They gave me a basket of tamarillos and, the truth, I have to confess that I had never been able to see them up close, because although it is a fruit that is usually already in supermarkets throughout the year. When I got home with all that fruit I started looking in a Peruvian cookbook for how I could prepare them, when I saw that it existed tamarillo sauce, I did not hesitate, that was my recipe.
The tamarillo, also called “tree tomato” is native to the Peruvian Andes and is grown in tropical Latin American countries. From the potato and tomato family, it has a bittersweet and slightly bitter taste. Its optimal point of maturation is when the skin gives in to pressure and is completely red. They are very sensitive to shocksTherefore, they are collected one by one and packed in alveoli. Its optimum storage temperature is 4ºC, the ripening temperature being twenty degrees. All these characteristics make its price more expensive, turning out to be quite high in our markets.
Anyway, if you have the opportunity, do not stop trying this sauce, with a kilo of tamarillos we get a few cans of preserves, just enough to have sauce throughout the year, for the day we want to accompany a meat or fish with something different . Of course, if you pack it, remember to sterilize clean and tightly closed jars in boiling water for half an hour.
Start by peeling the tamarillos, it can be done by scalding them for a few minutes in boiling water or by peeling them with a knife. Chop them into quarters, with caution because when cutting them They stain red and it is very difficult to clean. Put them in a pot with a thick bottom, chop the small onion, add to the pot. Add salt and pepper and add the rest of the spices except the olive oil.
Cook for half an hour over low heat with the pot lid on, stir from time to time so that it does not stick to us. When the tamarillos have melted, add the oil and pass the blender or leave it as it is with chunks, according to your taste.
With what to accompany the tamarillo sauce
This sweet and spicy tamarillo sauce is ideal as an accompaniment to chicken meat or white fish. Also in the countries where it is produced, it is consumed spicy, as a garnish for cold dishes or accompanying cheese on a toast of bread.
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