The year of the tomatillo

Despite the rain, the slugs, ohh and the lack of summer in general it hasn't bothered these Mexican souls who've produce a bumper crop. We tried two varieties this year, A Thompson and Morgan violet type and the plain green, Physalis philadelphica. The violet kind is far prettier, but crop isn't prolific and each cherry is smaller. They look lovely, but once you whizzed them into salsa you can't really tell they were purple. If you're looking to start a salsa business I'd stick with the green ones.

The other thing I learnt, after I gave my neighbour Sue a plant, is that they aren't terribly self compatible, so if you have just one plant you don't get any fruit. I crammed three into a wine crate and got a sizeable harvest for such a limited space.

Apart from roasting them with lots of garlic, I've added them to soups and stews with great success. Mostly though I've fallen in love with making salsa verde. I've used a very basic recipe that can't be bottled because there isn't enough acid to preserve the sauce, so I've frozen it in batches instead. I used 60 or so tomatillos, one onion, two cloves of garlic, a big bunch of coriander, two Apache chillies and half a lime. I made a mind blowing variety with scotch bonnets as well, but you end up merely wafting the tortilla chips over rather than eating the stuff. In this batch I also upped the lime juice to temper the chillies (sort of worked). It's best to use the firmest, bright green tomatillos rather than the light yellow, the latter tasting more bland. I chopped in half and roasted the tomatillos first in olive oil. Then I whizzed the whole thing into a suitably chunky blend. Next thing you know and I'll be plaiting my hair like Frida Kahlo.