According to the surrealist poet André Breton, “a man who can’t visualise a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot”. Perhaps I watched too many crazy tomato ketchup TV advertisements in the 1980s to find it difficult to imagine a tomato doing anything.
"Irish" tomatoes may seem to many to be an oxymoron, considering the plant originally hails from South America. However, tomatoes grow well in Ireland. August is the time to support these growers, so get out there and try and source a good juicy tomato. For many, tomatoes are always red, but did you know they come in a multitude of different colours? Yellow, green and black are just a few, as well as stripped and bulbous ones.
The most important thing to consider when buying tomatoes is their taste. Of course, you may say that you cannot simply walk around the supermarket tasting tomatoes. This is one of the benefits of being in a market, particularly if you’re trying smaller cherry tomatoes. The tomato should be aromatically succulent, softly acidic and a little sweet.
Tomatoes and Toons Bridge mozzarella
Toons Bridge Dairy was established in 2011 and is the sister company of the wonderful and forward-thinking The Real Olive Company, which began life in 1993 in the English Market in Cork, when Toby Simmonds, aged 20, took a small stall at the Princes Street end of the market.
When I lived in Cork during my student days at UCC, where I studied art history and English in the early 2000s, I loved getting all sorts of wonderful Mediterranean produce from this stall.
Tomatoes pair wonderfully with mozzarella, especially the fresh, creamy variety that Toby produces. I would resist calling this a salad because salads for Irish people always need to include leaves.
Slice the tomatoes gently and season with sea salt, olive oil, a little lime and some freshly cracked black pepper. Tear a few basil leaves and add to the tomato mix. Just before serving, tear as many mozzarella balls as you need and fold them into the tomatoes. Eat immediately.
