Tomato Tea Recipe
I know everyone is down on Eleven Madison Park now that they’re vegan, or that their moment has passed, or whatever, but one of the most amazing things I tasted while living in New York this summer was a course I had there. The first course “tomato” was a drink that the bartender came to my table to shake and pour over ice. It was tomato water that had been infused with several different things, and it was exquisite.
My first thought was to reproduce it in some way to make a cocktail for the bar I work part time in my flyover town, so I asked for the recipe. The server didn’t give me the recipe (you’d think he would considering how much I paid) but told me the ingredients and generally what they did to make it.
The water was made of tomatoes, poblano, and celery that’s blended, then the mash is put in a strainer and cheesecloth and let to drain for a long time. It can’t be pushed or stirred in the strainer because that would push tomato pulp through which interferes with the presentation and maybe the flavor. Then there is an infusion of thyme, thai basil, toasted juniper, lemon verbena, and some other things that I don’t remember. The list included black pepper and garlic, but those flavors were unpleasant for the purposes of the cocktail so I ended up omitting them.
I was hoping to replace the juniper element in my imagined cocktail with gin, so I left that out of my process. This drink ultimately failed as a cocktail, because the flavor is on the delicate side and made any cocktail seem too watery. It also produces very little of the liquid for the amount of produce used.
But the tomato water/“tea” I made was delicious so I want to record and share the recipe. It has a lovely freshness, with a touch of sweet and salt, and really has a beautiful tomato essence.
Ingredients
1.5 lb ripe cherry tomatoes (don’t try this if they aren’t in season, obviously)
1 stalk of celery
1 small poblano pepper, seeded
2 stems of fresh basil (about 4 big leaves plus the tops)
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 tsp lemon verbena tea (if you can get fresh, that would probably be better)
1/4 tsp salt
Process
Puree the tomatoes, celery, poblano, and basil.
Stir in the thyme, lemon verbena tea, and salt to the puree.
Line a fine mesh sieve with cheesecloth and place over a bowl, then pour the puree into the sieve. DO NOT STIR OR PUSH THE PUREE THROUGH.
Set the bowl in the refrigerator overnight, at least 12 hours, until the liquid has drained through.
Enjoy :)
You will be left with a nice puree, and should save it to use in a pasta sauce or shakshuka or menemen or whatever. Let me know what you think in the comments!
perfection!