At Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden Tomato Festival, their annual tomato mandala was designed by Jimmy Turner, Director of Horticulture Management at the Botanic Gardens and Centennial Parklands and a Texan native who came to Australia from Dallas Arboretum.
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Part of the festival included a tomato chutney/relish competition with 57 entries the results of which whet our appetite for a similar Canberra winning taste.
When Alan and Susan Robertson moved from New Acton to Campbell, he swapped community garden beds and vegetable plantings beside a popular restaurant for a rooftop. In the new location, residents have planted herbs among lavender plants as well as in specific herb beds and there are four planters with lemon trees. Results were mixed due to this summer’s heat.
However Alan has kept his large plots in the Canberra Organic Society garden at O’Connor. This year he has grown purple striped Italian heirloom Listada di Gandia and slender Lebanese eggplant and capsicums, sweet Banana and Bullnose bell pepper, purchased from the Merici College annual garden stall. Alan says, because of the choice of varieties he had, for the first time, both vegetables ripe at the same week as his tomatoes.
His zucchini crop in O’Connor has been huge and Alan has been taking them to the COGS garden’s outreach clients every second day.
Those vegetables, as well as onions, came from his own garden and they provided the ingredients for a Mediterranean chutney. Alan entered it in the Kangaroo Valley Agricultural and Horticultural Association Show in February where his jar of chutney, also described as a bottle of tomato relish, won first prize.
The recipe, which follows, comes from Preserves by Catherine Atkinson and Maggie Mayhew (Lorenz Books 2003) and Alan won second prize for his spicy and dark, sweet-sour tomato chutney to a recipe from the same book.
At a party to celebrate Galileo’s birthday last month, one of Canberra’s finest horticulturists, Paulene Cairnduff told me that the optimum growing conditions for tomatoes is between 20C to 29C, so all our very hot days meant our tomatoes just sat. Consequently lots of local kitchen gardeners have been telling me that their crops were not ripe in February as in previous years.
Figs and tomatoes
Last autumn we wrote about Grand Prix Dressage Rider Jodie Newall who also works with her family on Hundred Acres Produce at Wallaroo in the Hills of Hall wine region (Kitchen Garden May 1, 2018). There are 600 olive trees and 80 fig trees on the property and their extra virgin olive oil won silver at Sydney Royal Fine Food Show last year.
Jodie says the Black Genoa fig crop is back in full force and heirloom cherry tomatoes are taking over their garden and kitchen. Readers can order minimum 500g bags of figs from their website for collection at the farm gate at Wallaroo or from the Nishi Building in Civic or in Belconnen. They also deliver to restaurants. The team is
hoping to find someone to make an alcohol to use some of the enormous quantities of figs and Hundred Acres Produce also has fig jam and is about to release Caramelised Fig Balsamic and a Fig Sauce.
Mediterranean chutney
Makes about 1.8kg
450g Spanish onions, chopped
900g ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1 eggplant (weighing about 350g), trimmed and cut into 1cm cubes
450g zucchini, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, quartered, seeded and sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small sprig rosemary
1 small sprig of thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp paprika
300mls malt vinegar
400g granulated sugar
Put the chopped onions, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, peppers and garlic in a preserving pan.
Cover the pan with a lid and cook gently over a very low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until the juices start to run. Tie the rosemary, thyme and bay leaves in a piece of muslin and add to the pan with the salt, paprika and half the malt vinegar. Simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the juices reduced.
Add the remaining vinegar and sugar to the pan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring the chutney frequently towards the end of the cooking time. When the chutney has reduced to a thick consistency and no excess liquid remains, discard the herbs, then spoon the chutney into warmed sterilized jars.
Set aside until cool, then cover and seal with vinegar-proof lids. Store the chutney in a cool, dark place and allow to mature for at least two months before eating. Use the chutney within two years. Once opened, store in the refrigerator and use within two months.
