Back to where it all began.

Being a creatures of habit, and also being addicted to thick treacly coffee where the ratio of caffeine to liquid is always biased in favour of the caffeine, we have just got back from a fantastic holiday on a small island in the Bay of Naples. For me it is the place that first inspired me to first write about food with any real intent. The importance of food was brought home to me everywhere we went, be it a small roadside shop selling fresh fruits and vegetables, a caffe al banco just liquid enough to stain the bottom of a cup or eating proper lemon ice cream during the evening passegiata. Food added value and dimension to the lives being lived and wasn't just a fuel or a filler. This was the first piece I wrote and when I was in this very restaurant last week I had this very simple dish and it was still magnificent but then the same people made it with the same love and care that they had taken nearly twenty years previously.

Bruschette con pomodoro

Passion and respect, two things we as individuals all crave, but this object of desire was the humble tomato. Worship of the 'love apple' in this restaurant in Ischia in the Bay of Naples is simple and pure. Tomatoes are plucked fresh from the vine, unsullied by any refrigeration and still with a bloom on their cheeks. They are chopped deftly and anointed with the purest olive oil.
Slices of locally made bread are caressed with garlic and laid to char briefly on the grill. Bread and tomatoes are brought together on the plain white plate and seasoned with sea salt. Basil is freshly torn and strewn on the tomato.
The first bite is heaven. Tangy yet sweet, crunchy yet soft, gritty with sea salt, but slick with olive oil… simplicity makes this dish magnificent. If I ever get to choose my last supper it would be this.

How to ...

Read the above and follow the instructions, use as many tomatoes as you have, decent olive oil and remember food in Italy is for sharing, falling out over, discussing, savouring and enjoying with wine and water so find someone to help you do all of the above.