Juicy and oh so Sweet

It could be imagined that this discussion is about a gorgeous strawberry, ripened raspberry or blackberry, an apple, pear or the immortal ever luscious drippingly wonderful Mango.

The humble Tomato? Originating in Mexico, Central and South America, it has been under cultivation since roughly 500BC. Aztecs were already using different varieties in their cooking when the Spaniards arrived in the 1500’s for their plunder and rape of the people and resources. It was the Spaniards who took the tomato plant back to the rest of the World.

China’s given name translates to “Foreign Eggplant”, which makes sense considering Tomatoes are close cousins of both the potato and eggplant. They are all part of the Solanum genus, with the wild ancestor being Solanum pimpinellifolium, a tomato no larger than a Pea.

Supermarket tomatoes in Malaysia, even if the outside appears ripened red in colour, cut them open, slice and taste and they tend to resemble something not much better than vinegar drops on cardboard. I have tried to ripen further at home before using but alas my experienced tomato taste buds are forever disappointed. I did grow some cherry tomatoes one year here and they did have a measure of illicit sweetness, but very tough skin.

Home grown? The family has a long tradition of growing the tomato. Childhood days helping my Pop and Dad build some poly plastic hot houses in his Lenah Valley backyard. In with the soil, hanging wires, a big tub and his favoured Grosse lisse tomatoes.

That big tub? Some water in there and Pops magic tomato fertiliser brew gets fermented. We did much fishing during those days, most of the catch from the D’entrecasteaux Channel. I recall many fish bits being placed in the brew. As for the other secret ingredients? Is anyone’s guess. The aroma sometimes overpowering. The result of this liquid magic resulted in the most astonishing tomato crops – big, red and oh so juicy and sweet!

Pop regularly sold the harvest to local grocers for many years. Plenty of homemade tomato sauce and chutneys were cooked, peeled and simmered each year. Bottles and seals recycled and diligently cleaned each year ready for the deep red sweet brew. Bought tomato sauce just doesn’t cut it in taste.

The family has continued with the tomato staple, restricted to cooler climate of Tasmania. In February this year, I started receiving pics of juicy, ripe homegrown tomatoes red, orange and yellow in colour via my sister’s growing collection. She was also posting the resultant sauce cooked up and some of the yummy stuff she was combining it with. (See the Tomato Sauce recipe at the end. Is simple and quick to make)

Archived childhood aroma memories came to life, and the uncontrollable saliva glands started doing their thing. Michele was unrelenting in the photos sent and her words written. It was food torture at its darkest which was finally resolved when I visited about a month later in March.

Various meat pie varieties became the default lunch while I was renovating the weathered timber deck outside the kitchen. Healthy doses of the tomato sauce were applied with rigor. By the time I left ten days later, the aroma and taste thirst has been quenched. How long will it be quenched for? Not much longer as I despairingly view the all colour and no substance tomatoes bought yesterday.

Was fascinating to view the end of season plants, some about 1.5 metres tall, but all seriously drooped with fusarium wilt, blight and some white fly to top off their decaying state. All still producing fruit, and some with matured fruit waiting for a desperado like me to pluck and bite.

Truly remarkable that the plants were still giving right to their season end until they desperately scream – euthanize me and we did. Cut up, roots pulled and grow bags emptied of the soil until new seedlings under cover are hatched in September and planted out in late October for the season to roll on again.

After the juiciest visit this year, am pretty certain the same time next year will result in the tomato taste buds being ignited again.