Tomato Chili Jam

Food + Text by Michaela Hayes & Photography by Paul Lowe

EARLY IN my culinary career I apprenticed at the restaurant Public in New York City, while working full time, and going to culinary school in the evenings. Peter Gordon, the Executive Chef of The Providores and Tapa Room in London, was hired to consult on the restaurant opening. Peter is a wonderfully charming man, bursting with energy and laughter, and serious chops in the kitchen. Born in New Zealand, his cooking is a mix of many Pacific Rim cuisines. I remembered him, and his partner Michael, with such fondness, when in London a few years later, I arranged to work with Peter (stage, in kitchen vernacular) for a week.

The Providores is located in the Marylebone section of central London, full of unique shops on short, smartly dressed roads. The restaurant is deceptively straightforward, bright with a wonderfully welcoming atmosphere. The complexity lies below the surface, in the attention to details and layers of atmosphere and flavor that Michael and Peter provide. The cooks in the Providores kitchen were quick to treat me as part of their family, and I set to work, learning all that I could. It was the start to an exciting week filled with new flavors, tantalizing smells, and brilliant meals.

I left London with hugs, two autographed cookbooks from Peter, and a deepened appreciation for his fusion style of cooking. One of the earliest dishes that I had loved from Public—seared scallops with spicy arugula, plantain chips, and chili jam—was a perfect example of how well Peter mixes flavors. I have made the Tomato Chili Jam from his The Sugar Club Cookbook for years now, and I share my version of it here with you. It’s a sticky, sweet, sour, salty, spicy flavor bomb. We have never been

able to keep enough of it at my houseto last from one tomato season to thenext. It’s either eaten or somewhatbegrudgingly given as gifts to peoplewho are extremely dear to us.

Tomato Chili Jam Recipe

YIELD 9 8-OUNCE JARS

7 pounds tomatoes, cut into chunks 11/2 heads (approximately

18 cloves) garlic, peeled

4 to 6 red chili peppers, stems removed

5 inches ginger, peeled and cut into chunks

4 cups light brown sugar 6

tablespoons fish sauce

1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar

1. In a food processor, puree half ofthe tomatoes with the garlic, chilies, and ginger until smooth. Pulse the remaining tomatoes until they are mostly blended but still chunky. 2. Put the mixture into a large wide pot. Stir in the remaining ingredients, and bring to a boil. Skim any foam, lower to a high simmer, and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and darkens, approximately 30 to 40 minutes. 3. If you are canning the jam, prepare your water bath canner, jars, and lids, and process the jars for 15 minutes. Otherwise, pour the jam into warm jars and store in your refrigerator. 4. Enjoy this jam with eggs (with a Spanish tortilla is a favorite at our house), as part of a cheese plate, with sautéed fish, or in innumerable other ways.

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