Can One Be Inspired By A Giant Tomato?

If you are in Turkey right now, or about to travel, you should definitely not return without having tasted the ultimate Turkish tomato!

It’s that time of the year when all the seasonal fruit and vegetable are in abundance scattered across the local food markets all over Turkey. But one fruit in particular stands out most and that’s the giant juicy red tomatoes. It’s no surprise when I read somewhere that due to its geography and climate, Turkey ranks third globally in tomato production. I was even more surprised that 70% is consumed fresh whilst the remainder is processed, of which only 10% is canned – so the rest is pretty good stuff. So, if you’re lucky enough to visit this amazing country be sure to taste one of those amazing organic tomatoes.

I remember on one of my holidays to Turkey, I could see the locals selling jars and jars of this tomato paste across the local market stalls, and at the time I was thinking ‘wow there is so much of this just everywhere’ now the statistics are making a lot more sense.

Some stall holders were even displaying them cut through the middle to tempt buyers with their juicy redness – and yes it was working..

Recently I have been experimenting in kitchen trying to really steer clear of using any canned products and really going down the organic path route for a healthier well-being. With this mind, one day on clearing out the airing cupboard I realised how much tin tomato I used for my cooking, then at that point a little bell rang, and I remembered these amazing fresh juicy tomatoes I’d seen in Turkey and how the locals were really utilising their assets.

That was it; I was going to make my own tin tomato! And off I went into research frenzy on how to make the best version possible, and in fact nearly all my sources were pointing in the same direction. A very simple way of converting your juicy tomatoes into your own ‘jarred tomato’ for every day cooking, look no where else, enjoy the experience.

Makes up to 10 jars of tomato for everyday cooking and will last you months..

What you need: 8.5kg of organic tomatoes Hot water 10 medium size glass jars Salt

The process: 1. Put all your fresh tomatoes in a large deep pan of hot water

2. Bring water to the boil, then remove the tomatoes and peel the skin

3. Place them into a blender and mix but not to a smooth texture, a chunky texture is what you are looking for. Then place this mixture back into the pan with a pin

4. At the same time as step 3, sterilize all your glass lids in a separate pan of boiling water, and line up your jars ready to fill.

5. Once you have filled the jars, you must ensure you tighten the lids very securely, and the trick to this is that you must turn the glass jars upside down! Set all the jars somewhere cool & dry upside down, so once they are fully cooled down you can then put them all back upright and place them in your airing cupboard.

And there you have it Organic Fresh Jarred Tomato!

It’s amazing what inspirations you pick up along your travels, and this is just a simple example of mine…

By Rasme Ozdemir

Have you had any inspiration while on holiday? What was yours?