Dordogne Advertiser
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September 2012
Delicious stuffed tomatoes
‘Surprise’ tomatoes stuffed with polenta and parmesan
Serves: 6 Preparation: 15 minutes Cooking: 30 minutes 6 beef tomatoes 200g polenta 350ml vegetable stock 350ml milk 40g butter 60g Parmesan, grated 60g pine nuts, roasted Nutmeg Salt, pepper
METHOD Wash the tomatoes and cut the tops off and keep them to one side.
Scoop out the tomato insides with a spoon taking care not to make the sides too thin. Discard the flesh and seeds. Season with some salt. In a pan bring the stock to a gentle boil and integrate the milk and butter, then gradually mix in the polenta until its combined. Bring briefly to the boil then remove from the heat and leave to stand for 15 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. Preheat the oven to 180°C or Gas Mark 6 Mix in the parmesan, pine nuts and
Photo: Rivière/Photocuisine
slight acidity helps prepare the digestive system for the meal that follows. Smaller varieties (cerise, cocktail or grappe) are great for salads, but it is the bigger, rounder, beef tomatoes (côtelée or cœur de bœuf) with their meaty texture that work best for grilling and stuffing. The biggest producers of these are the Lot-et-Garonne and Bouches-du-Rhône. Hollowed out and stuffed, the possibilities are endless: whether rice or cous-cous, goats cheese or ricotta, tuna or saucisson. Go for firm tomatoes with wrinkle-free skins and a noticeable tomato smell. Avoid putting them in the fridge unless they are very ripe and you are not planning to use them for several days – chilling tomatoes mutes their flavour. Give them a good wash before use.
CUT OUT & KEEP!
INGREDIENTS
The French tomato season is at its peak in September following the summer harvest. The versatile fruit is an essential ingredient in many salads, stews and pasta sauces – but here we explore how it can also make a main dish in its own right, hollowed out, stuffed with savoury items of your choice and cooked FRANCE produces more than 550,000 tonnes of tomatoes every year, in regions spanning from Brittany and the Loire Valley to the northeast and the Mediterranean and the average person consumes about 13kg a year. Originally from central America, they arrived in Europe in the 16th century and were referred to as pomme d’amour or pomme d’or (the Italians still do, with pomodoro). A staple of Mediterannean cooking, they are an excellent source of fibre, vitamins A, C, E, minerals, carotene and antioxidants which help boost the body’s immune system – and cooking them brings out more of their good properties than eating them raw, not to mention more of the taste. They make an ideal apéritif or starter as their
Food and Pets 15
nutmeg into the polenta and season with some salt and pepper. Whilst still warm, fill the tomatoes with the polenta. Replace the tomato tops. Place the tomatoes in a lightly greased oven proof dish. Cook in the
middle of the oven for about 15 minutes, then remove and serve. Serve as a main dish with a salad and a yoghurt dressing or alternatively as a side dish with a hearty meat such as lamb.
Do your bit to keep rabies out of France
RABIES used to be endemic in France but thanks to range of actions including vaccinating both domestic and wild animals, it has been stamped out. France was declared free of rabies (in non-flying species) in 2001 and there has not been a case of human rabies contracted in France since 1923. However, there are still occasional cases because it is all too easy for people to bring unvaccinated animals into the country by road. Since 2001, nine rabid dogs and puppies have been illegally imported into France. A typical story unfolded last year when, on July 11, a French family found a stray Jack Russell puppy in Rabat, Morocco. They adopted it and three weeks later, illegally brought it back to the Vendée in
Photo: Gorilla - Fotolia.com
Rabies has been stamped out in France, but there is no room for complacency and your pet must be vaccinated before travelling, says SAMANTHA DAVID
Pet Care their car, where it got ill. On August 6 they took the puppy to the vet. It died the next day and tests showed that it had died of rabies. Three members of the family had been bitten by the dog, and 19 other people had been in contact with it. All had to have rabies prevention treatments, and happily all of them survived. The family’s original pet dog had been vaccinated against rabies, so was not affected, but the family’s cat and her kittens were not vaccinated and had to be humanely destroyed. In 2004, someone took an illegally
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It is vital to have your pets micro-chipped and vaccinated each year imported rabid dog to a series of music and theatre festivals across south-west France resulting in 187 people receiving anti-rabies treatment. In 2008, a rabid dog wandered into a school yard: 152 children received anti-rabies treatment and France lost its rabies-free status. The infection was traced back to an illegally imported dog which, having been abandoned had infected a whole chain of other animals.
France’s rabies-free status was regained in 2010. None of these cases resulted in any human deaths, but could easily have done so. The lesson is clear. Never be tempted to import animals illegally into France or anywhere else in the EU. Never touch animals you don’t know personally. Certainly never touch an illegally imported animal. And, of course, it is vital to have
your own animals micro-chipped and vaccinated against rabies every year. The micro-chip is the legal way an animal can be identified and therefore proven to have been vaccinated. It is not expensive, in the region of €20 and can be injected alongside the usual vaccinations. Make sure your pet’s health card has the sticker from the vaccination bottle in it and the stamp/signature from your vet, just in case you have to prove your pet is vaccinated. As for “flying species” this refers to bats, which are protected animals and cannot be exterminated. They still carry rabies in all European countries, including France and the UK. However, the World Health Organisation considers that the chance of another mammal catching rabies from a bat is extremely remote. It would clearly be unwise to handle a bat, either dead or alive, and if by some mischance you, or one of your pets, is bitten by a bat, seek medical attention as soon as possible – at least within 24 hours. World Rabies Day is September 28. For more information, see www.worldrabiesday.org
Tel. 06 58 01 82 76 Web. www.seulementnaturel.eu Email. marc.somsen@chardeyre.com