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Recipe for Aunty Lizzy's 'hot sauce' (an Ode to the tomato and its all-embracing freshness)

12/1/2013

 
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It's tomato season and the time is ripe for Aunty Lizzy's hot sauce
It’s impossible to ignore the bountiful supplies of rich red tomatoes that flood our produce markets throughout summer. With their vibrant colour, appetising aroma and tasty tang, tomatoes are the trademark ingredient for refreshing salads and light summertime meals.

And when it comes to summer tomatoes, there’s much to celebrate!  Without them, summer salads and salsas would be bland in colour and flavour, pasta would be positively plain, and basil would be a total bore. I think Pablo Neruda best summed it up in his Ode to Tomatoes, brilliantly praising the fruit for bringing inexhaustible sun to our salad bowls, and for granting us a festival of ardent colour and all-embracing freshness.
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When it comes to tomatoes, there's much to celebrate!
Summer was one of my favourite seasons when I worked at the produce markets. I would watch for the Italian families in droves who would visit the stall owned by Bruno and Salvatore. Boxes of plump, ripe Roma tomatoes walked out the door en masse and I knew 'the time was ripe'. Unlike other shoppers whose focus was passata, I would buy tomatoes to make what became known by my nieces and nephews as 'Aunty Lizzy's Hot Sauce'. It's simple and delicious, and a great accompaniment to all kinds of cooked meat. And it's especially good with cold, home made corned beef on a sandwich! Enjoy.
AUNTY LIZZY'S HOT SAUCE*
2-3kg ripe tomatoes, washed and chopped
250g Granny Smith apples, washed, peeled and sliced
250g onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 chilli, chopped
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 tablespoons sea salt
600 mls white vinegar

Place all of the ingredients into a deep, heavy based saucepan. Slowly bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer very gently for around two hours. Note, I use a simmer mat to prevent the sauce from catching in the pan. Meanwhile, sterilise your jars in the oven. If you wish, you can strain the sauce through a coarse strainer (per the original recipe), however, I quite enjoy the texture of the unstrained sauce. Ladle into hot jars and seal when cold. Store in the refrigerator. Makes about 8 cups. 

* My receipt is adapted from Tomato Sauce in The Commonsense Cookery Book 1975.

The process in pictures...

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Summer in a jar - a festival of ardent colour
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An ode to the tomato and its all-embracing freshness
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Do you make preserves during Summer? What's your favourite fruit or vegetable for this? Please feel free to share your recipe if you wish.
Laura (Tutti Dolci) link
10/1/2013 04:42:55 pm

Oh this sauce looks wonderful, I'll have to try it when my tomatoes are in season again :).

Lizzy
11/1/2013 04:14:45 pm

Laura, thank you! ; D

InTolerant Chef link
11/1/2013 09:50:24 am

This sounds yummy Lizzy, we love hot sauces and littlej actually got a huge bottle of smoky Tabasco in her Christmas stocking! I'd love to make it when my tomatoes go from being little green marbles to lovely red fruits :)

Lizzy
11/1/2013 04:15:17 pm

Sounds great Bec! Wish my tomatoes were doing better this season. Been buying them from the farmer's markets!

Eha
11/1/2013 02:39:07 pm

Absolutely love the simple purity and goodness and obvious taste of this one: have not made a sauce for quite a few years: next week for this: like the touch of curry powder too . . .

Lizzy
11/1/2013 04:15:39 pm

Hello there! It's an oldie but a goodie. Delicious too! ; D

Maureen link
11/1/2013 03:47:12 pm

I'm convinced! This looks so good. Is it really hot?

Lizzy
11/1/2013 04:16:21 pm

Hiya, not too hot, Maureen. My nieces and nephews were younger when I used to make it for them, hence they said 'Hot sauce', you can add more or less chilli.

Amanda link
12/1/2013 04:20:36 pm

Lovely pics again with your delicious recipe, Lizzy. I'm glad it's not too hot - I'm quite afraid of chilli.

