Golden lemon tomatoes freshly harvested.

The first tomatoes to reach Europe arrived in the 16th century. Though they made their maiden voyage on Spanish vessels, it was the Italians who embraced them with greatest enthusiasm . They named tem pomodoro or golden apples indicating that the first exotic imports were yellow and not red. Nevertheless, it was the red tomato that was destined to become the emblematic legume of modern i.e. post Columbian Italian cuisine, the principal ingredient which even today makes the food of food the most versatile and readily available vegetarian option. Not that it was spurned by meat eating Americans who bathe their hamburgers and fries in tomato ketchup. The tomato is a member of the same family (Solanaceae) as the potato, the pepper, the aubergine (egg plant). Like these vegetables, when it first arrived it bore little relationship to the bland industrial age vegetables which are piled high on every supermarket veggie stall. When these highly nutritious vegetables first arrived, they entered what might be called a love/hate relationship with Europeans. Many viewed them as poisonous because they belong to the same family as Belladonna – the Deadly Nightshade while others thought the tomato was a pomme d’amour having aphrodisiac properties.

Today, the tomato is the centerpiece of efforts to recapture the ‘natural’ goodness of food in the form of heritage crops and with good reason. The heritage tomato is truly delicious, on its own straight from the vine or steeped in a bath of lemon infused olive oil seasoned lightly with salt and black pepper. Our heritage tomatoes have been ready to eat since mid July. We eat them the same day we pick them, usually one or two at a time either as a salad to accompany the midday or evening meal or as a sensational appetizer as follows:

Heritage Tomato Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1. Fresh tomatoes preferably heritage but nice smelling supermarket varieties also taste good prepared this way;
2. Fresh artisan bread lightly toasted in bite sized pieces,
3. Olive oil plain or infused with lemon, basil or thyme;
4. Chopped fresh basil or coriander ( cilantro) – optional.
5. Salt and pepper to taste ( if you use a salt grinder, try adding fennel seed to the salt for a delicious special effect).

Prepare the tomatoes by deseeding and chopping, I also remove any tiny fibrous green stalky bits;
Soak them in the olive oil ( don’t be stingy, if you overdo it, keep the tomato scented oil and use to flavor a baked fish or vegetable dish);
Add the chopped herbs if using;
After and interval ( 5 minutes to 5 hours), pile the chopped tomatoes on the toast and drizzle the oil over them so as to let it soak into the bread.

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