KP+: Tomato Water Lemonade
Heavenly nectar! by Susan Spungen
A big hello to you! I have one big question:
Do you know about tomato water?
If you do, then welcome back to heaven. And if you don’t, let me tell you about it (and then I’ll say, welcome to heaven.) This is one of those recipes and techniques that I’ve always been intrigued by but have never actually made. And thanks to Susan Spungen’s, (author, food stylist, recipe developer, chef, photographer and fellow substack-er!) new book Veg Forward, which is out now, I’ve the perfect opportunity to tell you all about it.
Tomato water has been going in and out of style in restaurants for decades. Once the height of sophistication in the 90s (According to this NY times article from 2011), this clear nectar boasts intense tomato flavour which you can use to dress fish or churn into sorbet, or mix into cocktails. Its charms are obvious.
Made by extracting the water from peak season tomatoes, it is the essence of summer. If you’ve never tried it before, I highly recommend making a batch so you, too, can become enamoured. It’s also something that *sounds* complicated and cheffy but is actually incredibly easy to pull off. I know you love those low effort, high reward recipes - don’t we all? I also LOVE recipes with a bit of a secret - you know, that perfectly white ice cream that is actually vibrant with coffee flavour? Tomato water is a bit like that - it looks completely unimpressive, but you taste it and everything lights up.
Tomatoes are mainly water - some 95% . When you extracting this, you get the vibrant flavour in liquid form which makes it incredibly useful in kitchens. I haven’t it on many menus lately (sad! But summer is only just beginning) but according to my friend Holly, she had a particularly outstanding martini made with tomato water at Llewelyns in South London. Today I get to share Susan’s unique method which features in Veg Forward.