Γλυκό ντομάτα. Άδεια δημοσίευσης: Υπουργείο Γεωργίας.
Tomatoes are so versatile! Consumed fresh or preserved, sundried or in a sauce, they are equally flavoursome as a spoon sweet!
Name - Recipe
Γλυκό του κουταλιού ντομάτα.
1 kg of small and ripe tomatoes (finikotí variety)
1 kg of sugar
2 glasses of water
1/2 glass of lime
1 cup of lemon juice (lemonade)
5-6 cloves
1 tbsp. lemon juice
cinnamon
Choose fresh tomatoes, ripe and firm. Soak them in boiling water and peel them. Score the back of the tomato with a sharp knife and try to remove the seeds with a hairpin. Put the tomatoes in lime and water for 2-3 hours. Rinse them very well to remove the lime. Boil them for about 5-7 minutes. When they boil for 2-3 minutes, change their water to boiling water and continue boiling. Transfer them to a basin with ice water and lemon juice (lemonade) for 2 hours. In a pot, boil the sugar with water and once the syrup starts to boil, remove it from the heat to cool. Drain the tomatoes and add them to the cold syrup along with the cloves and cinnamon. Place them back in the pot to boil for about 10 minutes and the syrup to thicken. On the following day, boil the sweet again for the syrup to thicken. Skim it and add the lemon juice just before the syrup is ready. Fill the jars when the sweet has cooled, cap them and store them. (MANRE 2009, 22)
Boiling.
Boiling in syrup.
How do we know when the syrup is ready: Place some syrup in a spoon and let it drip away in the pot. When the syrup flows away easily, it means it is still watery and not ready. Keep on boiling for a few minutes and test again until the flow separates into drops. When a final drop remains hanging from the spoon, it means that the density is right and the syrup is ready. If not, that means that the syrup is not ready and needs a bit more boiling. Repeat the testing procedure again until the syrup has the right consistency.
If the syrup is properly thickened, then the spoon sweet can be preserved for a very long period of time in a cool, dry place without having to be kept in a refrigerator. (MANRE, 2009)
Additional information and bibliography
Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Agriculture (2009). Traditional spoon sweets and jams, Press and Information Office, Nicosia.
Varvara Yangou
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