Tomato – the sun-drenched berry

Do you want to hear a secret about cooking the tastiest dishes with tomatoes? It’s rather simple. Just use the ripest, sweetest fruits you can find: fresh and seasonal tomatoes from your region. This will help to achieve the best flavour possible.

A local variety usually isn’t a subject of distant transportation. Therefore, local growers can afford to hold their tomatoes longer on the vines. And this leads to better ripening and tastier produce.

We want to find the real tomato gems from the local farmer. So you’d better be prepared not to cook them. Devour them as is, with minimum processing possible.

From the raw to the cooked ones

Perfectly sweet and ripe tomatoes can be an ideal snack. Simply sliced into wedges and eaten with sea salt and pepper.

But first-class tomatoes are great because they retain their flavour even when cooked. Such fruits can really shine in creamy soups, amazing salads and fragrant salsas.

Salsa definitely has a distinctive touch of South American unique local flavour. But what it really means is just “sauce” in Spanish. Usually, we expect it to be chunky and bright. And this is a real easy requirement when it comes to tomatoes.

The famous salsa

Let’s try to cook salsa roja. This recipe requires tomatoes, red onions, chillies, lime and coriander. That’s all you need to get the flavour to the max. Before cooking this dish, try to find firmer tomato varieties. This way, you get as much shape as possible.

Roughly chop 3 large tomatoes and mix with 3 finely chopped chillies. You could grill the chillies for extra smokiness and charred flavour. Add 1 red onion, 4 tbsp of lime juice, 1 tsp of sugar, salt, pepper and a bunch of coriander.

Then take some tortilla chips. Stuff them with some pulled meat, sliced red cabbage and your salsa roja. This is gonna be the real feast of the belly!

Red and red combined

But that’s not all. Tomatoes at their peak can be elegantly mixed with other red fruits. Think of watermelons. This sweet combination works perfect on every level, especially with something salty to highlight.

This idea brings us to red feta salad. It’s as easy as a mixture of sliced cubes of chilled seedless watermelon with 3-4 ripe tomatoes, 1 finely chopped red onion, a bunch of mint and 1 cup of crumbled feta cheese. Gently toss all the ingredients together in a bowl and serve with a smile.