How green was my tomate...

My dear non French people,

Let me confess.

Last week, at the supermarket, I fell in love.

They were standing in front of me, big, confident, and generous… And, I must say, so sexy.

Really, don’t you adore those amazing green tomatoes ?

What could I do with them ?

 



As I went back to my car, of course I thought of Fried Green Tomatoes (specially the "parking lot Madness" scene, my favorite part of the movie)

Mais quoi… I can't lower myself to cook an american recipe !

Then it came back to my mind. 

A perfect end-of-summer day like this, a few years ago.

Somewhere in Lubéron.

One of my best culinary souvenir.

The day I tasted  Confiture de tomates vertes

Ingrédients

2 pounds of Green Tomatoes

20 oz of Sugar (I used raw)

Zest of an orange or a pomelo

I was a reporter for French TV and was assigned to do a segment about Edouard Loubet, a promising young chef.

I could tell you for hours of the walk he took us to, in the hills of Luberon, as he usually does to collect the strange herbs and wild flowers he uses in his cuisine.

Or of the unforgetable goat cheeses of Gianni, his shepherd friend (and the moutain dried ham he cut for us, mon Dieu !)

Or of the ecstatic face of my friend, sound engineer Michel, in the kitchen of the restaurant, facing an amount of black truffles he had never ever seen or imagined (oh, the parfum ! I couldn’t focus for the interview !)

But my best souvenir is the dinner the chef cooked for us. 

And this simple, but incroyable condiment he used : la Confiture de tomates vertes

Dice the tomatoes and mix them with the sugar and the zest.
 

Marinate for 24 h

 

Heat it in a pot (copper is best, but I used my good old cast iron), 

First on low, then on high, to 220 F, for 16 minutes.

Pour carefully in the pots.

Close them and let them rest upside down for a day.

The best way to enjoy this confiture is as I tested it there : with Foie Gras.

But now that we, in California, are banned from heaven, I suggest a replacement : a good tartine of fresh goat cheese.

Or just fly, as soon as you can, to Lourmarin. 
Say hello to the chef for me !
He now has two Michelin Stars and was just appointed Best chef of the year. Not bad !

Bon appétit !