A day in tomato world

Eric et moi have always believed that a restaurant should offer food that is seasonal, local when possible (obviously, there is nothing locally grown in Utah from November to April). We have lived by that credo ever since the beginning.... Despite the farm-to-the-table / nose-to-tail claims of some newcomers who pose as food trendsetters, we have been faithful to our philosophy since our inception....

Yesterday we once again set out to put our principles in action....
Eric spent half the day in my back yard, cleaning tomato plants, fending off bad weeds and snails ( we do not EVER use chemicals), and finally harvesting oodles of San Marzano tomatoes.


This year, we decided to can tomato sauce rather than peeled whole tomatoes, since we invariably crush the latter to make a sauce anyway. The finished product is a very simple sauce putting the tomatoes at the center of the stage.... No "adornments", no masking flavors of oregano, onion or any other vegetable; and most certainly no sugar which would tame the precious San Marzano acidity we so value. Just the tomatoes, a hint of sliced Siberian purple garlic and Italian parsley from our friend John at Ranui Gardens, et voila!!!




Sounds amazingly simple, romantique, rustique, even pastoral, dare I write???

Well, it's anything but!!!!

Preparing, blanching and peeling 70 pounds of minuscule San Marzano tomatoes is not for the impatient and/or the meek.... It takes a lot of meticulous patience and half the day before even thinking of starting the sauce itself, let alone the canning process.....






The canning process took place in my back yard, on my portable stove, a 60,000 BTU behemoth, and the result yielded surprisingly few jars, only 24 quarts altogether for 70 pounds of tomatoes (see pictures) below

It was a long day, a lot of work, but in the end and with 2 more days like this we will have many jars for the long winter ahead, both for our homes and the restaurant....

Ah the sweet (local) bounty of summer!!!