Whilst France can’t claim to have given birth to Tomatos, which originally came from the wild mountainous regions of South America, it’s hard to deny that the heritage variety ‘Marmande’ belongs to the town of the same name.
Legend has it that around 1000years ago a love sick young Marmandian travelled the world to forget Ferline, whose love he had been denied. From his travels he bought back the seeds of some tomatos he had found growing in Peru and planted them in his garden. Later that summer he picked the fruits and left them to dry on his windowsills. Who should happen by but his long lost love and asked him what the strange fruit were. He told them he called them Ferline to remember her by, she promptly fell in love with him and the passionate history of the Marmande tomato was assured.
This history is brought to life at the Maison de la Tomato in Marmande where you can find out all about the history of the apple of love and of the Brotherhood of Tomatos formed some 800 years ago by Richard the Lionheart (the then Duke of Aquitaine). The brotherhood still exists today, it’s object being to promote and defend the Marmande tomato and to organise the annual fiesta in July.
During the three day celebration there are tastings, parades, a large tomato based meal in the market place, competitions, recipe exchanges and circus acts
How to identify the Marmande Heritage Tomato:
Marmande has large irregular shaped fruits and a great meaty taste, ideal for sandwiches and salads.
It is easy to grow and generally performs well across the whole of the northern hemisphere.
Recipe: Hot Roasted Tomato Salad
Serves Six
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 20mins
Ingredients
- 5 Large Ripe Marmande Tomatoes
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 6 Stoned Black Olives
- 2 Sprigs Fresh Rosemary and a handful of Fresh Basil
- Handful Breadcrumbs
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Juice of Half a Lemon
- Seasoning
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°c
- Cut the tomatos in half and put them cut side down in a frying pan with a spoonful of oil.
- Sear quickly for five minutes.
- Carefully remove and arrange them, cut side up, in an ovenproof dish. Trickle a little oil over them, add a good squeeze of lemon and carefully season each one.
- Chop the garlic and rosemary and sprinkle over the top. Finally sprinkle the breadcrumbs over all and add another drizzle of oil.
- Place the dish in the oven for twenty minutes.
- The breadcrumb topping should be crisp and the tomatos cooked through
To Serve: Just before serving add a handul of chopped olives and a scattering of torn basil leaves.
Place on the table with plenty of crusty bread to mop up the juices.
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