The Big Red Book of Tomatoes

by Lindsey Bareham

Overview

More than 400 recipes—from beloved classic to new inspirations—that celebrate the tomato in its many mouthwatering preparations around the world.
 
Ever been confronted by a couple of unpromising-looking tomatoes and some of yesterday’s bread, with nothing else for supper? In The Big Red Book of Tomatoes, Lindsey Bareham will turn them into a delectable dinner for one. And, if you’re a gardener, the next time you’re stuck with a load of tomatoes that won’t ripen, why not try Lindsey’s irresistable green tomato tart with zabaglione cream?
 
In this lively, inspirational cookbook featuring more than 400 recipes, the fruit we love to eat as a vegetable is given the star treatment. There are salsas from Mexico, curries from India, Arab tagines, pizzas from Italy, and chutneys from the British Isles. And if you want to know how to make the ultimate Bloody Mary, then this is the book for you. There are innovative dishes such as Tomato Tarte Tatin, Golden Tomato Lasagna with Basil and Vine Tomatoes, classics such as Stuffed Tomatoes and Insalata Tricolore, as well as the more unusual Shaker Tomato Cream Pie, and of course pasta in every guise.
 
Bareham explores the tomato’s affinity with eggs, bread and pasta, as well as its ubiquitous appeal in salads and sauces, or paired with meat and fish. For lovers of quick dishes or slow simmering on the back burner, The Big Red Book of Tomatoes is an invaluable addition to the kitchen shelf.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781909166660
Publisher:	Grub Street
Publication date:	02/20/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	234
Sales rank:	974,939
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Lindsey Bareham started to cook seriously when she was asked to edit the restaurant section of Time Out. Over the years she's cooked most cuisines and most styles of food, learning as she went along. She wrote a daily after-work recipe for the London Evening Standard for eight years and currently writes the daily Dinner Tonight and Friday Masterclass for The Times T2. She also writes a monthly column for Saga Magazine. Author of twelve cookery books, her latest is Pasties, an appreciation and exploration of the Cornish pasty.Lindsey enjoys cooking imaginative, seasonal food with simple but explicit instructions, making real food accessible to the most inexperienced cook. Her speciality is turning ordinary ingredients into something special. Lindsey's style is relaxed and easy, encouraging her readers to get stuck in rather than regard good food as the preserve of chefs and foodies. As an ex-restaurant critic and shopping sleuth, with a greedy interest in food, she is forever trying out new ingredients and combinations of food but a traditional cooking background provides a good balance of classic and experimental.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

All You Need To Know About Tomatoes

'The tomato imparts its delicious taste, at the same time acid and slightly sweet, to so many sauces and dishes that it can fairly be classed among the best of condiments. Happy are those who understand how to use it judiciously.'

Ernest Verdier, Dissertations Gastronomiques, 1928

HISTORY

'Thank goodness someone finally had the courage to eat one of those little golden-red globes and proclaim it for its delicious acidity and wondrous texture.'

James Beard, writing on the tomato in Beard on Food

The tomato has a colourful history. It is thought to have originated in South America, on the northern edge of the Andes, in Peru, Ecuador and Chile. There it grew wild, arriving as if by magic for its short season, the cherry-sized fruit picked by the ancient Peruvians but not regarded as sufficiently interesting to cultivate. It may have travelled to Central America through the centuries although, unlike its relative the potato, it is not recorded on pottery or other artefacts. It is unclear exactly who was first to cultivate lycopersicon esculentum ('edible wolf's peach') but by the time Cortes conquered Mexico in 1523, the tomato was ubiquitous, later to spread up the east coast of America. It is also unclear who brought the first tomatoes to Europe from the New World, but agreed among many that they were first cultivated in Spain. Perhaps it was Columbus, whose first explorations of the New World were in the late 1400s. It can't have been Cortes, although he usually gets the credit, along with introducing chocolate to Spain, because tomatoes had already reached Italy by 1522. Anyway, these early tomatoes were cherry-sized and yellow and, unthinkable though it now seems, they were viewed with suspicion, thought either poisonous or an aphrodisiac.

Although it is widely held that the Spanish introduced tomatoes to Naples in the sixteenth century, one story suggests that they came via Morocco, so acquiring the name pomi de Morì ('apples of the Moors'), subsequently translated by the French into pommes d'amour. They appeared in the second edition of Gerard's Herball in 1636 under the heading 'Apples of Love' but described as having a '... ranke and stinking savour'. The theory that tomatoes were an aphrodisiac also explains this particular name, but a more likely explanation is to do with their yellow colour. Hence 'golden apples', pomme d'or in France, pomi d'oro (which evolved into pomodoro) in Italy, and goldapfel in Germany. The English called them tomata, later tomato, from the Spanish tomate, which in turn came from the Aztec and Mexican, tomata. Most countries use an approximation of the original name: in Majorca tomatiga; in Malta, tadam; in India, tamatar, in Portugal tomatada and in Greece and Turkey, domate.

