We owe a debt of gratitude to Columbus and his fellow adventurers for having brightened up our mealtimes. Because, have you ever thought of the number of recipes which include those long suffering tomatoes and the huge quantity of tomatoes for sauce or for salad we consume throughout the year? Well I have!

But the real question is what on earth did Europeans do before? How did they make their gazpacho without tomato? Well they used cherries, blackberries or melon. Incidentally, these little recipes are delicious. Take my word for it; try them at home with a little bit of garlic, onion, pepper�

Now we�re on the subject let me just clear one point up. On the tomato salad front I have been fighting a battle that is becoming a bit of a bore. About vinegar. You don�t put vinegar on tomato when it�s on its own because it�s already acid. We don�t want to make it more acid. We can put a good olive oil on it, and salt, pepper, herbs and cheese � either fresh cheese, Mozzarella di bufala, or plain Mozzarella, or something stronger like Pa�oleta or Manchego, though those last two should be grated coarsely over the fare.

And as for carbohydrates, what better to eat them with than a pile of freshly baked bread.

As for varieties of tomatoes, have you tried hanging up those ones you buy on a stalk to dry? It used to be an old way of preserving them; when they began to go brown they were added to stews.

The yellow tomato has an excellent taste and must have been the most common variety in Italy in the past since it got its name pomodoro (golden apple) from there.

Raf tomatoes, the variety known as pata negra (a term used to describe excellence in any food in Spain, originally referring to cured ham), because of their high price and the fact that these are tomatoes which smell and taste of � tomatoes � with up to 10% of their surface still pinkish � if we pick them ourselves. And that is an option open only to those with tomato plants in market gardens, private gardens or, following the English custom, in a window box or a flower pot on your balcony. You lucky devils!