L
astsummerwemadean
investment.Wedidn’tsink
ourhard-earnedintomining
orretailshares,noteveninto
more farmer-friendlycarboncredits.
Ourinvestmentwasina smooth,
shiny,hard-workingItalian.
Autumninthetemperatemarket
gardenis anepicmarathon,whenthe
opposingforcesofseedingandharvest
overlap– missa sowingnowandyou’ll
havenoturnipsorkaleforwinterharvest,
andnobroccoliforearlyspring.Leave
a tomatointhefieldanda strayfrost
willturnit tomushovernight.
Crateaftercrateoftomatoesmustbe
luggedquicklytothesafetyofthepacking
shed,forif youturnyourbacka moment
toolongthecurrawongswillspotyour
harvestandplungetheirlong,blackbeaks
deepintotheliteralfruitsofyourlabour.
Attheendofa dayspentracing
birdsandfroststhecouchbeckons.But
nosolaceis tobefoundthere;thosecrates
of tomatoes won’t process themselves.I feelimmensegratitudewhenI go
insideandseemynewItalianfriend,
a whizz-bangelectricpassatamill,
gleamingonthekitchenbench.
A mouliis a wonderfultool,
de-seedingandskinninginonefell
swoop,butlastautumn,aftera great
crop,processinghundreds
ofkilosoftomatoesleft
mefeelinglikeanarcher
fromthefantasynovelsof
myyouth,witha bulging,
overdevelopedrightarm
fromhoursofwinding
afteranalreadyexhausting
day.MynewItalianfriend
apparentlyhasthepower
oftwoanda halfhorses,
allinvestedinmushingandde-seeding
tomatoes– thusturningtheagonising
workofhoursintoa doddleofminutes
thatthechildrenargueoverthechanceto
helpwith.Sothepoormouliis relegated
tothebackofthekitchencupboard,
much to the relief of my right arm.MynewItalianfriend
apparentlyhas
thepoweroftwo
anda halfhorses,
allinvestedin
mushingand
de-seeing tomatoes.Whenwewanttopreservetomatoes
forsalewehavetohirea kitchen,so
poppingmyItalianfriendintothe
vanalongwiththecratesoftomatoes
meanswecanmakethemostofour
day’sinvestmentincouncil-sanctioned
stainlesssteelandsellTasmanianpassata
toTasmaniankitchensfora reasonable
price.Wealsofillbasketsforthejourney
withheadsofgarlictoberoastedwhole
andfedintothemillalongwiththe
tomatoes.Weplucktherichlyscented
floweringheadsofbasiltotuckintojars
justbeforeweprocessthemina waterbath- addthemanysoonerandthey’lllose
theirmagic.Branchesofbay,thyme,
oreganoandsagejointheparty,too,all
addingtheirextrasavouryflavourstothe
alreadydelicioustomatoes,andmaking
a winterpastadishtheworkofmoments.
I cannotimaginea winterwithout
tomatoes– spaghettiBolognese,ragù,
lasagne,minestrone.Themilleven
makeshomemadetomatopastea doable
proposition,anda BloodyMarymade
withourveryownfruitis thebestway
towarma winterbrunch.
Thereis a peculiarcorrelationbetween
whenanearlyfrostis forecastandtherare
occasionwegetdolleduptogooutfor
dinner.It seemsthatonenight,latein
April,alwaysseesusalightingfromthecar
aftersomemerrymakingandheadingto
thegarden,armsladenwithhousehold
linentodrapeoverfrost-tendertomatoes,
squashandtomatillosinthehopeof
ripeningjusta fewmorekilos.
And if, afterallthateffort,westill
fancyfightingtheweather
tostretchtheharvest,we
maypulltheplantsfrom
thegroundandhang
themupside-downunder
theeaveswherefruithas
beenknowntocontinue
toripenwellintoJune- lackingtheflavourof
sun-kissedsummerfruit,
butwelcomeallthesame
tofreshenupa wintersandwich.
Thecurrawongsoftenhavethelast
laugh,though,descendingfromtheskies
tostealthelastofthefruit.ButI’llfeel
evenmoregratitudeforthatshinyItalian
who helpedmetuckamplefruitintomy
larder to help get me through winter.●
- lackingtheflavourof
Extendingthetomatoharvestdeepintowinterisa breeze
with a new best friend, writesPAULETTE WHITNEY.
Major crush
40 GOURMET TRAVELLERProduce
ILLUSTRATION DAWN TAN.