It wasn't until the arrival of a new strain of red tomato, developed from seeds brought to Italy from Mexico by two Jesuits, that tomatoes appeared on the culinary scene. The Neapolitans were quick to see the true potential of the new fruit. In the mid-1700s a chef called Francesco Leonardi was the first to match pasta with tomato, and meatballs with a tomato sauce. Others, particularly the British and Americans, remained cautious, regarding the tomato as an ornamental curiosity, but by the beginning of the nineteenth century tomatoes were creeping into cookery books. Colin Spencer, in his exhaustively researched Vegetable Book (Conran Octopus), observes that, '... the fact that the tomato survived at all must be due to the enthusiasm that amateur gardeners had for the vegetable (and still have, for that matter), so that rural cookery of the nineteenth century was full of tomato chutneys, pickles and relishes'.

By the late nineteenth century the tomato had caught on big time. Today there is hardly a culture that doesn't embrace it, and it is one of the world's best-selling foods, grown as far afield as Iceland in the north and New Zealand in the south. However, it still has ground to cover. The tomato is little used throughout Asia, apart from in India, has no part in the Japanese diet, and has made no noticeable impact in China, where it wasn't introduced until the 1930s.

SO WHAT IS A TOMATO AND ARE THEY GOOD FOR YOU?

'Dear Albert, I have read in the past and heard from various people that tomatoes, grapes and wine are all extremely bad for arthritis. I know you are a chef and not a doctor, Albert, but have you heard this, and do you know why this could be?'

L. Burnett, Fulham, SW 6

'How right you are! I am not a medical doctor, but I have heard this too, and the reason always given seems to be the acid content in these fruits. Everything in moderation, and a little of what you fancy does you good.'

Albert Roux, 'Cher Albert', ES Magazine, 15 August 1996

The tomato is technically a berry, and therefore a fruit, but we use it as a vegetable. It takes forty to sixty days from flowering for a tomato to reach full ripening. A tomato is 93-95 per cent water. It is low in fat, contains 14 calories per 100 g and 1.5 per cent of total composition is fibre. Tomatoes are a good source of vitamins A and C and, when eaten raw, vitamin E. They also contain fructose and glucose (sugars), folic acid, potassium, calcium and mineral salts, including p-coumaric acid and chlorogenic acid, both claimed to 'flush out' carcinogens. Some vitamins are lost in cooking; raw and grilled tomatoes have the highest concentrations of nutrients.

Tomatoes get their red colour from lycopene, which is particularly dense in the skin, a natural carotenoid related to its better-known cousin beta-carotene. Lycopene is a powerful anti-oxidant, thought to combat the harmful effects of free radicals (rogue molecules), which are precursors of heart disease and cancer. Recent research from, among others, the American Association for Cancer Research (April 1997) shows that people who eat more tomatoes, particularly processed tomatoes, are better protected against the growth of cancerous tumours. Lycopene is more readily absorbed into the bloodstream when the tomatoes are cooked with certain oils, such as olive oil but particularly corn oil, and the benefit of 40 g tomato paste is equal to that of 400 g whole, cooked tomatoes. The claims are particularly dramatic for men: eating tomatoes at least ten times a week reduces the risk of developing prostate cancer by 35 per cent, and halves the risk of heart disease.

Women will just have to make do with a face pack of tomato pulp mixed with yoghurt: tomato is good for the skin, refreshing, toning, aiding circulation and restoring acidity after cleansing. Well, that's what the British Tomato Growers' Association claim.

GROWN FOR FLAVOUR?

'... heirloom tomatoes outdo the modern kinds that most people eat, enthusiasts say, in flavour, tenderness and diversity. There are several thousand heirlooms in all. Some are tangy, some sweet; some as big as grapefruits, others as small as grapes. They come in zebra stripes, heart shapes, emerald green, deep purples, chocolate browns.'

Donna St George, 'The Tomato, Singing Its Siren Song', New York Times, 20 August 1997

When you bite into a tomato you want to taste a fruit that is juicy and tender, with the perfect balance of sweet and sour. You want to be able to smell the tomato, to get a whiff of that odd herby tang that always comes with home-grown ones. The shape and size should be irrelevant to quality. Tiny cherry tomatoes are the sweetest and the big, blowsy beef tomatoes are least likely to have much flavor. The ones in between – the so-called all-rounders, or salad tomatoes – are anyone's guess. Plum are supposed to be the best for cooking because, as a type, their flesh is denser and holds its form better.

