Cooking in Umbria: Tomato Water

                              

I'll be recounting the culinary highlights of my trip to Umbria and Tuscany over the course of the upcoming weeks (maybe months.  Hey, what can I tell you.  I ate, drank and cooked the entire time!).  I begin today by recapping a few of the interesting dishes we made while staying at our Umbrian villa.

Our family and friends rented a villa right near Lake Trasimeno, just south of Perugia.  The shot from above is a view from the villa.  More villa shots to come later, I'm sure.

But for now, the topic is tomato water.  During our stay at the villa, my uncle, our friend Joe and a host of other family and friends helped us cook each night for the other 18 friends and family staying in the villa.   The night we made tomato water was the last night of our stay. Since it was our last night, we need to use everything we had procured from the markets over the previous days. 

Part of the fun of staying in the villa was stumbling upon the amazing fruits and vegetables at the markets in Umbria and being able to cook with them.  In this case, we picked up beautiful, bursting-at-the-seams tomatoes.  We had an abundance of tomatoes, so with the need to use them all before we left, my uncle and I made tomato water.  We simply salted the roughly chopped tomatoes and placed them into a colander above a bowl.  After 20 or so minutes, you'll get the natural juices of the tomato that the salt helped release from the fruit.  We reserved the roughly chopped tomatoes for a tomato salad. 

The result was a cold tomato juice that had a burst of fresh tomato flavor, but with a clean, fluid texture. It lacked the thickness of tomato juice, which was the key difference that I enjoyed most.  We intended to poach freshwater shrimp in the tomato water, than chill both the shrimp and tomato water and serve them cold as a refreshing, light main course.  But since the fish stores had closed by the time we made it to them, we had a dinner of amazing flavorful local sausages.  Boo hoo.  But we served the tomato water, very cold, in shot glasses as a refreshing start to the meal.  I just added some ground black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice to the tomato water shot.

When I got home, one of the first things I made was the shrimp poached in tomato water.  It was  very successful and refreshing for a hot night.  Just make the tomato water as above.  Clean the shrimp and season them, then bring the tomato water to a simmer.  Add the shrimp until just cooked.   Take them out and shock them for a minute in cold ice water, just to stop the cooking.  Keep them in the fridge.   Bring the tomato water to room temp, then place in the fridge to chill.  To serve, just ladle some of the cold tomato water into a bowl, garnished with a few shrimp. A little lemon juice and pepper rounded out the dish.  You could add herbs (I used parsley), but the first time you make this, I would just concentrate on enjoying the flavor of the tomato water. 

Comments

[Uncle Beef]

Yes the tomato water was amazing. Salt quality is critical, please use coarse sea salt. Would be fun as the glut on ripe tomatoes to try some other flavors as well, abit of raw garlic or fresh Zatar powder come to mind. I would try an alternate method for the shrimp as well. First prepare the tomato water as described in your article, chill very thoroughly and then place the bowl of T-water in a larger bowl filled with ice. We want this very cold. Next cook the shrimp very briefly in intensely boiling salted water for a minute or so, scoop them out quickly with a slotted spoon or spider, let drain a moment and THEN plunge into the chilled T-water. They suck up that wonderful freshness like a sponge. Cool down and chill, then serve. Last comment I find the remaining tomatoes for my midwestern taste somewhat odd in a salad, would use as a topping for pizza, brushetta, foccacia etc.

Thanks, Beef

[joe]

excellent. you will now be referred to as Beef in all future posts.

Great idea re: shocking in cold tomato water. will give it a try.

[Dave]

I just attended a supremely impressive and ultimately luscious food and wine tasting and benefit for and at the Culinary Vegetable Institute in Milan, Ohio. One of the simplest but most memorable tastings there was what the particular chef called "Tomato Water Gazpacho." It was a clear solution of tomato water, a hint of cucumber water, light salt, and finished with the addition of finely shredded lump crab meat. Simply - luscious. I can't imagine how many tomatoes had to be used to release enough clear liquid to yield a three tablespoon portion for over 500 guests!

P.S.: Discover the CVI and it's Veggie U program - committed to fostering the synergy between educational, nutritional, and agricultural goals to combat the rising epidemic of childhood obesity. Visit them at www.culinaryvegetableinstitute.com/