Fresh Bites: Tomatillos add fresh zip to anything Mexican

Small, green tomato-like fruits in husks offer a bright citrus taste that marks Mexico's famous salsa verde.

Cynthia David Special to the Star, Published on Tue Mar 17 2015

Tomatillos take me back to San Miguel de Allende, the fabled artist’s colony in the hills four hours northwest of Mexico City. On my first visit earlier this month, I drank homemade margaritas on a rooftop terrace with friends while watching the sun set, and spent days strolling narrow cobblestoned streets and feasting on tortilla soup and platters of enchiladas, sopes, quesadillas, marinated skirt steak and fish tacos.

The city’s lively markets sell everything from dried beans to rubber tires, but even the smallest grocer offers the essentials for a Mexican feast: avocados, fresh and dried chili peppers, white onions, plum tomatoes, pungent cilantro, tiny limes and shiny tomatillos, wrapped in veined papery husks.

With their meaty white flesh and bright citrus taste, these firm green tomatoes range in size from cherries to golf balls. Cooked briefly and blended, they become Mexico’s famous salsa verde, served as a dip with nachos, simmered into a mole and spooned over everything from tacos to grilled fish.

For the rest of the story go to http://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2015/03/17/fresh-bites-tomatillos-add-fresh-zip-to-anything-mexican.html