Cultures and Tomato Dishes

Unless you have an allergy or other aversion to tomatoes, it is likely that you grew up with some sort of tomato as part of the food you ate.  But there are many cultures where the tomato, while not unknown is hard to come by and rarely used. For example the tomato, being a "new world" food was not present in traditional Chinese cooking - although now days it has been incorporated in to at least a few menu items such as Tomato Beef. Japanese cuisine has also adopted the tomato and it is of note that tomatoes are featured heavily in vegan recipes.

Cultural cuisine transplants are also apparent in at least some African cuisines (and there are a number of these).  However, the tomato along with chile peppers were brought to African by their European colonial conquerors. We can also see that European cuisines adopted the tomato and developed a number of recipes for them.  And although maybe they are less used in the far northern climates due to the conditions needed for growing them, a quick perusal of the Internet shows that the tomato is present in at least a few dishes in most (if not all) northern European cuisines.

I challenge the reader to find the most unusual use of the tomato in any given cuisine.  If you also have the recipe, I will publish it (with correct attributions of course) on this blog.

In the meantime, here is a recipe for a cheesy, tomato frittata.  It makes a good weekend breakfast of brunch item and can be refrigerated for later when you can re-heat or simply bring it up to room temperature.  If this is a lunch or dinner item, serve with your favorite white wine - my favorites would be a Granache Blanc or perhaps an Albarino from WineShop At Home.  Salude!

Cheesy Egg and Tomato Frittata

Ingredients

½ lb ripe cherry or grape tomatoes – heirlooms or home grown have the best flavor

1 scallion sliced fine

5 oz Brie; rind scraped off, cut into cubes
2 oz Mozzarella cheese; grated
1 oz Fontinella cheese; grated (or use a similar softer cheese – even Havarti can be nice)

2 T Chopped fresh oregano  (1 T dried)

1/3 c Chopped fresh basil
4 lg Eggs

½ tsp kosher salt

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp Spike (optional)
½ c Heavy cream (can sub half & half, but use only 1/3 c)
¼ c Milk

Olive Oil

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
• Wash and drain the tomatoes thoroughly on paper towels. Cut the cherry or grape tomatoes in half and set aside
• Lightly oil a medium-sized cast iron pan and start to warm on a medium flame on the stove top.
• Beat the eggs, cream, milk salt and pepper and fold in Basil and Oregano.
• Pour the egg mixture into the warming pan – if the egg mixture begins to solidify too quickly lower the heat under the pan.
• Add the cubed Brie to the egg mixture, placing the cheese cubes evenly around the pan in the egg mixture.
• Add the grated mozzarella and fontinella over the egg mixture.
• Place the tomatoes on top of the cheese just added.
• Remove the pan from the stove-top and place in the oven to bake for 35-45 mins. or until the center is set (use a very skinny knife or a toothpick to test).
  

Carefully remove the pan from the oven and set atop a stove grate or on a trivet. Allow the frittata to cool 10-15 mins. before you cut to serve. 

Slice frittata into wedges to serve.

Serve with a simple spinach or romaine salad dressed with a vinaigrette.