Luscious red tomatoes

Thankfully, beautiful tomatoes are in season and the markets are full of them. If one goes to the right outlet, a good deal awaits. We found luscious red tomatoes at a buy- 1-take-1 promo at P33 a kilo. Great!

It might interest our readers to know that tomatoes were initially thought to be poisonous in Spain where the first plants were brought from Mexico. Others, such as the French, considered it as an aphrodisiac, calling it pommes d’amour. The US is responsible for giving it an “imprimatur,” so to speak, classifying it as vegetable for trade purposes in 1893. Then farmers started raising a lot of varieties, from beefsteak to cherry tomatoes.

Filipinos cook a lot of our daily fare using tomatoes, most especially when we do our ginisa dishes. Be it with seafood, meat or vegetables, there are a lot of dishes where tomatoes give extra flavor and texture.

Recently, we did a pasta dish with lots of them, blending them with garlic, pesto and black olives, cooked in olive oil. Tasty and very apt for no-meat days. Using fresh tomatoes instead of canned (whole, paste or sauce) is always a good alternative.

Paella will taste more flavorful with them. In salads, how lovely are the bowls of greens with the contrast of red tomato wedges. As a side dish to fried fish, we normally would mix tomatoes and onions with vinegar, red eggs, pepper and sugar. This Laguna salad enhances the flavor of the seafood.

They can also be made into creative and tasty starters – tomato cups. Slice them crosswise, scrape the seeds off and fill each with either tuna or chicken salad.

More notes on tomatoes. If you want to store them, it is best to get a combination of the ripe and near-ripe (still green) tomatoes. The latter is best kept out of the refrigerator. You will see them turn red in a few days. Get the firm, unblemished ones.

Try to experiment by drying some to make sun-dried tomatoes. Then, immerse them in olive oil to intensify their sweetish flavor. This is ideal for making dips.

Try to create your own tomato offerings. Take advantage of the bounty. They are healthy and refreshing.

Structural defects in the Fraser building in Makati inevitably forced Le Bistro Vert to close. Thus, their regulars have missed the innovative meals they serve. But they will be happy to know that they can still have this type of food at Echostore in Serenda, Global City. They can also have a look-see at the various items on sale there, from health solutions and pica-pica to native bags and coffee. Announcement of Le Bistro Vert’s new location will be made in due course.

Speaking of coffee, the coffee advocate Chit has gathered a group of coffee “movers” to form the ASEAN Coffee Federation with the aim of gaining world wide approval for the ASEAN produce. Member organizations, aside from the Philippine Coffee Board Inc., are the Thai Barista Association, the Singapore Coffee Association, the Special Coffee Association of Indonesia, Dao Coffee and Lao Chamber of Commerce, whose representatives attended a recent meeting in Manila.

They have heavy competition from a duo of formidable coffee suppliers – Africa and Brazil – but the group is confident they would conquer a big slice of the market, considering the quality of the product they are selling, and their zeal and spirit of unity toward one common goal. 

Incidentally, there is a new coffee product from Mindanao, the Sulu Royal coffee in two variants, civet and original.

The civet, of course is of the very expensive ripe beans that are fed to the civet cats. The system is supposed to take away, by the impact of the animal ensymes in its digestive tract, the bitterness of the coffee bean, which enriches its flavor.

The resulting coffee is smooth, rich, heavy and full-bodied with flavors of caramel and chocolate. Isn’t that great? Eliminate your squeamish feeling about how this coffee is produced and try a cup.

Happy Sunday to all! Let’s have coffee!

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