One thing you can do: Make perfectly good food go the distance. We have tips.
Seasonality is the key to healthy eating, but fresh produce doesn’t last forever. The average New Zealander throws out more than $1500 worth of groceries every year, much of it fruit and vege that was
So our mission is two-fold: to eat with the seasons, prioritising sustainability, freshness and locally grown produce; and to reduce food waste, by learning what to look for when buying fresh produce, and what to do with it when you get home.
In this new series we’ll be covering the basics everyone should know about how to select and store their fruit and vege, and then the easiest, most delicious ways to prepare and eat them. This week: tomatoes.
A tomato by any other name...
It needs saying that there are many different types of tomato, and there is a big difference between a commercially grown tomato and an heirloom (also known as heritage) one.
Heirloom tomatoes are grown for flavour, not yield, and they are trickier to handle than a regular tomato (which is already tricky to handle).
Whereas a commercially produced supermarket tomato has a shelf life of around two to three weeks, an heirloom is picked when it is soft and ready, and therefore might only last three days.
When will tomatoes appear on shelves?
Commercial tomatoes are available year-round, while heritage tomatoes are picked when the weather warms up so you’ll find them in restaurants and in specialty grocery stores from late October.
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Advertise with NZME.While it is possible to eat tomatoes through winter, the flavour will never live up to a sun-ripened summer tomato. Plus winter tomatoes will cost you more (since they have been heated through winter, so are more expensive to produce).
What to look for when buying tomatoes
Look at them, smell them, feel them — but no squeezing. “We have no problem with people fondling our tomatoes,” says Anthony Tringham of Clevedon’s Curious Croppers. “But you should never squeeze them — squeezing will damage the fruit.”
The best way to choose your tomatoes is to pick them up and look at them — tomatoes are mostly water, so they should look plump and round and perky and delicious, or they might look like they’re sagging. You can judge the skin for bruising or sagging, and you can feel the texture without compromising the structure of it.
Another indicator of the ripeness is the calyx (that’s the little green hat on the top of a tomato). Most tomatoes are picked without their calyx, to make harvesting faster and easier. But the calyx is an excellent indication of the fruit’s health — the fresher the calyx looks, the shorter time since the fruit was picked.
And finally, smell the tomato for an earthy tomato-ey smell (always do this at room temperature, because a cold tomato won’t smell of anything).
How to store and care for tomatoes
Most importantly, never ever put them in the fridge. The cells of the fruit will start breaking down after about 12-24 hours, and the damage to the flavour and texture is irreversible. After a few days, you’ll get blotching and marking as well.
Angela Tringham advises keeping them where you can see them: “They’re beautiful to look at, so keep them on the bench,” she suggests — in a bowl or colander works well.
If it’s warm in your kitchen, they’ll be happier in the cool and dark or the pantry. Or make some space in the wine fridge: tomatoes like to be kept at a similar temperature — around 12 to 14 degrees — so enjoy a bottle of chardonnay perhaps to make way for your tomatoes.
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Advertise with NZME.Wherever you choose to store them, keep your eye on them and protect them from the direct sun.
If you want to try your hand at growing them
Anthony offers three key tips.
First, don’t plant your tomatoes too early. If you start before the soil is warm, the plant won’t grow and the pests will eat it. If you leave your planting till when the earth is warm and the sun is out, they’ll right shoot up.
Second, don’t leave too many leaves on the plant. If your plant has too many and not much fruit, the stems can grow fat, split and rot.
Third, don’t allow too many fruit per truss — one or two is enough. If you have a truss with five fruit, the next will have none, because the plant has as many fruit as it can handle.
Bonus tip: Choose the right fertiliser (horse manure and liquid seaweed are good), and water your plants appropriately. “Many people just splash the plant and wet the leaves,” says Anthony, “but when it’s hot, tomatoes go through a massive amount of water — up to 3 litres a day. That’s also why they’re difficult to grow in pots — the roots will just cook in there. Put your plants in the ground — that way if they need more water, they can go in search of it.”
The simplest, most delicious way to prepare them?
Anthony and Angela’s tip is to create a simple caprese salad with as few ingredients as possible. Local mozzarella, masses of tomatoes, lots of basil, and some yuzu olive oil from Lot 8 in Wairarapa is their favourite preparation.
Our favourite tomato recipes
From Ottolenghi’s Nopi: The Cookbook, this is all about the tomatoes, so get as many varieties as you can: red, green and yellow; baby plum, cherry and vine. You can prepare all the elements for this in advance — the wasabi and herb-filled mascarpone, the pickled shallots, the chopped tomatoes, the toasted nuts. Just keep them separate and put the dish together just before serving.
Juicy on the inside, a whole organic chicken cooked in tasty pan juices is always a winner. Don’t forget to save any bones for a good-quality stock to use at another time.
Seasonal, simple and sparkling with summertime, this dish is sweet, sharp and deeply delicious. Choose a lovely variety of homegrown or heirloom tomatoes which you should be able to find at your local farmers market or organic store. Serve with crusty sourdough bread and a little unsalted butter.
This is Apero chef Leslie Hottiaux’s mum’s favourite recipe. She would make it with tomatoes and herbs from the garden. You can also make this recipe using courgettes or eggplant instead of tomato. Simply cut them in half and scoop the flesh out. These will need to be cooked slightly longer.
Fresh is best when it comes to tuna. If you have been out fishing and have some fresh kingfish or snapper, cook a fillet and use it instead of the tuna. It is all about using what is available.
If you buy the pastry ready rolled it will ensure your galette’s even puffiness, but this is not essential. Get creative with different types and colours of tomatoes that are available to you, such as Curious Croppers’ heirloom tomatoes, which add a rich variety of colour, flavour and size to the galette for an impressive-looking dish.
The key to making stand-out bruschetta and a simple salad, like this one, is the quality of ingredients, especially a good olive oil for drizzling over the top. Don’t forget that sardines can be salty, so taste the mixture before you grind the extra salt and pepper to finish.
These are perfect to pack for a picnic. Add salmon or ham, or a little tuna into the egg there are plenty of options to play around with. It is preferable to use Italian parsley as it is softer and blends nicely.
