The most important thing to remember about the tomato: it is a berry and a fruit. This explains a lot and gives the key to understanding the tomato flavor.
There are two key taste characteristics in berries and fruits – acidity and sweetness. These two qualities are the most important in a tomato. Of course, in balance, and the vector should be in the direction of sweetness. A quality tomato is sweet. Sweetness is often forgotten, referring to a tomato as a vegetable, but this is not true. Sweetness is best at a temperature just above room temperature. And you need to store tomatoes just at this temperature, and not in the refrigerator. A warm tomato reveals the taste better, and it does not have much aroma. Actually, most of the tomato flavor is not in the berry, but in the twig.
Summer tomatoes are the most delicious, like any seasonal thing, but in winter you can return some of the taste by sprinkling them with sugar in salads, adding sugar to stews or soups where tomatoes are involved. From a culinary point of view, outside of summer, you can generally get by with Italian canned pelati – peeled. Even from the simplest can, they are tastier than winter kvely tomatoes. Another option is to use exclusively cherry tomatoes, their size allows you to gain at least some of the flavor out of season.
The tomato is versatile, it doesn’t care what it pairs with, but it pairs best with cilantro or oregano. These spicy herbs and full-bodied tomato pulp complement each other perfectly. Tomato, cut into thick slices and sprinkled with dry oregano and coarse salt, can be eaten without any additional additives, without butter and cheese. Just do not spare the spicy grass, the tomato is a powerful sparring partner, even if you fill it with oregano with your head, it will still show its strength. To your great delight.”
Read more:
- tomato color
Sun-dried tomatoes
“The size allows the cherry to pick up the tomato flavor even out of season”
For 6 people
Preparation: 24 hours
Ingredients
- 500 g cherry tomatoes
- 20 grams of powdered sugar
Preparation
Make criss-cross cuts on the bottom of the tomatoes. Save the twig for extra tomato flavor. Scald the tomatoes with boiling water and carefully remove the skin from them. You can not shoot entirely, but leave it at the branch. Then put them on a baking sheet and put it in the oven, preheated to 60 ° C, for 24 hours. Tomatoes can be rolled in powdered sugar beforehand, it will enhance their natural sweetness.
pappa al pomodoro
“A powerful sparring partner will show his strength, even if he is covered with greens”
For 6 people
Preparation: 15-20 minutes
Ingredients
- 800 g canned peeled tomatoes
- 1 red onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 st. a spoonful of dry oregano
- 10 g fresh green basil
- 30 ml olive oil
- 200 g white bread
- 1 l chicken broth
- 400 g fresh tomatoes
- Salt, black ground pepper
Preparation
Sweat finely chopped onions and garlic in olive oil in a deep saucepan for 3-5 minutes over medium heat. Add the oregano and canned tomatoes and simmer together, stirring, for another 5 minutes. Then add one liter of broth (or water) and cook for another 10 minutes. Season with breadcrumbs, stir and cook for another 2 minutes. Add chopped green basil. The soup can also be seasoned with fresh tomatoes, cut into small cubes, and add salt and black pepper to taste.
Aleksey Zimin is the brand chef of the Dom 12 cafe, gastronomic columnist, editor-in-chief of the Afisha-Food magazine. Graduated from Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. Author of the books Market Kitchen, Supermarket Kitchen (Eksmo, 2012, 2013) and Kitchen Forever (Afisha, 2012).