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THE PERFECT TOMATO BY MARK LEATHAM
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Tomatoes can only be eaten when they are truly ripe and full of their natural sugars, just like all fruit should be eaten. The pleasure of selecting a perfectly ripened tomato from its truss (I cannot bring myself to call it a “vine” for it is not a true vine), indicated first by its deep red colour, then the sensual feel of its smooth skin and slightly soft flesh, its unique perfume compels you to inhale it once more before, finally, an irresistible force guides it towards your mouth. Untouched by human hand, except your own, an explosion of ripeness pervades your palate, sweet yet slightly tart, your mouth feels the contrasting textures of flesh and seed; this is true organoleptic ecstasy!
Unfortunately, this experience can only be enjoyed by those who either grow their own tomatoes, or who have access to home grown tomatoes. So much is lost when they are bought from a shop where they are bundled onto a shelf in crates, many of them invariably under-ripe. The very best are slow grown outside, as opposed to in a greenhouse, but a green house considerably extends both the picking season and the yield from each plant.
There is no doubt that second best are those which are sold as a whole truss, like a bunch of grapes, or, to go with the flow, “Vine Tomatoes”, and bought only during the British growing season. Generally, only the very worst tomatoes are available out of season in supermarkets. Whether they are hydroponically cultivated (grown without soil, in water impregnated with nutrients) in Holland, or imported from countries in the southern hemisphere, for me they are utterly inedible. Hard and tasteless…. No wonder so many people say they do not like tomatoes. I bet many would change their minds if they tried one of mine!
The golden rule is to eat food only when it is good. It is a daily need but there is too much to choose from these days. The problem is in knowing what is good. And to know what is good, you have to know the seasons. The supermarkets have almost completely eroded this knowledge from today’s shoppers by offering almost every fruit and vegetable all year round, claiming that they are providing what their customers want. They provide no guide as to when the best time to buy food is……... It’s a vicious circle; we have been anaesthetised and the knowledge has all but gone.
Back to tomatoes. Basically, to eat the best tomatoes, buy fresh tomatoes only when they are in season, from July to October. Forget it for the rest of the year. Nonetheless, I still miss them! A home grown free-range egg, tomato and cheese omelette simply does not taste the same without the tomatoes. Breakfast without a baked tomato on your fried bread is definitely missing something!
But there are some solutions to this problem of seasonality. When the taste of tomato is required there are alternatives to a fresh tomato that can be explored. Wind drying was man’s first innovation in food preservation and dates back to primeval times when meat and fish were dried for later use. Certain fruits and vegetables, like figs and legumes, dry naturally. Tomatoes do not. However, the farmers of southern Italy worked out how to do it commercially, only about thirty years ago.
The practice is thought to have originated first in Sicily, but the best sun-dried tomatoes come from the mainland in the heel of Italy, Puglia to be more exact. Puglia has the ideal conditions for drying tomatoes, quite apart from having an enormous annual tomato production. The Appenine mountain range stretches almost the whole length of Italy, finishing in northern Puglia. The foothills of this mountain range spread down to the fertile plains that extend for down the whole length of the “heel”. During the summer, a warm, dry wind rushes down these foothills onto the plains below, which provides the perfect airflow, temperature and humidity for naturally drying tomatoes in the sun.
The tomatoes are picked only when they are fully ripened; they are washed, split in two and laid on plastic netting that is raised off the ground on legs, to make a “table”. The tomatoes are then salted by hand and left in the sun and wind for four or five days, creating a “red sea” of tomatoes spanning several acres. This combination of salt, wind and heat gently dries the tomatoes.
The best sun-dried tomatoes undergo a second phase to their preparation. They are washed to remove the salt and then dried once more before being packed in the cellophane bags that we buy. Some are packed in oil.
Sun-dried tomatoes first became fashionable on the London restaurant scene more than fifteen years ago, during the late Eighties when they caught on in a big way. Their popularity with restaurants throughout the country, hailed by celebrity chefs and food writers alike, has encouraged a loyal following from keen cooks and food lovers today. Their intense flavour is far removed from the taste of a fresh tomato though, just as a prune is very different to a ripe plum.
