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We often select our tomatoes according to the promotion of the moment, or the season according to the varieties offered on the stalls. However, each type of tomato is not used in the kitchen in the same way. Depending on their texture and juiciness, each adapts to different preparations. We take stock.
beef heart
It’s the Rolls-Royce of tomatoes! We often choose it for its chubby shape and we prefer it when we want to put the small dishes in the big ones. It is true that its taste is sweet while being intense. We often like to use it for stuffing, but the noblest way to respect its delicate flavor is to prepare it as a carpaccio, drizzled with olive oil. At Maslow, a Parisian restaurant whose menu is entirely vegetable and claims to be a responsible “low carbon” table, the heart of beef is highlighted in a cassolette of fresh tomme and melted sheep’s cheese. And it’s sprinkled with thyme.
The Italian chef Denny Imbroisi, who worked in the kitchens of “Top Chef”, and now at the head of the Ida table (Paris 15th arrondissement), prepares the traditional caprese salad, using heart of beef tomatoes cut into generous slices.
The cherry tomato
Generally, we peck the cherry tomato at aperitif time. And we’re right because it’s a healthy alternative to crackers. Except that this variety is not confined only to nibbling. It can also be used in the kitchen, when you want to vary the pleasures of effective tomato-mozzarella. In the Cali Sisters and Uptown restaurants, which dedicate their Parisian menus to an offer inspired by the healthy proposals of California, we season the cherry tomatoes with olive oil and pesto verde before flanking in the middle of the plate a generous runny burrata.
The vine tomato
It is the variety that is probably chosen with the least attention. And yet, the vine tomato deserves just as much care because it has its own quality that suits certain recipes. In Marseille, the three-starred chef Gérald Passédat uses them to prepare the garnish for his famous wolf Lucie Passédat. For his signature dish at the Petit Nice restaurant, the chef prefers them very ripe to cut them into brunoise, before adding zucchini, lemon, coriander and especially the truffle, which is essential in the recipe. Chef Passédat also adds a green tomato to bring more acidity.
When we push the road towards Provence Var, we discover another way of accommodating the vine tomato. At the Bistrot de Villedieu, which the Michelin guide has congratulated with a gourmet bib for the good quality/price ratio of its menu, this variety is candied in a recipe around a gazpacho, and served on a bed of sheep’s bush with herbs and drizzled with olive oil.