About Me
I'm a Melbourne boy, hailing from St Kilda with one ex, one current wife and four kids. Love the outdoors and making new discoveries. I cook a lot at home (cheers from wife) and do some preserving, mostly jams, pickles and fruit liqueurs. This is the diary of a cooking journey.

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Sunday, February 07, 2010
In The Time Of Tomatoes


What's summer for you?

Lazy days on the beach with ever so slightly scorching sand between your toes, then the absolute cooling bliss of feet in the surf, retreating waves sucking hungrily at your legs.

Games of beach cricket with driftwood stumps, ti-tree bat and a ball, semi-retired from tennis.

Tomato sandwiches sharing lodgings with 30+ suncream, car keys and loose change rattling round a canvas bag.

It's all that, but high summer is also the denouement of the work carried out by foraging bees, when Sol's surging rays coaxes juicy fruits (and vegetables) to peak ripeness with flavour that almost ruptures their skins.

It is the time of the tomato.





When all that hard won water, lovingly applied by ever diligent gardeners, gives up its reward. When picture perfect supermarket tomatoes take second place to fruit whose flavour seems almost inverse to mankiness. When spots and fissures, disqualifying a modeling career, disguise the intense experience of home grown fruit.




No need to get fancy, a little basil, a glug of your best olive oil, a flake or two of salt and a crack of pepper, all on the best bread you can find.




If you don't have home grown, don't despair, just visit your local farmer's market quick smart, that's where these gems came from.

Now's the right time to eat summer.
 
  posted at 2:17 pm
  10 comments



10 Comments:
At 1:08 am, Anonymous Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I am always very pleased when I get a good, true tasting tomato. The supermarket ones, even the trusses aren't great

 
At 4:16 am, Blogger Kalyn Denny said...

There is simply nothing better than a vine-ripened summer tomato! We're months away from that here, but can't wait!

 
At 8:57 am, Anonymous Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Tomatoes are the epitome of summer. Like Kalyn, we're months away from garden tomatoes, too. I like my tomato sandwiches with mayonnaise, salt and pepper. If I'm lucky, a few basil leaves from the garden get stuck in here and there for added summer goodness.

 
At 12:03 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Also melting some cheese and sprinkling oregano is yummy

 
At 1:51 am, Blogger Soul to Soul said...

Got my first tomatos yesterday from our garden, mmmm,mmmm. Looking forward to a little salad making in the next week.

 
At 10:02 am, Blogger Anh said...

I feel like summer is escaping from me again. With all the interstate moving, it is hard to get good summer produce. But heck, Melbourne is so hot lately, beautifully ripe tomatoes with sourdough and olive oil is the way to go!

 
At 10:22 am, Blogger neil said...

Hi lorraine, it was interesting chatting with the seller. She told me that her variety (spartan) is the same as the supermarkets use. Chalk and cheese really.

Hi kalyn, I'm enjoying them while I can, clingstone peaches are in the shops, so soon new season apples will appear, yum!

Hi lydia, I haven't tried them with mayo, will redress that shortly! Thanks for the suggestion.

Hi anon, ooh, I love a toasted cheese and tomato sanger. The oregano would be a nice touch too, why should the basil have all the fun?

Hi greg, I'll come over for some tabouli, okay?

Hi anh, I feel for you. Sticking with good produce simply prepared is the way to go. All that heat is so draining.

 
At 2:48 pm, Anonymous Paz said...

Oh my! Your tomato sandwich looks really good. Now, I want one immediately. ;-)

Paz

 
At 7:37 am, Blogger Gigi said...

Tomato sandwiches! As far as I'm concerned, there is no finer meal than garden tomatoes, still warm from the sun & all sliced up on a nice dill rye, prepared just as you say. And no finer restaurant for this one perfect thing than one's own backyard in summer. We used to grow our own until the resident rabbit population took over our back 40; now we rely on the kindness of farmers.

I also like them with mayo - is that an American thing, I wonder?

 
At 1:45 pm, Blogger neil said...

Hi paz, isn't it awful sometimes that our seasons are all askew? You'd love this for sure.

Hi gigi, with a glass of wine and some good friends, summer, full on.

The only time I use mayo is on a BLT. Shouldn't have written that, now I want one!

 

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