Heritage

Recently, my Mom and sisters tried to explain to my grandmother why, in addition to the usual red tomatoes, we also have purple, yellow, orange and pink tomatoes this year. I wasn't there, but I know my grandmother well enough to know that she was intrigued, a little fascinated, and overall, rather impressed with this novelty. The only part of the concept she struggled with was the word for those fancy new [old] tomatoes. "Heirloom" just didn't stick. To her, they were "heritage" tomatoes.

Same thing, really.

The point is, they are old. Or at least, the seeds are (old tomatoes can get pretty stinky, pretty quick). These aren't genetically engineered, hybrid seeds. They are descendants of those seeds that were passed down from generation to generation by seed-saving women and men who valued the plenty that was provided by their tomato crops. Just like my grandma, they are that good kind of old: the kind that makes you feel richer, somehow. Yep, I am rich with tomatoes-- and with the love of a good family.

But when you are rich with tomatoes, you've really got to do something about it. Lately, I've been doing a lot of different somethings.

With the first little tomato crop a few weeks ago came my first green pepper, as well as some cucumbers, and a little red rocket pepper. I decided to challenge my family's concept of soup, and make a refreshing pot of gazpacho!

Gazpacho

You can have it pureed, or chunky-- your call. Basically, you just chop up a bunch of vegetables and throw them in a broth, then let it sit in the fridge for a while to let the flavours mingle. Here are the amounts, which are pretty flexible:

- 2 cups tomatoes, diced
- 1 cup green or red pepper, finely chopped
- 1 small white onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup cucumber, finely chopped
- 2 cups of vegetable broth
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated or very fined chopped
- a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp of finely chopped hot pepper (mine were called red rockets!) or several drops of hot sauce to taste
- 6 or more ice cubes
- A splash of red wine vinegar for a little kick (optional)

Yum! Heritage in a bowl.