Tomatillos
Also known as husk tomato, jamberry, miltomate or tomate verde. This small green to yellow member of the solanum family grows in a paper like cellulose husk. Tomatillo has been cultivated in Mexico and Guatemala since pre-Columbian times and has a very close relative further down south in the Andes: the aguaymanto from Cuzco.
But back to the tomatillo. It is one of the key ingredients in Mexican cuisine, preferably used during its firm, green stage, to make raw and cooked salsas or as a base in stews.
Chopped tomatillo with hot chilies, thinly sliced red onion, minced cilantro or parsley, a few spoonfuls of wine vinegar and olive oil and you have an excellent salsa to go with rice and beans or as a tortilla filling together with buttery avocado or perhaps some shredded meat. As tomatillo matures it turns yellow and the husk becomes brown and almost transparent. At this point it becomes sweeter. I wonder if one can make good jam with yellow tomatillos? yellow aguaymanto jam is superb.
But back to the tomatillo. It is one of the key ingredients in Mexican cuisine, preferably used during its firm, green stage, to make raw and cooked salsas or as a base in stews.
Chopped tomatillo with hot chilies, thinly sliced red onion, minced cilantro or parsley, a few spoonfuls of wine vinegar and olive oil and you have an excellent salsa to go with rice and beans or as a tortilla filling together with buttery avocado or perhaps some shredded meat. As tomatillo matures it turns yellow and the husk becomes brown and almost transparent. At this point it becomes sweeter. I wonder if one can make good jam with yellow tomatillos? yellow aguaymanto jam is superb.
