My best mate has been raving about this. It’s from our
favourite steak restaurant. The tomatoes come from Borough Market and are a mix
of scarlet and yellow. Some of the red ones have green stripes. They were grown
on the Isle of Wight and are amazing. One or two are really knobbly.
This recipe is stolen
but I hope that I have eaten there often enough for them to forgive me.
500g really good heirloom tomatoes
100g organic cucumber
1 shallot
1tbsp mint leaves
2tbsp parsley
1tsp chives
A good squeeze lemon juice
Flaky sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
This is all about the tomatoes. Really fresh and ripe. Cut
them in different sizes. The boy is chopping the herbs with the mezzaluna on a
wooden board. Peel the shallot and get it into nice fine rings. Add it to the
tomatoes and mix well with your hands. Some will be quartered, some sliced,
some halved. Dice the cucumber. Add the herbs and lemon juice and mix again. It needs about half a
lemon as they’re small. Otherwise adjust. This has to be good so it’s a thick
skinned Capri lemon. Squeeze it through your fingers so you catch the pips.
No oil – it needs to remain fresh and sharp. Yes, tomatoes
are naturally acidic, but really summer ripe ones are also sweet. If you’re not
sure, a drizzle of grassy olive oil will not be the end of the world.
The boy has wisely left a few of the herbs in large bits, so
there are both flecks and leaves. Let him season it; he’s really instinctive
about it. Just make sure the salt is the best. Ours also came from Borough
Market and was practically sitting in its own brine. It now sits in our ceramic
salt pig. I want an earthenware one eventually. He turns it all over
gently. Can’t blame him for sucking his
fingers when he has done. If you possibly can, let it infuse for 10 minutes or
so.
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