Producing fresh, local produce is something that the Kasbah Tamadot team have put a lot of time and effort towards over the past couple of years. You may remember last year, the gardening team expanded the vegetable garden in the hotel grounds, planting a huge variety of vegetables for guests to enjoy all year round (if you didn't get the chance you can still read it here).
For all those tomato-aficionados out there, you'll be pleased to hear that tomato season 2017 is now in full swing. 20 different species of tomato have been planted and as you can see from the pictures, the team are already sampling the fruits of their labours.
It was in fact Head Chef, Benoit's, idea to re-introduce different varieties of tomato that people aren't that familiar with to the Kasbah Tamadot menu. Here's some of the more unusual tomato varieties they're growing:
Blue Fruit - Big, bushy, potato-leaf plants which yield round, purple-grey tomatoes with unique, rich and robust flavours
Marmande - Popular old French variety. Scarlet, lightly ribbed fruit which have a full rich flavour
Hawaiian Pineapple - The flesh of this variety of tomato is a distinctive mottled yellow and red. Their flavour is sweet, fruity and not too dissimilar from that of the pineapple (hence its name!)
Black cherry - Beautiful black cherry tomatoes which look like large, dusky purple-brown grapes and have a very rich flavour
If you've relished from all this juicy tomato-chat and want to create your own tomato-based dish, here's a simple, delicious recipe from Benoit for you to recreate at home:
Fresh tomatoes with a tomato chutney
Ingredients (serves 4)
Tomatoes
Mixed heritage tomatoes 800g
(The Kasbah Tamadot garden produces many varieties, including beefsteak, evergreen, beauty queen and black Russian!)
Tomato Chutney
Plum tomatoes 500g
Sugar 100g
Sherry vinegar 30g
Cinnamon powder 2g
Star Anise 2
Method
- To make the tomato chutney, peel the plum tomatoes, scoop out the seeds and chop roughly
- Cook in a pan on a low heat with the sugar, cinnamon powder and star anise until you have a chutney consistency
- Drizzle the sherry vinegar to finish
Presentation
- Arrange the tomatoes on a serving plate. Drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with some rock salt.
- Serve the tomato chutney on the side and enjoy!
