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Tomato Salad Recipes
Following are
our current tomato salad recipes, from the Mediterranean, along with some general
discussion of tomato salads.
Mediterranean
food has its own unique qualities. Compared to the rest of
Europe and North America, it has: less meat (in particular, much
less red meat), more fresh fruit and vegetables (with a greater
proportion of raw vegetables), more olives, olive oil and herbs.
Tomatoes also feature very prominently in the Mediterranean
diet. The Mediterranean diet has long been recognised as being
very healthy and is seen as the main reason that people living
in the Mediterranean have a longer live expectancy (e.g. the
live expectancy in France Mediterranean is about 3 years longer
than in the rest of France).
The following
recipes are from the French Mediterranean, but similar
recipes would be found elsewhere in the Mediterranean, although
there are some variations (e.g. the Greeks would typically add
goats cheese to these recipes).
In much of
France, recipes are more complex and their success is dependent
on careful preparation. In the French Mediterranean, recipes are
often far simpler, but depend entirely on using high quality and
fresh ingredients. If you have a fully ripe tomato that has
enjoyed the hot Mediterranean sun, its taste and juices explode
in your mouth. You don't need fancy dressings or sauces to make
it taste good, as the simple raw ingredients themselves are
enough. However, the reverse is also true, if you don't have
high quality ingredients, these recipes do not taste, as they
are too simple to hide any short-comings. So get the freshest
and ripest ingredients you can. If it is winter time and you
can't get fresh tomatoes, you may be advised to keep these
recipes for summer time, to avoid disappointment.
Tomato Salad Recipe 1:
- A rustic recipe, which you would not be surprised to see in a
simple village house.
Tomato Salad Recipe 2:
- A less rustic, more sophisticated recipe.
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