Quick Fermented Relish | Four Ways to Use it #5

The Best Jar of Sauce

Before we start, Substack seems to have limited control over how I can post content for free vs paid members. Because of this, I’ve opted to make this newsletter free and remove all paywalls, but I’ve also posted the final recipe for paid members only as part of a separate post. If you’d like access to it, please consider supporting my work and joining our Substack community. Thank you.

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Hi, and welcome back. In this newsletter I wanted to share a recipe that was requested by one of my paid members, David, who asked for an alternative way to preserve ingredients that he usually turns into a chutney. As he’s new to fermentation, I made this recipe super quick and simple, and thought I’d dedicate a whole post to it, along with four delicious recipes that show different pairings and combinations using the relish. If you like the idea of a healthy, easy, one pan meal after a long day at work, this relish is a must-have in your fridge.

This week we’ll explore:

• Chef’s Almanac, tomatoes (at last)

• My new favourite way to ferment tomatoes

• A heritage tomato salad with fermented relish

• Pan con tomate inspired recipe

• Quick and simple fermented tomatoes, penne and manchego

• Brined and pan fried mackerel, fermented relish and sourdough

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Chef’s Almanac: Tomatoes
July - September

Beef steak tomatoes supported by plant pots - Huw’s photo

It’s been a hard year for tomatoes here in the UK, along with peppers and aubergine. A combination of one of the worst years for slugs I’ve ever seen (partly due to a relatively warm winter that didn’t reset a lot of the pest populations) and a relatively cool, cloudy summer. But finally, almost two months late, we’re starting to see more and more glorious, shining, red tomatoes.

Each year we grow a huge variety of heirloom tomatoes, which come in all shapes and sizes. Later in the season, when we have a full crop, I’ll post a dedicated newsletter breaking down my favourites and how each are best suited to the kitchen, but for now I’ll highlight the Sakura (Solanum lycopersicum), a cherry variety that’s incredibly sweet, Lulu’s Best Ever, a HUGE and delicious beef steak, and the Black Strawberry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), another cherry that’s not only a wonderful colour, but stunning flavour and texture. The joy of the latter specifically is how little attention it draws from pests thanks to its colour too.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention everyone’s favourite pairing of tomato too, basil, of which Huw has grown three majorly successful crops this year, two of which are new to us. British Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is our staple, and unsurprisingly (by the name) is suited to growing here in Wales, but also Greek Basil (Ocimum basilicum var. minimum), with much smaller densely packed leaves, bushing growth habit, and a wonderful punchy aroma, and Wild Basil (Clinopodium vulgare).

Whilst it might be too late for those in the Northern Hemisphere to sow tomato seeds for this season, I thought I’d share these now in case you wanted to source seeds and add it to your garden plan for next year.

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My new favourite way to ferment tomatoes
Smoky, refreshing, deeply savoury

Fermented relish on a plate to catch escaping juice

I’ve fermented tomatoes in every way I can think of and there isn’t such a thing as a flavourless fermented tomato. Every flavour and aroma characteristic is emphasised in extraordinary ways, however, the texture is often completely lost. In this relish technique, we use two different methods of preparing in order to sacrifice some tomatoes to provide the fermenting liquid for others, which are diced and allowed to retain their texture. In conjunction with this, the huge amount of additional ingredients lends this recipe nicely to high adaptability and incredible infusion. So make sure to use citrus zest, roots, cucumber, red or green pepper, and fresh herbs like basil, parsley, or coriander.

Another motivation behind this recipe comes from a request from a few subscribers for quick and easy recipes they can make after a long day at work, and this ferment is my answer. Unlike a lot of ferments, like kimchi and sauerkraut, that become side dishes or additions to full meals, this ferment makes a complete meal you can have ready in as long as it takes to boil pasta or toast bread. Continue reading for my four favourite recipes that use this ferment.

