For a small South American fruit only introduced to the rest of the world by Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century, the tomato has certainly made its mark on global cuisine. They can be found in nearly every national cuisine, even becoming a cornerstone of daily cooking in the likes of Spain and Italy, and for many of us a few tomato plants in the garden is one of the joys of summer. Not bad for something which for a while was regarded as a poisonous plant.
While we use tomatoes in sauces and salads on a near-daily basis in the UK, there is so much more these colourful fruits can offer. No one is denying they are the perfect partner for cheese on a pizza, sing when dressed in olive oil and intensely flavoured when slow-cooked and collapsed – but some chefs are starting to go beyond the standard uses for tomatoes and trying something new. The five recipes below showcase just how versatile cherry tomatoes – often the sweetest and most flavourful of the bunch – can be. Give them a go and taste what we’ve been missing out on all these years.
