Tomatoes come in a bewildering variety of cultivars and markets are not very particular in specifying variety, with most large tomatoes being referred to generically as beef tomatoes (牛蕃), and the smaller variety, which go variously under the name of cherry or plum tomatoes, as simply “small tomatoes” (小蕃). The classic Italian Roma tomato, which is at the heart of so much amazing Mediterranean cooking, is for the most part only available in cans. High quality cans of whole and chopped tomatoes are readily available, and certainly have a place in any larder, but they will never become a substitute for the fresh product.
It has been a bad year for tomatoes in Taiwan with little appealing fruit appearing in the markets, but the sight of some beautiful vine-ripened plum tomatoes from an amateur grower spotted last week reminded me of what I had been missing over the winter months. Reliance on cans of tomato concasse from Italy had been a welcome relief from sorting through tough and tasteless tomatoes in the market stalls, but it was time to get some of that fresh tomato flavor once again.
Nothing so directly reflects the history and flavors of tomatoes as a simple marinara sauce. The roots of this basic tomato-based sauce that has its origins in the port city of Naples are not entirely clear, though it is widely thought to have appeared on the Italian culinary scene in the mid 16th century, about the time that the Spanish introduced it from their newly acquired territories in the New World.
Photo: Ian Bartholomew
The tomato spread quickly, and became a pillar of Mediterranean cuisine. The Spanish brought the fruit to the Philippines, from where it spread through Southeast Asia. In Taiwan, small tomatoes are often eaten as a fruit, and large tomatoes are used in some versions of the ubiquitous beef noodle soup, and of course there is the family standard, scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
While tomatoes do not play a major part in Chinese cooking, the entrenched place that eggs with tomatoes occupies is reflected in the very active Internet debate about their correct preparation, which requires a delicate balancing act to keep the eggs soft and the tomatoes lively and refreshing.
One of the problems with such delicate and demanding tomato cuisine has nothing to do with the quality of the chef and everything to do with the debased quality of modern mass-market vegetables. The flavor of tomatoes has suffered greatly in the overwhelming desire to ensure that the fruit ripens a uniform red, and often tomatoes seem to provide nothing more than color and acidity rather than flavor to the dishes they appear in.
Photo: Ian Bartholomew
My personal epiphany in regard to tomatoes came when I moved to Hualien and ate organic plum tomatoes right off the vine. The tomatoes where not particularly red, and I approached the fruit, with mottled skins of red, green and yellow, with little expectation of enjoyment. They did not conform to the paradigm of tomato beauty. The flavor was a revelation and I now incorporate them into salads whenever I can.
Making soup with the local black leaf tomato (黑葉番茄, also known as 黑柿), a variety which has a less vibrant color, tinged with dark green, I discovered a flavor deeper than I had ever extracted from generic red tomatoes.
Tomatoes have a remarkable nutritional profile. They are widely known for their outstanding antioxidant content, including their rich concentration of lycopene. Researchers have found an important connection between lycopene, its antioxidant properties, and bone health, and their ability to help lower cholesterol gives its great advantages in the heart health area as well.
That said, tomatoes are members of the nightshade family, and leaves of tomato plants and unripe tomatoes may be toxic when ingested in excess. The high levels of acidity in the fruit can also lead to acid reflux in some people. A concern that is not directly attributed to the tomato itself is the effects from the high levels of sodium present in many brands of canned tomatoes, so if using these products, it is wise to exercise some care to avoid excessive intake of salt.
Fish in Marinara Sauce
Recipe
(serves 4)
The marinara sauce is a versatile sauce that can give flavor to even unpromising ingredients. While this dish can be raised up to gastronomic heights by the use of high quality fish like cod, I often throw in some filets of cheap white meat fish with excellent results. The acidity of the tomatoes gives a refreshing overtone to even relatively bland fish. One of the stories about the origins of the marinara sauce is that it was used by Italian mariners who found that the acidity acted as a preservative, making it useful on long sea journeys.
Ingredients
4 skinless fish fillets, approx. 150g each (white, firm fleshed fish such as mahi-mahi works best, but this is a robust preparation that can encompass any fish from mackerel to salmon)
1kg large tomatoes
500g cherry tomatoes
6-8 cloves garlic
1/2 cup red wine (optional)
1 stem basil
1 stem parsley
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
Handful of basil leaves to garnish
Directions
1. The large generic tomatoes that are the standard in local markets usually have quite a thick skin and it is best to remove this before cooking.
2. To do this, bring a large pot of water to the boil.
3. Cut an X in the base of the large tomatoes with a sharp knife and gently place them in the boiling water. Turn off heat and cover the pot for 5 minutes.
4. Remove the tomatoes. The skin should have peeled away from the flesh. When cool enough to handle, remove the skins and discard.
5. Chop the tomatoes.
6. The thin-skinned plum or cherry tomatoes can simply be halved or quartered.
7. Heat a quarter cup of olive oil in a deep skillet (this is preferable to using a deep pot, as it allows the tomato to cook down more quickly). Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
8. Add the tomatoes and bring to a vigorous simmer. Add the red wine if using.
9. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Place the stems of parsley and basil on top of the sauce but do not stir in, allowing them to wilt into the sauce during the cooking.
11. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook for approximately 40 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken.
12. While the sauce is cooking, season the fish fillets generously with salt and pepper.
13. When the sauce is ready, throw in the fish and cook for 5 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets.
14. Serve with a sprinkling of basil leaves.
Ian Bartholomew runs Ian’s Table, a small guesthouse in Hualien. He has lived in Taiwan for many years writing about the food scene and has decided that until you look at farming, you know nothing about the food you eat. He can be contacted at Hualien202@gmail.com.
And so, in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s trip to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), all the experts on the Strait of Hormuz suddenly became experts on US-China-Taiwan relations. The Internet has certainly expanded human knowledge. Lots of these sudden experts made noise this week about Trump’s words after the meeting with PRC dictator Xi Jin-ping (習近平). Trump is going to sell out Taiwan! Longtime Taiwan commentator J. Michael Cole summed the situation up neatly in the Guardian: “We need to keep in mind that he has a tendency to say many things — sometimes contradicting himself within
There is considerable frustration and confusion among many, both in Taiwan and abroad — including in Washington — as to why the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) seems so dead set on using their legislative leverage to slash defense spending and disrupt the ability of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration to function. Are they pawns of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)? Are they traitors? In reality, there are multiple reasons. In the first column in this series on this subject, “Donovan’s Deep Dives: How and why the TPP and KMT help Beijing” (Sat May 16, page 12), we examined three
It took 12 years and months of standing in the same mountain location for director Liang Chieh-te (梁皆得) to capture a few seconds of footage: Taiwan’s largest resident raptor locking talons with its mate and spinning through the air in a courtship ritual. With only about 1,000 left in the wild and very short flight windows, the mountain hawk-eagle remains among Taiwan’s most elusive birds. The species generally produces only one offspring per year. Using forest cameras, the film crew and research teams document the arduous process the monogamous pairs go through for the chick to hatch and grow up, weathering
May 25 to May 31 Few believed that apples could be cultivated on a commercial scale in Taiwan’s high mountains. When horticulturalist Cheng Chao-hsiung (程兆熊) first proposed the idea in 1955, both American and Taiwanese colleagues dismissed it as implausible, arguing that temperate fruit could not be reliably grown on a subtropical island, especially on rugged terrain. However, it was this terrain in the Central Mountain Range where many Chinese Civil War veterans were resettled in the late 1950s. With limited job prospects and no family in Taiwan, they were placed on cooperative farms aimed toward self-sufficiency. Some say the conditions
RSS