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[ze]

Olde Australian Tomato Sauce


I came across this recipe in one of my Mothers old recipe books, and have converted the measurements to metric. The recipe name is just a bit of poetic license on my behalf

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5kg tomatoes
1kg onion
3 large green apples
150gm salt
4 cups white vinegar
2½ cups sugar
2 level dessertspoons mustard powder
2 level dessertspoons whole dried birds eye chilies
1 level dessertspoon of ground ginger
1 level dessertspoon whole mace
1 tsp cloves
Spices, wrapped in a muslin bag

Roughly chop the tomatoes, onions and apples. Add all ingredients into a large pot, bring to a boil and then simmer for 3 – 5 hours.

Stir the mixture regularly, especially towards the end of the cooking.

Optional: add some cornflour mixed with water to thicken the sauce.

Pour the mixture into hot clean 500m jars and immerse in the water bath¹ for 20 minutes.
Put a teaspoon of lemon juice on top, before putting on the lids.
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As some of these ingredients are easily found fresh these days, you can substitute some of the dry ingredients. Just allow a bit more volume for the fresh ingredients.

Mace - is the dried "lacy" reddish covering or arillus of the Nutmeg seed, having a finer and milder taste than Nutmeg. It is also used for its food colouring ability, which is bright orange, similar to saffron. Nutmeg can be substituted, though cut back on the quantity by a third, which should give a similar taste to the sauce.

Spices – it basically was whatever was in the cupboard that would go in to the sauce and enhance its taste. Maybe a Bay leaf and a general purpose herb mix. These days I would have a look around the garden and pick some Basil, Oregano, Lovage and Garlic, and toss them in.

Andy


1. Water Bath Method:

Large deep pot.
Metal rack - round cake ones work well.

Preheat some water in the pot with the metal rack inside the pot at the bottom - do not put too much water in, as the jars will displace some of the water.
If unsure, test with cold water and some unopened jars from the pantry to give you a rough idea on how much water you need.

Preheat the jars in the sink with hot water or in the oven.

Fill the jars, leaving a gap at the top, 1 to 2cm (to allow for a vacuum to build up on cooling), put the lid on and immerse in the pot of hot water.

Leave a gap of 1cm between the jars (not touching).

Top up with boiling water from a jug to cover the jars lids by 2cm.

Maintain a temperature of above 85°C and bring the water to a rolling boil – then start timing from now until the required length of time has elapsed.

[minnie]

Thanks Andy,

I've been wanting some good tomato puree/sauce etc recipes for a while... now I need my 'amish paste' tomatoes to grow quickly... a bit of an ask in winter but hopefully by spring they'll have tomatoes.

Regards

Vicki

[ze]

Hi Vicki,

I love my tomatoes ... if there was just one plant I could grow, it would be tomatoes. There is just so many things you can use them for

The Amish Paste tomato would have to be one of the best tomatoes for sauces, it is basically all flesh with a very small watery centre and only has a few seeds inside. It tastes a lot better than Roma's and is a good all rounder – eating raw, cooked and bottled. I grew them for a number of years near Lismore in Northern NSW.

The Mortgage Lifter (you mentioned in another post) tomato goes back to the 1930's as does the Grosse Lisse and although ok, is not as nice as the Grosse Lisse which used to be the only one grown commercially in Australia for many decades.

Just a caution on growing tomatoes, they do like it warmish, over 20°C and flower and fruit production is determined by warm temperatures. If you live near Cas.ino, Northern NSW, it can get very cold by July August with frosts – and that will kill your plants unless they are protected from the cold

If you can, try sowing some into seedling trays inside or in a miniture greenhouse in August for planting out after the frosts have finished.

A trick I use is to put black plastic around the root zone to keep the roots warm and they respond well to this. I have also seen in the hardware shop nurseries, black plastic rings designed specifically for this purpose. This works well for capsicum, chili and eggplants.

Andy

PS: I couldn't type in C A S I N O as one word as the spam word filter didn't like the name ... not the town
Sorry about that

[minnie]

Hi Andy,

I feel the same about the tomato... I just love them and am looking for the ones I REALLY want to grow! Hence trying different ones.

The mortgage lifters are okay, home grown at least but not what I'm looking for. I read about Palmwoods (I think) that sound lovely.

We moved from Lismore 3 years ago (originally I was from Sydney), and are outside Casino at Hogarth Range. Lucky for us frost free and they grow quite a bit of coffee, stone fruit, mangoes...

I would have like to get the tomatoes under clear plastic for winter but just haven't had the time or money to do it yet... maybe next year. They are in tyres so not sure if that helps like the black plastic and seem to be growing well. We're still picking heaps of mortgage lifters so I just hope it doesn't get too much colder... it's the westerly winds in August/September that we need to watch for...

I'm looking forward to the amish paste now!

Thanks

Vicki

[ze]

Hi Vicki,

We might have to ask David and Val to add or take off the town name %%%%% opps that should be Cas_ino, NSW, from their spam names database

Hogarth Range is a great inland region which is a high plateau, and pretty much frost free, as long as you are not on one of the lower southern ridges. You should be able to grow any sub-tropical plants there, as long as there is a good water supply.

Though tomatoes are perenial (as are capsicum, chili, etc) they really are best treated as annuals, as there second year and on, are greatly reduced and it is not worth the water, time, compost and garden space to keep them after autumn.

They are at their best when they are grown in Spring and cropped over the early Summer through to late Autumn. You can plant varieties that are Early, Mid-Season and Late croppers, so you can have tomatoes over a 6 to 8 month period where you are. I still have friends that are picking tomatoes here in Adelaide

Depending how big your tomatoes are there are a few options.

The tyres can be stacked up 2 to 4 high which would act as a heat sink and protect from the wind. Tyres are also good for potatoes – put down 1 tyre, 6 potatoes and soil. As they grow add another tyre and compost/soil and keep doing that up to 4 or 5 tyres. You will end up with a lot of potatoes and a great space saver.

Put in stakes – 3 – around each plant and wrap plastic around the stakes.

Make up a small igloo – black plasic waterpipe bent over, with both ends stuck into the soil and cover with plastic. You can put shade cloth over it in summer to protect you lettuce and softer vegetables if it is a semi-permanent type of structure.

Bales of straw – break them up and spread the straw very thickly around each plant, and make it as thick as you practically can.

The real trick is to protect the ground around the base of the plants, with No air movement at ground level. The cold can only come from air movement, wind and cold night air moving down the slopes. Protect that area and your plants should be OK

Regards,
Andy