#44 [Tomatoes are photogenic]

I was going to post something about black and white photography but I couldn't resist to the gorgeous light coming through the window and to re-create one of the most well known Italian delicacies:  Bruschetta.

Fact is that this week I have been to a restaurant together with my friend S. (the same from the bacalhau of yesterday's post) and they served a delicious amuse: mini tomato bruschetta. I was amazed how tasty it was. I have had it before but I couldn't recall of it being so nice. S., which is a real Italian, told me it was very simple to make and it is really easy. You can find this same recipe all over internet and on all culinary books I have, there is at least one variation.


But I kept questioning that something was very apart on that bruschetta... I could sense some notes of balsamico in it... so I decided to try it myself.



Basic ingredient must be tomatoes. Get good ones (these are Tasty Toms) but important is: they should be ripe. Not smashed, not hard. Ripe.

Wash them (oh what a nice picture! What a contrast among the green and the red!)





Cut them in the middle.




Hollow them,




And cut them in small pieces. And here comes the second tip and that is what, in my opinion, contributed to the "tastyness"of the bruschetta I ate at the restaurant: tiny pieces! For that you need to have a very sharp knife. Mine is just back from the sharpen service and it can cut even thoughts.





Now the basil: chop chop chop chop it. Thin!




Add to the tomatoes.



Now the olive oil. A good one. A Greek one... Greece has the best light and colors to photograph and also the best olive oil in face of earth.




Be generous...




And now another small tip: a good balsamico. This I brought from Italy and it is a very good one. It is thick. Nothing you can get at the supermarket, unfortunately. May be on the big warehouses that sell supplies to restaurants... or delicatessen. For my taste, I did not soak the tomatoes in balsamico! For the amount of tomatoes I had one full tablespoon. It is enough for me. Proof it!





Now the bread. I used nuts bread, real integral, heavy bread. Most people use Ciabatta but this heavy bread is a tip from Jamie's Italy cookbook.




Tip from Selma: pour some olive oil on a plate and...




Let the bread absorb it a bit.



Fry it on a pan until it gets crunchy.






A Mozzarella ball,  sliced... And you are ready to mount the plate.





I must say: it was ten times better than in the restaurant (which was already very very good). And it was the best bruschetta I have ever had, Italian ones included. I think the balsamico has contributed a lot and most of all, the texture of the bread, full of small nuts... man, was to eat and pray and cry. Mr. M was howling in delight (and me too) while Bigson ate a hotdog (poor kid, doesn't like tomatoes).

Back to photography: I loved those pictures. Light is getting back to the northern parts of earth and it makes a lot of difference. I have a big window in the kitchen, perfect to photograph. Much better (in my opinion) than the artificial flash lighting. For the past months, I have fiddling with flash lighting but I really really don't like it. Now that light is back I see the amazing difference, specially to photograph food. How I like it!

Who wants to write a cookbook?! I do the photographic part!