Tomatillos: Not Just Green Salsa

Tomatillos:  Not Just Green Salsa

(c) Dorine Houston 2008, all rights reserved 

A refreshing light shade of green kissed ever so lightly with yellow.  Flecks of deeper pepper green.  So refreshing.  But isn't gazpacho red? 

Not when you made it with tomatillos! 

The tomatillo (physalis philadelphica), despite its name, is a relative of the gooseberry, not of the tomato.  It is also called husk tomato, jamberry and ground cherry in English.  In Spanish, it is called tomate de cascara, tomate de fresadilla, tomate milpero, tomate verde, tomatillo (Mexico) and miltomate (Mexico, Guatemala).  In regions where it is simply called a tomate, the red fruit we call tomato is called jitomate.  It originated in Mesoamerica and today is heavily cultivated in Mexico and Guatemala.  Archaeological evidence shows it to have been part of the Mesoamerican diet as far back as 900 BC.  In fact, apparently it was more popular than the tomato that nowadays eclipses it.  This eclipsing may be owing to farmers who preferred the greater resistance to rot of the tomato.  You can read more about this at the Purdue University agricultural website, http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/1492/tomatillo.html. 

Do not confuse the tomatillo with the tree tomato, also called tamarillo.  It is a completely different fruit. 

Tomatillos grow on a bush some 25" in height at maturity.  They have a kind of husk, like that of the gooseberry and the lantern plant.  While they are usually a light green with a hint of yellow, some may be purple.  Their flavor is tangier than that of a tomato. 






The other day when I posted my recipe for salade chaude verte http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977359264&nav=MyGather with the tomatillos in the mix, comments from some people got me to thinking about how limited the thinking about their role in the kitchen can be.  I use them regularly in a variety of dishes, but do not remember seeing them in any recipes other than salsas from anybody else. 

I use them in many ways, but perhaps have a motivation to discover their uses that many others do not have.  Millions of Americans are allergic to tomatoes and can be killed by eating one, as a result of anaphylactic shock.  Anaphylactic shock is a kind of intense histaminic reaction in which the throat and entire respiratory system close up, suffocating the person.  This is the same thing that can occur with individuals allergic to peanuts or shellfish.  We have heard of children who become severely ill or die from even secondhand contact with peanuts; for millions of us, tomatoes are just as deadly.  This is why I have looked for ways to enjoy certain foods that usually contain them but must not.  I know others who are allergic to tomatoes, too, and share these dishes with them.  However, I also believe that tomatillos are so delicious on their own that dishes made with them are just as tasty to everybody, including people who eat tomatoes freely. 

Tomatillos are delightful sliced or chopped in salads.  They are excellent sliced in sandwiches, including the BLT, which becomes a bacon, lettuce and tomatillo sandwich.  Because the seeds are smaller and not surrounded by the wet jelly around tomato seeds, they don't make a salad or sandwich as soggy when packed and carried in a brown bag.  And you can eat a sandwich without any annoying juice running up your arm to your elbow!  They make a delightful snack on their own, very tangy and refreshing. 

You can use them in a pot of chili rather than using tomatoes (see recipe here http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977254424).  And of course, any salsa recipe that calls for tomatoes can be made using tomatillos, and it is just as delicious. 

To buy tomatillos, choose ones that are firm, not yet going mushy, and that do not have black mold on them.  They are ripe if the papery husk has already split open.  They should be plump and heavy for their size.  At home, they keep well in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. 

To prepare, remove and discard the papery husk.  The skin has a sticky residue on it; wash it off.  Slice or chop to use as you will, both raw and cooked.