The exact composition of any tomato is unique to its variety. The colour of the fruit, the thickness of the skin, the density of the flesh, the juiciness, the size of the pips and the amount of jellied juice around them is infinitely variable, but there are distinctive types of tomato.

Cherry and cocktail: Bite-sized and round, known as pomodorini in Italy. The flavour is sweet – they have the highest sugar content of all tomatoes – and concentrated. They are best eaten raw, and tend to be used for garnish or as a salad tomato, but are good when briefly grilled, barbecued or roasted with a smear of olive oil. Blitzed in a food-processor, they make intensely flavoured quick sauces and vinaigrettes.

All-purpose classic, slicing or salad: Medium-large, slightly squat and probably the most familiar, the shape is well suited to slicing. They tend to have a large seed cavity, sloppy textured flesh, and are often disappointing. Improve flavour by roasting or lengthy stewing.

Plum and baby plum: Plum or egg-shaped with a large core, tough skin and easy to peel. Also known as Roma, Italian tomato or, in the States, paste tomato. Available in various sizes, including cherry, mini and midi, but most often medium-size. Sometimes extremely elongated, particularly Italian varieties, most notably San Marzano from Naples, with a small nipple at the flower end. Dense, firm, meaty flesh and few seeds make it the chef's choice for cooking because it holds its form. Good flavour when properly ripened.

Beef or beefsteak, also called slicing: extra large and dark red, so-called because of their dense, beefy flesh. Usually imported from Holland and Spain, they tend to lack flavour and are best used for stuffing and baking. Look out for ridged and irregularly shaped large tomatoes – Marmande – from Provence and Morocco, occasionally Italy, Sicily, Greece and Cyprus, in particular. Look out for Jack Hawkins, an Isle of Wight variety.

Golden, yellow and pale orange: Yellow and pale orange tomatoes come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny cherry and pear shapes to salad size. They tend to have names that include 'gold' or 'sun' and taste much the same as equivalent red varieties. They are best eaten raw, with their skin left on. As with red tomatoes, their flesh is paler than the skin, but they tend to have small seeds.

Green: Either uniformly coloured or with distinctive stripes. Unless these tomatoes have been specially bred, green tomatoes are unripe. They are delicious cooked in all sorts of ways (see pages 407-419) and can be ripened ('... up to a point, Lord Copper ...') singly in a warm spot. The process may be speeded up by placing one ripe tomato among a bowl of green ones.

Organic: Grown without pesticides. They must be free of chemicals and grown in soil that has not been treated with chemicals and has been managed to full organic standards for the past two years, as laid down by EU legislation. The chief hazard of organic tomato growing is early blight, which is conventionally controlled by spraying. For organic growers, harvesting early enough to beat the blight, and late enough for full flavour, is a race against time. Conventional industrial tomato-growing takes place under glass on an enormous scale, in what amounts to food-creating factories, using hydroponics, rarely soil. Industrially produced tomatoes are harvested under-ripe for resilience to transport, and arrive in the shops never having developed their flavour potential. Although supermarkets have caught up at last with the public's desire for flavour, and provide named varieties, the organic tomato can often deliver a better taste than a conventionally grown one. This is not only because they are cultivated in soil rich with natural potassium but because they are only grown in season and matured on the vine, hopefully with plenty of sun. The downside is that organic tomatoes are more fragile to transport and 20 to 50 per cent more expensive. Nevertheless, demand for organics has grown by 50 per cent every year for the last four years. Organic tomatoes should be eaten as soon as possible after harvesting: fast distribution from grower to consumer through box schemes is the best way to achieve this. Contact Organics Direct, tel. [phone] and www.boxfreshorganics.co.uk.

Vine-ripened and 'grown for flavour': Supermarket hype. To give them their due, the supermarkets have taken heed of the plea that originated with Elizabeth David, probably in the fifties, later endorsed by Jane Grigson and perpetuated by every food writer, at some time or another, for tomatoes with flavour. To that effect they have spent huge resources in an attempt to find tomatoes that taste good. Because we love tomatoes so much, and we seem to want to buy them all year round (in 1997, £81.9 million worth of tomatoes were grown in Britain – in 2010 the retail value of UK produced tomatoes is £150 million – which is the second largest fruit and vegetable crop, second only to carrots, worth £83 million. Potatoes are categorized as an agricultural crop – we ate over £362 million worth of them), the supermarkets also want to supply us with tasty tomatoes outside the traditional tomato-growing season of July to October.

A solution, of sorts, is manifest in the term 'grown for flavour'. This, of course, begs the question, if tomatoes aren't grown for flavour, then what are they grown for? The answer, of course, is money.