Sun-dried tomatoes are salty, so they need to be soaked under running water for at least half an hour. This re-hydrates the tomato halves, and restores a little of their lost redness as they invariably oxidise in their bag. They are very versatile in use but are probably eaten most often in pasta dishes and in salads. Some people even eat them as a salty snack!
In Italy, sun-dried tomatoes are frequently used as an antipasto, often stuffed with all manner of ingredients as “involtini”, soft cheese being particularly good but aubergine, anchovies, capers, olives are all delicious with them. They are particularly good in braised dishes, especially with chicken and pork or fish, and they are excellent in risottos.
The great thing about sun-dried tomatoes, provided you make sure you always have a pack in your store cupboard, is that they are always there when you need them to provide that special extra flavour to whatever you are cooking when you are low on fresh ingredients.
Another type of dried tomato is the lesser known but better tasting “Mi-cuit” tomato. These tomatoes are perfectly ripened tomatoes that have been slowly oven dried without the use of any salt. They are only half dried, so they remain soft and juicy with an excellent flavour and they are ready to eat from the packet as they are not salty, so no soaking is needed. Being oven dried, rather than dried in the sun, they are more expensive but they are worth it!
These delicious tomatoes are produced in France in the Agen region, not far from Bordeaux, which is famous for its plums and prunes the best of which, by far, are the half dried or “Mi-cuit” plums which are the most juicy and plum-like. It is customary for the growers in the Agen region to select their best plums, which have a particularly high sugar level, and only half dry them so they last until Christmas. These “Mi-cuit” plums can be found in all the local markets around Agen, between September and Christmas. The “Mi-cuit”, or half cooked, tomato is oven dried in the same style as the “Mi-cuit” plums.
Mi-cuit tomatoes are unquestionably better than sun-dried tomatoes but there is no doubt at all that when the British season is over, the best substitute for a fresh tomato is the “SunBlush” tomato. This is the most exquisitely moreish tomato there is, and even those who say they do not like tomatoes, mostly like “SunBlush” tomatoes.
SunBlush tomatoes are fresh tomato wedges that have been half roasted and then covered in oil with garlic and oregano. They are a taste explosion! Vibrant red, a firm yet juicy texture, slightly tangy, with an intensely tomato flavour and a faint background of garlic……….they are sublime!
SunBlush tomatoes can replace a fresh tomato’s use in almost every single way. They lend themselves to salads, pasta and risotto dishes, all kinds of casserole; they are perfect for canapés and sandwiches, wonderful in omelettes and delicious with cheese. They are simply irresistible on their own. Kept in the fridge, they last for weeks covered in their oil. Everyone gets hooked on them!
Originally created in Australia, SunBlush tomatoes are now produced in France, by another producer who, coincidentally, is also near Agen, and are available fresh all the year round. A special type of tomato, grown in greenhouses in either France, Spain or Morocco depending on the season, is the secret to their consistency……..they are always delicious whatever the month of year.
Such is the success of SunBlush tomatoes, that there are several other oven dried tomatoes on the market calling themselves Sunkissed, Sundrenched, Sunsmacked or Sunwhatever, but there is only one SunBlush tomato and nothing else tastes anywhere near as good. Not only is the type of fresh tomato that is used for SunBlush tomatoes a closely guarded secret, but also all the other copies on the market have been either frozen or pasteurised throughout most of the year.
So don’t settle for an inferior, high priced, imported tomato that has no taste and which is, quite frankly, simply not worth eating. Try those that have real flavour when they are picked, whether they are Sun-dried, Mi-cuit or SunBlush tomatoes. Having learnt that there is more to a tomato than meets the eye, if you want to experience the ultimate tomato sensation, why don’t you allocate a little space in your back garden or on your patio, and buy a few tomato plants in early May (I suggest Gardner’s Delight for cherry tomatoes and Ailsa Craig for a medium sized tomato, both give excellent results). Learn how to look after them from an inexpensive little book called “The Vegetable Expert” by Dr DG Hessayon, usually available from your local garden centre. Then wait until one fine day in August when your first tomato fully ripens to that deep red colour………….now smell that unique perfume and tell me if that is not the best tomato you have ever tasted!
Mark Leatham July 2004
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