Lizzy
12/1/2013 05:41:46 pm

Hi Amanda, not too hot at all... more piquant.... and you can use less chilli if you like. Thank you for your kind compliment ; D

kellie@foodtoglow link
12/1/2013 10:35:07 pm

As I wrote on Twitter, bookmarking this tomato sauce for our UK tomato season. Looks really flavoursome and perky. KInd of like a chow chow sauce, maybe? The thing I like preserving the most in our summer is berries. Just jam mostly but also in cordials too. My first go of the preserving calendar is wild garlic pesto (http://bit.ly/UIvDcv), then things with elderflowers, nettles and finally jam with our gorgeous Scottish berries (http://bit.ly/VWuYFC). I hope your extreme weather has calmed down a bit. Take care Miss LIzzie

Lizzy
13/1/2013 09:19:08 am

Hello Kellie... I've tasted chow chow... Charmaine Solomon used it when she visited my cooking school. When not straining it, some people may not like the cloves and the tomato skin, but personally I don't mind them. I have sometimes thickened the sauce with flour, but do prefer it this way. I must pop in and visit your blog and see your preserves. Elderflowers and nettles sound really interesting! Kellie, I am delighted to have a 'friend in food' in Scotland, particularly given the work you do! Thanks so much for stopping by. Seems a little cooler today. Keep in touch and happy cooking xo

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella link
13/1/2013 07:56:36 pm

I have been making use of all of this lovely produce-I can't help it! It's just so plentiful and good at the moment :)

Lizzy
15/1/2013 07:45:34 am

Aren't we blessed, Lorraine, to have access to this beautiful bounty of good food!

Glamorous Glutton link
14/1/2013 09:24:28 am

Great looking tomato sauce, there really is nothing like truly fresh preserves without all the additives found in the supermarket versions. Definitely one for the tomato season. GG

Lizzy
15/1/2013 07:46:36 am

Hello there GG! Thank you.... true, we just don't know what sort of additives are in the supermarket varieties. More preservatives, than preserves, methinks!

The Food Sage link
15/1/2013 10:59:44 pm

That's one good looking sauce, Lizzy. You should go into business!
Thanks for sharing your recipe. Can't wait to try it.

Lizzy
17/1/2013 03:44:14 am

Rachel, thank you. It's an old style recipe and one I've been making for years. Very different to the thick, rich bright red sauce you sometimes see, homemade or store bought. I like it.

Glenda link
17/1/2013 03:21:32 am

Hi Liz
That recipe looks good. Just the thing I need, I have tomatoes galore.

Lizzy
17/1/2013 03:44:55 am

Hi Glenda... you lucky lady! I wish I could say the same about mine. What varieties are you growing? What's your secret to a bountiful harvest?

Purabi Naha
17/1/2013 03:47:42 am

One of my new year resolutions is to cook/bake new things in the kitchen and to grow my own herbs. This recipe looks fantastic! I have to give this a try!!

Lizzy
17/1/2013 03:48:06 am

Thank you for visiting ; )

Yasmeen @ Wandering Spice link
19/1/2013 05:24:00 pm

What a wonderful recipe - I've been brainstorming ideas to put our huge tomato crop to use. My husband is a fiend for spicy food, and I'm sure combining that with his own homegrown tomatoes would be the icing on his cake. Great share!

Lizzy
20/1/2013 02:28:40 am

Hello there... thank you! It is an old one but I do love it. I hope your husband enjoys it. Bear in mind that it's not a thick sauce. Thanks for visiting, too.

leaf (the indolent cook) link
6/2/2013 07:53:01 pm

Looks so good! I'm imagining this on some BBQ delights for a super flavour experience.

Lizzy
7/2/2013 06:16:32 am

Absolutely! ; D


Comments are closed.

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Good Things is written and published by Liz Posmyk © 2011-2020.   All rights reserved.
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