From the book "The stories of the Italian chef". Seasoned dried tomatoes, the flavor that matures over time

Every year, during the summer, I spent my time at the home of my paternal grandparents. While my grandfather went to work in the fields, my grandmother cultivated the small family garden by herself.

A magical place where I saw all kinds of vegetables growing, from broccoli (the classic Neapolitan broccoli) to peppers, from artichokes to different types of tomatoes, round and long tomatoes, up to sweet red and yellow tomatoes.

I saw the fruit of the work of my beloved grandmother who spent her days of hard work under the hot sun that darkened her sweat-soaked skin.

She worked hard but did it with pride and a lot of love. I still remember her voice when she told me, making me dream, that man's work always gives good results.

And the fruits began to arrive in August ...

It was a spectacle of nature to see her between the furrows of the ground where the tomato plants grew. That spectacular red that stood out in the green of the branches and leaves rich in a special scent, that of the most uncontaminated nature.

How strange it was to think that before reaching the harvest, she hoed the earth, dug the furrows, sowed and then watered every evening until she saw the first seedlings emerge from the ground which, a few months later, now grown, bore those precious fruits.

It was a spectacle even when she decided that a part of that harvest would keep it as it once was, and then consume it during the winter period.

She prepared bases with the river reeds collected previously which, tied to each other, became tables on which to spread the tomatoes cut lengthwise in half and, after having sprinkled them with salt, she left them all day under the sun to drying, while every evening he put them under cover to prevent them from absorbing the nocturnal humidity. And so on for at least a week.

When the degree of drying was the right one, she kept them in glass jars, the classic "boccacci", filled them with oil and when she decided to use them in the kitchen it was always a great feast, for the eyes and the palate .

I use dried tomatoes in various ways. Natural, to prepare salads or as a condiment on bruschetta. But one way to get the most out of their flavor is when I use them for special first course recipes, such as orecchiette with broccoli and dried tomatoes, which leave my restaurant's customers pleasantly amazed.

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