Last year, a Spanish colleague of mine asked me why the tomatoes in the UK don’t really taste of anything. I didn’t know the answer. She continued that she couldn’t make good gazpacho – she was from Andalucía – because the tomatoes here just don’t have the same flavour as back home, they’re too watery. It made me think about the flavour of tomatoes and what they actually taste like and I suppose it’s true, they do taste different in Spain – which is fact where I started to like eating them in the first place.
I’ve never been a bit tomato person but I’ve grown to appreciate them with each new way of serving or cooking with them. One of my favourites these days is, pan con tomate. It’s one of the most simple dishes to make, but then again, the best meals usually are. For me, it’s the perfect mix of crunchy bread, fresh vibrant tomatoes, silky olive oil and a kick of garlic. It makes for an ideal breakfast, but also works just as well as a starter or as part of a bigger selection of tapas.
It’s also one of those things that everyone makes slightly differently and I think you’d be hard pushed to find a definitive version that suited everyone’s tastes and traditions. Here’s my method but feel free to adapt and play around with it.
INGREDIENTS
2 slices of thick crusty bread or a crusty bread roll sliced in half
1 clove of garlic
5 cherry tomatoes or 1 large tomato
2 slices of jamón serrano (optional)
Good quality olive oil for drizzling
Serves 1
METHOD
1. Finely chop the tomatoes or blitz them in a food processor, then drain off any excess liquid.
2. Toast the bread until well browned.
3. Peel the garlic clove and rub – almost grating it – over the toast.
4. Drizzle the bread with olive oil before topping with the tomato.
5. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt or top with slices of jamón (if using)
If you’re in a rush – and many recipes will do it this way – you can forgo the tomato blitzing by simply slicing the tomato in half and rubbing each half on the toast the same way as the garlic. I love the jamón on top, but a friend always removes the jamón and keeps to one side – they say it’s too good on its own to spoil the flavour.
Let me know how you get on by dropping me a line or using #RecipesByRoss.
