For years we've learnt about wonderful new products from overseas, but we have forgotten the simple things - like what it tastes like to eat a carrot straight out of the ground, or freshly picked silverbeet, says Sally Cameron.
Her new book, Grow It, Cook It, aims to inspire people to grow and cook their own food, even if they don't have much space.
Beautiful edible plants could be grown instead of ornamental ones in a small garden or in pots on decks, on trellises and in window boxes, she says.
Having sold Smart Mouth, her deli and catering business in Takapuna, Auckland, a couple of years ago to have children, she and her family moved into a small house with a small garden.
However, she enjoyed discovering how to make best use of the space and how to use pots and planters, she says.
Working in England for four years, she missed the fresh produce her grandparents grew, and even missed having pots of silverbeet or herbs growing by her back door.
After travelling overseas and seeing some of the less fortunate people in the world grow their vegetables in bizarre situations - and they've been doing it for so long, she says - she feels we are lucky in New Zealand.
"We mostly have gardens and can grow a range of food throughout the country but we waste the opportunity. We often buy too much and throw it away."
Neighbours and friends would often give her the surplus from their gardens - bags of pumpkins or silverbeet or grapefruit and she looked for ways to use it.
"This started as a book about the abundance we have and how to utilise it, so I've included recipes for preserving and quick dishes," she says.
It is also based on the growing realisation of food miles and seasonality with local farmers markets offering fresh produce, and the desire to reduce carbon footprints and save money. She hopes people will keep finding inspiration in it.
The book contains information about vegetables and herbs that are relatively easy to grow, although some (such as citrus, passionfruit, capsicum, lemongrass and basil) are more suited to climates warmer than Otago's - or at least in Dunedin they need to be grown under glass or on a sunny windowsill.
The book is family-oriented, including activities to encourage children's interest in gardening and cooking and to wean them away from plastic packages in the fridge.
Her next book will take things further, she says.
This extract is from Grow It, Cook It, by Sally Cameron, with photography by Charlie Smith. (Penguin, pbk, $50.)
Tomatoes
Lycopersicon lycopersicum A tomato plant in the garden is one of life's simple pleasures.
You soon realise that a tomato picked from its vine when ripe is very different and far superior to the greenhouse tomatoes we can buy readily all year round.
The difference is akin to eating a piece of chocolate compared to eating a piece of cardboard! Of course, it is a luxury that tomatoes are available in all seasons.
The Italians would harvest their pomodoros in the summer and spend days drying, peeling, and storing their love apples for use all year.
Picking & storing
Allow the fruit to ripen on the vine for the sweetest crop of tomatoes ever.
Be careful when touching the fruit before it has ripened as they can easily come away from the trusses upon which they grow.
• Fresh
Fresh fruit is best stored at room temperature, to continue developing its natural sweetness, but keeping tomatoes in the fridge is the easiest way to prolong their fragile life.
• Dried
Tomatoes can be dried in the sun or slow dried in the oven (see facing page).
• Freeze
Frozen tomatoes are good but the flesh tends to go pulpy and watery. It is better to transform the flesh before freezing. Pulp in a blender or make into a soup or sauce. Remove skin and seeds and the remaining flesh is easily stored in plastic bags or ice cube trays.
• Preserve
There are countless ways to preserve tomatoes - paste, puree, chutney, relish. This chapter outlines a few good ways to make use of your summer harvest.
Culinary uses
In our everyday cooking tomatoes go with just about anything. Best partnered with strong-flavoured herbs and cheeses, they can also be paired with soft melting cheese, seafood, chicken, and in fact any type of meat.
Basil of course is a natural accompaniment to any tomato dish, but then so too are oregano, onions, eggplant, courgettes and garlic.
In a casserole tomatoes provide a natural tenderising property. In Mexican or Italian food they often hold the chilli taste and give moisture to the base sauce.
In salads, they provide colour as well as soft texture and, of course, what would we do without fresh, sweet, vine-ripened tomatoes on toasted bread simply seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Cook's tip
• To remove the seeds from a tomato, use your fingers under running water, or use a teaspoon to pull away the inner watery sacks of seeds. Deseeding tomatoes is often a good idea because their watery centres can dilute the richer flavour of the flesh. It is especially good to deseed if making dishes with a chunky texture, such as salsas, or if you want a richly flavoured sauce. If a recipe doesn't specify this though, leave the seeds in as they do provide liquid.
• To peel a tomato, cut a small cross in the non-stalk end. Bring a pot of water to the boil. Drop each tomato, one by one, into the water and count for 20-30 seconds (no longer or they will become too soft and the flesh pulpy), then lift them out with a slotted spoon. Plunge into ice-cold water. Remove the cores and skin with a small sharp knife.
• Tomato sauce
Everyone should have a go at making tomato sauce at some time in their life. You appreciate where the complex flavours come from. If the tomatoes are from your garden, the next time you team tomato sauce with fish and chips you'll be so satisfied with your own sauce you'll never go back to the bought stuff. Makes about 6 cups.
3kg firm ripe tomatoes
2 onions, peeled
5 medium apples
1 cup white vinegar
2 Tbsp salt
750g brown sugar
½ tsp pepper
pinch cayenne
2 lemons, juice of
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole allspice
2.5cm-piece fresh
ginger root
Roughly chop tomatoes, onions and apples and place in a large heavy-based pot. Cover and bring to boil, simmer gently for 30 minutes, or until tomatoes and apples are soft and pulpy.
Cool slightly and push mixture through a sieve. Return sieved mixture to saucepan. Add vinegar, salt, sugar, pepper, cayenne and lemon juice. Tie whole cloves, whole allspice and ginger in a piece of muslin and add to tomato mixture.
Bring to boil, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Boil gently, uncovered for 1 hour Remove muslin bag, pour mixture into hot, sterilised jars or bottles and seal.
• Fresh tomato pasta sauce
In a large bowl combine 3 large peeled tomatoes with 3 cloves garlic, cup fresh basil leaves, 120g cream cheese, cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Let the sauce stand, covered at room temperature, for at least 1 hour. Just before serving, in a saucepan of boiling salted water cook your choice of pasta until al dente, drain it well, and add it piping hot to the sauce. Toss pasta well with sauce.
• Chilled tomato soup
Put 1 small deseeded red chilli, 1 peeled onion and 2 cloves garlic in a food processor and blend to a paste.
Add 1 deseeded red capsicum, 450g peeled and deseeded tomatoes, 50ml olive oil and 100g fresh white breadcrumbs and continue processing until vegetables are very smooth.
Tip mixture into a large bowl and stir in 600ml iced water. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours before serving. Garnish with chopped pepper, cucumber and tomatoes.
• Smoky tomato relish
A good-quality smoked paprika imparts the flavour to the tomatoes in this preserve. Alternatively, a smoked salt can be used. Makes about 1 cup.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
500g tomatoes, peeled and diced
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tsp smoked paprika
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft.
Add tomatoes and any juice. Cook for 3 minutes until reduced slightly.
Add sugar, sherry vinegar, smoked paprika, and season with salt and pepper.
Cook for 45 minutes until thick and reduced.
Serve warm or cold.