However, attaching a label that says 'grown for flavour' to a bag of tomatoes is the customers' quasi-guarantee that the contents taste of something remotely resembling tomato. If, and this is the second part of the sting, the tomatoes are sold with part of their vine attached, they can be called 'vine-ripened' as well as 'grown for flavour'. This is a licence to ask exorbitant prices, and to compound the luxury image, the 'spray' or 'branch' of vine-attached tomatoes is sold laid out in a sculpted tray inside a plastic box. They certainly look attractive, particularly to city dwellers who like the idea of growing their own tomatoes, but don't always live up to expectations.

FRIDGE OR FRUIT BOWL?

'A number of rare or newly experienced foods have been claimed to be aphrodisiacs. At one time this quality was even ascribed to the tomato. Reflect on that when you are next preparing the family salad.'

Jane Grigson, The Mushroom Feast, 1975

The moment you get home with tomatoes, whether they are in a brown-paper bag, a plastic tray with clingfilm, or a plastic bag, take them out of their packaging. Place them in a bowl or basket, as you would any fruit, and leave them at room temperature. Remember, tomatoes are a subtropical fruit and dislike the cold: storing in the fridge impairs their flavour. Most of the tomatoes we buy in the supermarket – even those sold as grown for flavour and sun-ripened, and those on the vine – will improve their flavour if kept at room temperature for a few days. Their colour may deepen, and gradually, day by day, they will soften. Once the tomatoes have achieved their optimum state they should be eaten because they will quickly sag and wrinkle.

The life of soggy, over-ripe tomatoes will not be extended by putting them in the fridge – in fact, they will go soft even more quickly. Use them in sauces, stews, soups, and for the stockpot. If, and this is a big if, ripe tomatoes cannot be eaten and need to wait, they should be refrigerated in airtight, non-metal containers and used within a few days.

Blemished tomatoes – those with broken or bruised skin – will quickly turn bad. Organic tomatoes tend to have ripened longer on the vine than commercially grown tomatoes and therefore deteriorate faster. As a general rule, depth and consistency of colour, particularly with red tomatoes, is a fair indication of ripeness. If there are green patches or the tomatoes are very pale with a hint of greenness in the skin, or with 'green shoulders', they need to be 'brought on' or 'ripened'. Left somewhere warm, on top of the fridge or on a window-sill, preferably in direct sunlight, the tomato will turn deepest red. Even immature, pale green tomatoes – such as the rock-hard San Marzano I picked in Naples and left on the shelf in my study – turn from apple green through shades of yellow-orange to darkest tomato red in the right conditions. However, these tomatoes, which are officially known as 'mature green tomatoes', will never develop the delicious flavour they are supposed to have.

Direct sunlight and warmth are what tomatoes like best. Putting unripe tomatoes in a bowl of ripe ones may speed up the ripening process but will have no effect on the flavour. It is a fallacy to think that unripe tomatoes still attached to their vine will ripen with more flavour than those without.

POPULAR VARIETIES ON SALE

'I am sure the majority of people do not realise that for years tomatoes have been grown in rockwool (the same material used in our house walls) in glasshouses, and only grow through it when pumped full of fertiliser and nutrients. They look beautiful but, never having seen soil or the outside, it is no wonder that they are completely tasteless.'

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Big Red Book of Tomatoes"
by .
Copyright © 2011 Lindsey Bareham.
Excerpted by permission of Grub Street.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements,
Introduction,
Note on Seasonings and Health Risks,
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TOMATOES,
History,
So What is a Tomato and are They Good for You?,
Grown for Flavour?,
Fridge or Fruit Bowl?,
Popular Varieties on Sale,
Tins, Bottles, Tubes and Packets,
A Word About Genetically Modified Tomato Products,
A Grower's Guide,
TOMATO TECHNIQUE,
How to Peel a Tomato,
Removing the Seeds,
A Word About Seeds,
To Make Passata/Raw Tomato Pulp/Raw Tomato Purée,
To Make Tomato Concassé/Diced Tomato,
To Make Tomato Sheets/Petals,
To Make Tomato Roses,
TOMATOES ALONE,
In the Oven,
Under the Grill,
In the Pan,
Chilled Dishes,
TOMATO SOUPS,
TOMATOES AND BREAD,
TOMATOES AND EGGS,
SALADS, VINAIGRETTES AND DRESSINGS,
SALSAS,
TOMATOES WITH OTHER VEGETABLES,
TOMATO TARTS,
TOMATO SAUCES,
TOMATOES AND PASTA,
TOMATOES AND RICE, GRAINS AND PULSES,
TOMATOES WITH FISH AND SEAFOOD,
TOMATOES WITH POULTRY, GAME AND MEAT,
DEALING WITH A GLUT,
GREEN TOMATOES,
SWEET TOMATOES,
TOMATO JUICES AND COCKTAILS,
Conversion Charts,
Bibliography,
Index,