Tomato Paste

Cooked down in Antakya, in tomato season

This is made once a year, when the tomatoes around Antakya are ripe enough that nothing needs to be done to them. Growers near Antakya bring in the crop at its peak; the fruit is hand-selected, cooked down slowly until the water is gone and the color turns dark, salted, and packed hot into jars. That is the whole process, and salt is the whole ingredient list besides tomatoes. No water, no starch, no color added to make up for a thin batch.

How to use

• Start a stew or a soup by frying a spoonful in oil before anything else goes in the pot — this is the step that makes Turkish home cooking taste the way it does.
• Cook menemen: soften peppers and onion, stir in the paste, then add tomatoes and eggs.
• Toss it through bulgur pilaf while the grain toasts, so every piece takes on color.
• Thin it with olive oil, lemon, and a little water for a marinade for lamb, chicken, or vegetables headed to the grill.

What’s inside

From the Journal: see it at work in kısır, Turkey’s fine-bulgur salad.