Tomato lovers have been waiting for this time of year to satisfy their craving when this fruit ripens locally.  Right now, tables at farmers' markets are full of beautiful red globes whose interiors are juicy, almost seedless, ready to slice and eat uncooked. Equally compelling are long, slim San Marzano varieties with firm compact flesh that cooks down to a rich pasta or pizza-ready sauce. My all-time favorite for snacking is the small golden cherry tomato that rarely makes it out of the kitchen.  They are as sweet as candy and, when they make it into a pan, produce a spectacular jam to spread on crackers, sandwiches and burgers.

It takes just a few minutes of cooking for cherry tomatoes to dissolve into skin, seeds and juice. The addition of a little sugar, lemon juice and chili powder creates a exciting flavor symphony. It’s worth adding an aromatic finish with a few drops of vanilla extract to accentuate the tomato's tropical origins. One word of caution: this jam is delicious when eaten warm directly from the pan.

Tomatoes contain their fair share of pectin, the fiber that thickens fruit jams and jellies.  And here's a fun fact:  An enzyme deactivates tomato's pectin when they are peeled and chopped. Cooked whole or halved tomatoes retain their pectin which thickens the fruit juices for a lovely, jammy mouthfeel.

A 10 ounce container of red or golden cherry tomatoes will produce enough jam to fill an 8 ounce jar to store in the refrigerator, no vacuum sealing required. And yes, if you find yourself craving cherry tomato jam in December, the ones at supermarket are a good substitute.

If you can imagine taking the cherry tomato to the level of desserts, check out the post I published 15 years ago entitled Love Apples.  There are also three tomato recipes in the 4th edition of Artisanal Preserves that is just off the press. .

SPICY CHERRY TOMATO JAM

Ingredients for 1 – 8 ounce jar. Timing: 10 minutes prep; 15 minutes cooking time

10 oz. container golden or red cherry tomatoes

½ cup cool water

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon powdered Cayenne pepper

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Place a small plate in the freezer compartment.

Rinse and halve the tomatoes. Place pieces in a 4 qt saucepan with water, cover the pan and bring the water to a boil. Uncover, turn down the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until almost all the liquid has evaporated. If necessary, add enough water to keep the pan bottom wet during this period.

Stir in the lemon juice, sugar and powdered chili. Simmer for a minute or two until a spatula drawn across the bottom exposes the pan surface. Add the vanilla and cook another 30 seconds.

Take the pan off the heat. Drop a teaspoon of jam on the chilled plate and return it to the freezer for a minute or two. Taste and add more lemon juice, chili or vanilla until you can taste all three ingredients with the tomatoes. Cook in the additions for 1 minute. Test and taste again or pour the jam into a clean jar and screw on the cap. Cool on a rack and store in the refrigerator between uses.

The time is ripe, so to speak, to prepare piperade, the signature dish of Basque cuisine in southwest France. It's featured ingredient is a green chili pepper mixed with tomatoes and eggs.  It is seasoned with the Basque proprietary Espelette chili powder.  Less well known, but characteristic of Basque fidelity to their past, these chilis are believed to be the direct descendants of the peppers Columbus brought to Spain at the end of the 15^th century.

Chilis, unlike their cousins, the sweet bell peppers, contain capsaicin, an alkaloid oil, a failed defense mechanism. that activates pain receptors in the mouth.  Capsaicin develops fully in the world's tropical zones. Chilis grown in the southern corner of France and coast Northern Spain get just enough heat and sun to produce a warm, comforting umami high.

Basque Chef Gerald Hirigoyen uses Anaheim chilis to prepare a slow-simmered piperade in his two San Francisco restaurants. He feels this green chili’s mild, grassy flavor comes closest to the one used in Basque cuisine. He seasons the dish with Espelette and white rather than black pepper to allow the chili aromas to dominate.

The introduction of chili peppers in Europe inspired other cultures to create their own chili powder. The Ottoman Turks brought chilis to Hungary in the mid-16^th century from ports in India where Portuguese explorers had introduced them. The lecsó stew our Hungary tour group prepared in Budapest last fall was very similar to a Basque piperade.  We used sweet bell peppers and let the oil in Hungarian paprika spiced sausage slices enhance the lecsó's delicious, warm mouthfeel.

Fiery North African harissa is another chili that took root in the 16^th century thanks to Spanish traders who introduced it to Ottoman ports in Tunisia. Harissa has become the national seasoning in all the African countries bordering the Mediterranean. A bowl of Tunisian chakchouka is much like piperade and lecsó despite its appearance. Green chilis are left whole; the eggs are poached and nested rather than stirred into the stew.

The origin story of the Anaheim pepper shows how quickly and easily chilis can spread and be customized.   This chili bears the name of the California city where it was hybridized for canning purposes at the end of the 19th century.  A businessman farmer had brought the seeds from New Mexico, but the ancestor of these seeds had arrived from Spain in the late 16^th century with Don Pedro de Peralta, the Spanish colonist who founded Santa Fe. Since Santa Fe is the oldest European settlement west of the Mississippi, the Anaheim chili, also known as the New Mexico and Hatch chilis, just may have bragging rights as our nation’s oldest chili pepper.