By Alejandro Prieto |
Paysandú, Uruguay the star of a singular gastronomic tasting.
Striped and green, small and yellow, bulky and bluish, there are many who, when they see them, doubt whether they are indeed close relatives of the typical red tomato that, sliced or in its cherry version, crowns the traditional salads at the family table.
ancient but fresh
Computer science teacher Alberto Castañero was “well removed” from the day-to-day of agricultural production until, when he was getting seeds for a family garden, he came across a yellow tomato that caught his attention.
“I didn’t even know they existed and there I begin to investigate through the networks and I see that there are not only yellows but all colors,” the sanducero – as the natives of Paysandú (northwest) are called – explained to EFE.
Thus Castañero began a collection of seeds that already exceeds 300 varieties of the so-called “old tomatoes”, which, he explains, are those whose records are over 50 years old and that are mainly “Spanish, French and Italian”.
«I did not stop anymore, I started looking for more (seeds) every day until one day three years ago I started to order that collection (…) and a producer from the south of the country, Paul Bennet, came and told me ‘what do you want? do with this?’ and I tell him ‘a tomato tasting’ », he says.
This is how the National Tomato Tasting was born, an event to celebrate this fruit historically classified as a vegetable that in its third edition came with a strong commitment to promote creativity from the various gastronomic proposals of Paysandú.
Ravioli, salmorejos and chocolates
With a typical Uruguayan sunset with an orange sky as a backdrop, the third National Tomato Tasting began in a gastronomic circuit through inns and restaurants where diners could taste everything from ravioli stuffed with dehydrated tomatoes, to traditional pizza or a special juice. orange with green tomato.
At the París Londres sandwich restaurant, chef Barnabela Xaubet chose to prepare a tomato salmorejo that, she highlighted, is “a super simple but super tasty dish and quite versatile to accompany it with different toppings (dressings).”
While he explains that for this cold soup with a creamy texture he used red plum tomatoes and yellow cherry tomatoes accompanied by garlic, celery and sourdough bread crumbs, Xaubet stresses that the restaurant had never prepared salmorejo, which is why it was “designed” for the tasting.
It is that, says the director of Strategic and Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Paysandú, Antonella Goyeneche, since the second edition of the event the local government took the initiative to create an environment where producers and chefs can “experiment” with “crazy ideas” that promote the gastronomic identity of the area.
It is about the Gastronomic Observatory that, according to the referent, seeks to be “a space where the risk is zero”, since the Municipality ensures that the participants do not have to invest, but rather “create and treat what they are cooking”, which , he highlights, for this tasting he went through creating a version of cheesecake, the typical dulce de leche or chocolates with tomato as a distinctive ingredient.
Take the three, take the boat
After the sensory tasting of tomatoes, in which, advised by the technicians of the Food Analysis Degree taught at the UTEC Technological University, the participants can qualify five varieties of the fruit to generate data that will serve the producers themselves, the event is far from over
Despite the fact that, underlines the general secretary of the Paysandú Municipality, Fermín Farinha, the producers “had to make a greater effort” this 2023 due to the severe drought that affects the Uruguayan countryside, the activities continued until the night of the second day, when at a fair visitors were able to participate in workshops or buy unique organic products.
In order to get to the property, the public was also able to enjoy a train journey, baptized “Take the train”, specially arranged, since in Uruguay no commercial lines have run along the tracks since the 1980s.
Farinha, who qualifies the tourist season of the department (province) of Sanducero as “highly positive”, also celebrates the emphasis on fluvial tourism by taking a boat ride to San Francisco Island, on the Uruguay River, where you can enjoy a beach with crystal clear waters.
«We always want to add, position ourselves at the regional level as a valid option (…); make a tourism that is not centralized only in the enjoyment linked to the river but adding this type of instances that allow those who visit us to have different sensations, experiences », he remarks.
It is that, as Goyeneche points out, whether on foot, by boat or by train, “La Heroica” -as it is known- Paysandú is advancing at a good pace towards becoming “the tomato capital”, an objective that, like the singular red fruit, shines in the distance and captures new eyes.