Hi all! I've been having a blast harvesting honey every couple weeks this whole summer, but the season is almost over and I'm looking at pulling my last few frames this weekend before leaving the rest to the bees for their winter. So it's time for a non-bee related topic!
The last Veggie Highlight I did (on the Japanese sweet potato) was over 2 years ago so I'm MORE than overdue for a new one. And if you follow this blog, you know my Veggie Highlights will give you the basics, a few cooking ideas, along with a few crazy factoids thrown in.
On my last trip to Maple Acres Farm, my local farmstand, I picked up some heirloom tomatoes and a few tomatillos. While I love Mexican dishes including salsa verde and have enjoyed tomatillos in a variety of restaurant dishes, I had actually never cooked with them before. Tomatillos will be in season pretty much at the same time as tomatoes, even a little longer into Fall so you should be able to find them easily at your local farmers market right now. Figured this was a perfect opportunity for both you and me to learn something new, right?
Tomatillos are a small green fruit in the nightshade family native to Mexico and Central America. Nightshades include your tomatoes, potatoes, tobacco, peppers, and eggplants. Tomatillos are also called husk tomatoes, jamberries, or Mexican tomatoes. You will know them by the distinctive paper-like husk that surrounds them. Inside, they look like a large green cherry tomato.
The Aztecs, with their advanced farming practices, are credited for domesticating this plant around the 1300's. The Aztec word for tomato was xitomatl and for tomatillo was miltomatl. The more general word, 'tomatl' just meant something round and plump. So even though they are from 2 different plant families, when the Spanish conquistadors brought back various Aztec foods from their travels, they referred to both as 'tomatoes', and the miltomatl, being the smaller in size, became 'tomatillo'.
Factoid Interlude #1: In 2017, a fossilized tomatillo, still in its papery shell, was found in the Patagonia region of Argentina. Scientists were quite excited about it - not only because it was a complete fossil showing the stem, berry, and husk but also by the fact that it was found to be more than 50 million years old! The earliest fossil larger than a seed previously found had only dated to 16 million years ago. What this demonstrated was the true hardiness of the nightshades family considering 50 million years ago during the Eocene epoch, the planet cooled, the ice caps formed, and rainforest and jungles turned into deciduous forests. The fact that the tomatillo, or should we call it 'the little plant that could' survived all those changes to earn its prominent place in Mexican cuisine....well, evolutionarily, tomatillos must contain the 'whole enchilada' when it comes to enduring genetic traits =)
Most often, tomatillos are used to make sauces - they actually contain a pectin-like substance that naturally thickens sauce or salsa upon refrigeration. They are incredibly versatile and depending on how they are prepared, the flavor will be a little different. If used raw, they add a fresh, citrus-like flavor. If blanched, they are more mild. To blanch, boil in water for five minutes or until soft. If dry roasted, they have a more nutty flavor. To roast, place on a sheet pan on low heat in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Once you peel them out of the husk to prepare them, just remember to rinse them as they can have a sticky film.
Factoid Interlude #2: Unlike the tomato, tomatillos do not contain lycopene. But they do contain compounds even better for your health. Researchers at the University of Kansas found that the tomatillo contains 14 phyto-chemical compounds, called withanolides. Some of these have been found to have anti-cancer and antibacterial activity. Tomatillos also contain flavonoid anti-oxidants such as beta-carotene and lutein, known to be great for eye health. See, they're super healthy!
Here are just a few ideas for incorporating tomatillos into your meals:
- Add to omelets, scrambled eggs or Huevos Rancheros
- Add to gazpacho
- Substitute pureed tomatillos as the acid source in vinaigrettes
- Make salsa verde and add to fish or meat dishes or for flavoring rice. To make salsa verde: combine chopped tomatillos, onions, cilantro, garlic, serrano or jalapeno peppers, salt and pepper. Cook in a saucepan for 6 to 8 minutes and puree.
- Serve salsa cruda with chips. To make salsa cruda: combine chopped tomatillos, tomatoes, onions, jalapeno, and cilantro with a little bit of lime juice and salt added.
What did I do with mine? I roasted 5 or 6 of them for ~25 minutes, pureed them with some sauteed onions and garlic and mixed that with a can of cream of mushroom soup and cilantro. I poured that sauce over some pork tenderloins and baked the tenderloins til done. A delicious simple dish with some brown rice that got a thumbs up from the kids.
So hopefully that has given you an orientation to the tomatillo and as well as a boost of confidence to pick a few up yourselves this season and create your own meal experiment. Buena suerte in your cooking adventures!