Ingredients:

• 500g fresh tomato

• 10g garlic

• 60g carrot

• 20g fresh chilli

• 5g lemon zest

• 150g green pepper

• 10g fresh basil / parsley / coriander

• 1 tsp smoked paprika (3g)

• 15g sea salt

• Optional: You can add any ingredients you like as well, such as apple or pear, additional spices, cucumber, courgette, French beans etc. But weigh each of them and multiply the weight be 0.02 to see how much extra salt you need to add.

Equipment:

• Standard clip top / screw top jar (750ml)

• Scales

• Pestle and mortar (or blender)

• Greaseproof parchment

• Knife and chopping board

1. Crush the garlic, herbs and lemon zest in a pestle and mortar, then add 150g of tomato and a teaspoon of smoked paprika and crush the whole lot into a sauce. You can use a blender for this, but I opted for a pestle and mortar as the act of crushing is a similar mechanism to chewing and releases more flavour and aroma from every cell than the cutting motion of a blender. Blenders can also heat up when left for too long, which will harm the microbes.

2. Finely dice the remaining ingredients, reserving a tomato for larger diced pieces to provide a variety of textures, and mix them into the sauce. Add the salt and stir it in, then pack the whole lot into a freshly cleaned jar.

3. Cover the top of the relish with a round piece of greaseproof paper or food safe plastic wrap and secure the lid in place. This ferment is anaerobic, so requires sealing off from oxygen. This allows the lactic acid bacteria to convert the natural sugars of our relish ingredients into lactic acid, providing a pleasant sourness and extra security against spoilage. And unlike lacto tomatoes, it doesn’t have a tendency to turn alcoholic.

   

   Press the paper in contact to protect it from air

4. Leave somewhere out of direct sunlight between 18-25°C (65-77°F) for 4-5 days, opening the jar once or twice during this time to vent carbon dioxide. Every other day, flip the jar upside down to stop any part of the ferment resting at the surface for too long, where exposure to air could allow mould growth. But let me reassure you, if you forget for a day this won’t be a problem, as the salinity of the mixture and natural acidity of tomatoes will make spoilage much harder for unwanted microbes.

5. After 5 days, move the jar into a fridge. This ferment is designed to be lightly fermented and short lived, lasting just a month or so. Whilst you can let it ferment at room temperature for longer, I find the best flavours are expressed before this one turns ‘fully fermented funk-mode’. The uses for this recipe vary hugely, adding it as-is directly into soups, stews, and salads, as a topping for nachos, or dressing for a burger bun. You can also separate the solids from the brine using a fine mesh sieve and mix the fermented diced ingredients with a peppery olive oil to make a delicious dressing, reserving the brine for additional quick pickles.

   

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My four favourite recipes for this relish 

Working for a Spanish tapas restaurant taught me to appreciate many things, the perfect socrat, vermouth, and the huge range of flavours in olive oil. The following recipes owe their existence to the lasting influence Spanish food has over my cooking. If eating out at restaurants is considered the cheapest way to travel the world, then working at them is the closest I’ve come to a deeper cultural understanding.

Heritage tomato salad
Vegan

This recipe that is made or broken by the quality of your ingredients, namely tomatoes. I’d go as far to say that if you can’t source locally grown, in season tomatoes, it’s probably not worth making. My apologies if that sounds a little snobby, I just want you to experience it at its best.

Serves 2
Ingredients

• 450g heritage tomatoes

• 2 tbsp fermented relish

• 80ml olive oil*

• A handful of pistachio or almonds

Along with the tomatoes you use, getting your hands on a great olive oil makes a big difference to this dish. I’m using 555 but you can use anything that is peppery, a little bitter, and grassy. 

1. Preheat an oven to 200C (180C in a fan oven) and toast the nuts for 10 minutes or so to release their aroma.

2. Whilst you wait, cut the tomatoes into a mixture of slices and wedges.

3. Drain the relish a little in a sieve to remove some of the excess brine, then mix it with the olive oil in a bowl.

4. Add the tomatoes to the bowl and toss them around before arranging them on a plate and topping with toasted nuts, lightly crushed in a pestle and mortar.

