lined salad plates.Surround with chilled shrimp, dividing evenly. Garnish with a celery leaf, if desired.Makes 6 servings.

8 ounces vermicelli or Asian noodles such as somen or sobaSesame-ginger dressing (recipe follows)1 tablespoon peanut oil1 pound chicken tenders or boneless, skinless chicken breasts4 ounces snow peas6 large Boston lettuce leaves2 large, fully ripened tomatoes, cut in thin wedgesCook vermicelli according to package directions; drain. Transfer noodles to a bowl. Toss with half of the sesame-ginger dressing.In a skillet, over medium-high heat, heat oil until hot. Add chicken and cook, turning often, until lightly browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes.Add snow peas. Cook and stir until crisp and tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool slightly.Tear chicken in bite-sized pieces; return to skillet. Stir remaining dressing into mixture.On a large platter, arrange lettuce. Top with noodles, fresh tomato wedges and chicken mixture. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds, if desired.Makes 4 servings.

In a small jar, combinecup rice vinegar, ¼ cup peanut oil, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil and ¼ teaspoon hot red pepper sauce.Add 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon ground ginger. Cover tightly and shake well.Makes about ¾ cup.