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Ripe for the picking

Tomatoes are great no matter how they're served
From the chef | Search restaurants | Archives

May 30th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
It's red cool: Refrigerated tomato soup is healthy and refreshing — the perfect thing for lunch.
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For something so common, tomatoes have a checkered past.
GAZPACHO

Ingredients
450 grams (1 pound) sweet tomatoes
120 grams fresh cucumbers
120 grams fresh red bell peppers
200 grams red wine (Rioja is best)
100 grams white bread
120 grams white wine vinegar
20 grams extra virgin olive oil
20 grams onions
6 grams garlic
Salt

Preparation
Chop onion, garlic, cucumbers and bell peppers into small cubes.
Mix chopped vegetables into two halves.
Pour white wine vinegar over half of the mixture; add salt and blend until smooth.
Soak white bread in crushed tomatoes.
Add red wine and allow to sit for 20 minutes to soften.
Blend bread/tomatoes/wine mix and strain into the vegetable mixture; stir.
Serve, using the second half of the vegetable mixture to spread on the rim of each bowl.

Spanish conquistadors discovered tomato plants in the New World and returned to Europe with seeds. While Spain and Italy adopted the new taste, some in England and the American Colonies considered the red fruit poisonous. Or is it a vegetable? A U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled in favor of the v-word back in the 1890s, largely due to tariff regulations of the day.
Then there’s that old toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe controversy.
But all of that is behind us now. There are 4,000 or more varieties of tomato available across the globe in many different shades: red, yellow, green, even pink and purple. Commercial farms produce consistent but relatively dull fruits in many forms, from tiny cherry tomatoes to the sandwich-sized beefsteaks. More popular among foodies are the many “heirloom” varieties, descended from plants growing before World War II. Chef Oldřich Sahajdák of Ambiente says the important thing, no matter what the recipe, is to select fully ripened fruit.
Good, sweet, acidic flavors emerge when tomatoes ripen on the vine, so locally grown varieties are the best choice. When shopping in a grocery, smell the stem area. It should have that wonderful, indescribable scent of a garden in full bloom. If not, move on to the next.
If you cannot find fresh tomatoes in the market, Sahajdák says, “it is better to use quality canned tomatoes, because well-known producers use the fully ripe product.”
Gazpacho is a cool soup for warm-weather dining. Serve it icy cold in a refrigerated bowl or plate.
Oldřich Sahajdák is chef at Ambiente, located at Mánesova 59, Prague 2–Vinohrady. Tel. 222 727 851.


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