A thing about tomatoes...

So I have this thing with tomatoes. I don’t particularly dislike them, but I don’t really like them either. It is not the texture or the taste or any one thing necessarily … sounds kind of like a Dr Seuss story or one of those “it’s not you, it’s me” scenarios.

I love eating tomatoes when I go out, in a pretty bowl, prepared by someone else, seasonal and bursting with flavour and beautifully presented. A warm tomato soup or a Bloody Mary - absolutely not - a chilled gazpacho or salmoreja in a cozy tapas bar in Sevilla, any day! A simply prepared tomato salad with tuna and a splash of sherry vinegar or a pan con tomate with some jamon for breakfast on a beautiful square in Spain - I’m sold. Cherry tomatoes in a salad at home or elsewhere, I will pick out every last one and pass them on to my husband. It’s definitely me and now that I put all that in writing, I may just like tomatoes in Spain!

Tomatoes around the world...

Locally, tomatoes are a market staple, used daily in most homes in everything from egg dishes to salads and tagines.

Morocco is a major global exporter of tomatoes, shipping over 750,000 tons annually. It ranks among the top three tomato exporters worldwide, with its exports having more than tripled since 2005. A significant portion of these tomatoes go to Europe.

While this is of course great for the economy, it does raise questions about long-term sustainability challenges. Morocco is a water stressed country, and intense groundwater depletion for agriculture, including tomato production, adds significant pressure to its already limited water resources.

Earlier this year Morocco faced challenges with rising domestic tomato prices, which reportedly resulted in a temporary halt on exports to African markets and partial restrictions to Europe. These alleged measures were intended to stabilise local supply and address consumer concerns over rising prices. The government has often implemented such measures for staple products since we’ve lived here, and I am sure for a very long time before that. This year there was also restrictions on sardine exports and in 2023, olive oil.

Many of the tomatoes that do not meet export standards reach the local markets, and cherry tomatoes are abundant. I also recently started picking up beautiful, plump beefsteak tomatoes grown in Agadir.

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In Season

The vegetable garden is a wild, blooming chaos, with cherry tomatoes, peas, baby cucumbers, and courgette plants all blossoming. While the nasturtiums and the bolted parsley spread uncontrollably with the excuse they are good for the bees (I can’t bear to pull them out)! I don’t think I will ever get bored of the miracle of plants and how they change daily.

My children gifted me lemon and lime trees for Mother’s Day. The perfect gift! Adding to the olive tree they gifted me a few years back and hopefully some orange trees for my upcoming birthday (hint, hint), our little orchard is taking shape.

Olives and lemons in the making!

The wildflowers are still abundant but slowly disappearing, or rather changing, as every few days there seems to be a few new varieties which don’t last very long. The grasses are starting to brown and fall over and I know soon they’ll be gone until next year.

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On the menu

In an attempt to overcome my quirky tomato situation, I have been trying to find different ways of using them as hopefully our tomato plants will be thriving this year!

Slow Roasted Cherry tomatoes with cinnamon

I first tried these 18 years ago at the riad in Fez where we always stay and I’ve enjoyed them several times over the years. The combination has always intrigued me. If you think about it, tomatoes and cinnamon are in fact paired frequently in tagines and other dishes here so it’s a logical match. In the book The Flavour Thesaurus, Niki Segnet says - “Cinnamon adds a warm bass note to shrill tomato” - a good description. She references the combination in dishes like meatballs, lamb shanks, prawns and aubergines.

They are perfect as part of a Moroccan salad starter, with some fresh goats cheese as a canapé or as a little something unusual on an antipasti platter.

How to : Halve cherry tomatoes, mix with some olive oil, ground black pepper and some ground cinnamon. Slow roast on a baking sheet for about two hours in a low oven at 100ºC. Once cooked, sprinkle a bit more cinnamon on them.

In Salads

Two dishes that were inspired by these tomatoes we had in Cape Town at Ouzeri. Possibly one of the most delightful tomato dishes I have ever had! Fresh, small peeled green cherry tomatoes with some dill and hibiscus vinegar on a bed of whipped feta. I made two versions of these recently, both slightly different and I will definitely be trying some more variations over the summer.

Dill & Smoked Crème Fraîche:

Toss peeled tomatoes with dill oil, sherry vinegar, and some more chopped dill if you like. Serve on lightly smoked crème fraîche (a small handheld smoker works wonders for quick dishes like this!).

Cassis Vinegar & Olive Oil

Whip some feta with milk and black pepper, then top with tomatoes dressed in cassis vinegar, peppery olive oil, and microgreens.

** To easily peel cherry tomatoes, boil some hot water in a pot and slice a small, shallow cross on the tip of each tomato. Submerge the tomatoes briefly (not more than a minute or two) in the hot water and immediately plunge into iced water. The skins will peel off easily.

Tomatoes are of course perfect for chutneys and jams. Not too sweet and a good base to add different flavour profiles to. I made two versions this week, a chutney with cardamom and a jam with cinnamon - the recipes need some tweaking so I wont share these until they are workable! The jam recipe is adapted from the Paula Wolfert book, Couscous and Good Food, where it is used in a Chicken Tagine.

Tomato and cinnamon jam and tomato and cardamom chutney

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Books and Travel

I mentioned The Flavor Thesaurus above by Niki Segnit. She has also authored The Flavor Thesaurus: More Flavors – Plant-Led Pairings, Recipes, and Ideas for Cooks and Lateral Cooking.

Certainly not conventional cookbooks, more like very useful trusty companions to refer to. The two Flavour Thesaurus books have literally hundreds of flavour combinations, so if you need to know things like, does cinnamon and tomato really work, she has the answer. Lateral Cooking is a guide that explores how cooking techniques and ingredients connect across dishes. A great way to better understand the relationships between various methods and how you can adapt and improvise these at home.

If flavour and practicality are your thing, they are all excellent resources to have.

Do you have any strange food likes and dislikes? Or again - is it just me?

Till next week,

Wendy