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Pan con tomate
Vegan

There are few things better on toast in the heat of summer than garlic and tomato, that is, unless you happen to have a jar of this relish waiting in your fridge.

Serves 2
Ingredients

• 4 slices of bread

• 4 tbsp fermented relish

• 3 garlic cloves

• A drizzle of olive oil

1. Cut four slices of bread. This can be any bread, but I especially like it on rye or white, if you can find (or make) rye without caraway. Pop the bread on to toast.

2. Peel the garlic cloves.

3. When the bread is toasted on both sides, rub the garlic over the toast, grating it.

4. Top the toast with relish straight from the jar whilst it’s still warm and allow the heat to release the fermented aroma.

5. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, and if you’re feeling fancy, top it with cheese.

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Penne with relish and manchego
Vegetarian

This recipe treats our jar of relish like a pre-made pasta sauce, only it’s far healthier, sugar free, and full of gut loving microbes. I read recently that it was discovered that dairy aids in the passage of probiotic microbes through your stomach, as well as the adhesion to your intestinal tract. Having heard worse excuses for some cheese on pasta, I’ve opted to top this dish with 12 month aged manchego, a hard ewes cheese from Spain, but the crumbly Welsh Gorwydd Caerffili is also an excellent choice.

Serves 2
Ingredients:

• 400g penne*

• 5 tbsp relish

• 80g manchego

• Drizzle of olive oil

• Black pepper

1. Firstly, if you’re a pasta fiend like me, feel free to increase the portion size as you like. The beauty of this recipe is you can simply add as much relish and oil as you need. My personal preference is to use slow dried pasta. I find they taste so much better and cause far fewer digestive issues for the people I feed.

2. Boil the pasta in hot salted water for as long as the instructions say, making sure to preserve that all precious bite with al dente.

3. Drain the pasta when cooked, then toss it back into the pan with the relish and olive oil before plating it and adding shavings of manchego. I do this using a vegetable peeler against a rindless piece of cheese, then sprinkle them over.

4. Top with cracked black pepper.

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A quick note before the final recipe

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Today I’m announcing a brand new addition to my Substack publication: Chef Sam Black subscriber chat. Well, sort of new. New for those of you who have recently joined as paid members.

This is a conversation space exclusively for subscribers—kind of like a group chat or live hangout. I’ll post questions and updates that come my way, and you can jump into the discussion.

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What’s happening in the chat?

My vision for this side of Substack is a place where the community can benefit from more than just my videos and newsletters, but we can pool our ideas, recipes, and trials. It’s where I’ll share much more on my experiments and developments in the kitchen, as well as help with any questions or issues you might have run into with fermentation or my recipes.

For me, community lies at the heart of what I do, be that at the farm or online. If you’ve ever wanted to join a group of encouraging, inspiring, and insightful people of all ranges, backgrounds, and experience, then please consider becoming a member. All are welcome.

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Brined and pan fried mackerel with fermented relish

There is little more deeply satiating and savoury than this way of preparing a fillet of mackerel. Living by the sea, I’m a big fan of fish and opt to use it as a treat once in a while, making it something special. Inspired by bacalao, a salted cod and tomato lentil stew, this recipe takes any oily or white fish and gives them an entirely new depth and moorishness. It works well with both raw fish as well as smoked, but if using smoked, you only need cook it long enough to crisp the skin.

Unlike the recipe that inspired it, we don’t need to cook the tomato for ages to bring out its savoury umami characteristics, as this has been taken care of by fermentation, allowing us to keep our version of the dish light, refreshing, and sweet. 

The final recipe is available to paid members in a seperate newsletter.

Click here for the full recipe

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As always, thank you so much for joining me, and I hope you enjoyed this additional recipe. Whilst still simple, I hope it gave you some extra ideas for how to use this ferment to really elevate your cookery.

See you soon,
Sam