Monday, August 15, 2011

All Hail the Tomato

Growing up in Iowa, summer really hit its stride when the tomatoes began to ripen. I knew they were ripe when I could smell the plants themselves - the earthy aroma of the vines - from the porch in our backyard, 50 feet from the garden. When the time came to pick them, my mom would take a basket and ask for my help. I'd look for the ripe ones, asking for her approval before picking the first two or three. After I got the hang of it I'd sneak away, find the biggest one on the vine, pluck it and eat it like an apple. The juices would run down my face and the seeds would stick to the collar of my shirt, but she'd only smile and encourage me.

"That's the best way to do it!" she'd say. "Eat as many as you can."

She wasn't as encouraging when I tried it with an expensive store-bought tomato in December, but it happened only once because I immediately learned that the two shouldn't even be in the same food group.

Now that it's tomato season, I urge you to do two things:

1. Pick a tomato off a vine and eat it like an apple. Don't wash it, don't bring it inside the house. Eat it right there, next to the vine, preferably barefoot.

2. Cook them as little as possible, if at all.

Fresh tomatoes are obviously great in salads and on sandwiches. They also make the best pasta sauces. Every year I buy upwards of 10 pounds of San Marzanos, core, peel and seed them and make old-fashioned sauce. This, however, takes quite a bit of time, both outside in the heat during the day acquiring them and later over the heat of the stove.

Most summer nights I'd rather eat them raw with pasta. It's a popular choice in Italy as well, often called "salsa fresca" or "salsa cruda." I dice the tomatoes, add olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs and toss it with the pasta as soon as it leaves the boiling water. The sauce is never cooked, but the pasta and residual cooking water heats everything just enough to blend the flavors.

I never measure the quantities of the ingredients I use in a salsa cruda, so it's hard to call it a recipe. However, NY Times food writer Mark Bittman provided a list of his favorite summer tomato recipes last week. One of his 12 very simple recipes is nearly identical to my own salsa cruda:

Mark Bittman's Salsa Cruda for Pasta (or Anything Else)

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, light crushed
1/2 cup chopped basil
1/2 pound pasta
Preparation
1. Mash together tomatoes, olive oil, garlic cloves and chopped basil. 

2. Let sit while you cook pasta, then fish out garlic and toss (add some pasta-cooking water if necessary). 

3. Garnish with more chopped basil.

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