The tomatoes of despair

The tomatoes of despair

Rolling across my wooden kitchen table,

Just stopped by an outstretched arm,

Tomatoes, tomatoes everywhere…..

In a plastic bowl with lukewarm water,

Dirt comes off with its hidden riders

Ants, small maggots…a brave snail..

Rinse in a fine gauge sieve

Under a running cold tap

remove the sink plug…

Pour on boiling water to loosen the skin

Remove it - then split the clean berry,

Remove pips with a steel spoon

Bubbling and burping in a large steel pan,

Must not stir for they still spit,

Never miss the human skin…

Stir with your best steel spoon

Add crushed spices - stir some more -

Remove spices with a sterilised steel filter

Now for those glass jars on a small tray

Previously carefully cleaned with boiling water

Will be three quarters filled by a steel spoon..

Screw on the sterlized tin lids -

Then, in theory, your chutney

Is safe for later use…