【食驗室】自製番茄糊 Home-made Passata

剛到義大利的前幾年，一到夏末，公婆兩人總是會吆喝著，問幾個兒子女兒有沒有空到家裡幫忙，一起做今年份的蕃茄糊，算是每年夏天的年度大事。去公婆家的總不會是我和米奇，因為米奇工作時間上常常不能配合，我又從來沒有做過，其他人剛好夏休可以幫忙，所以到目前為止，我和米奇都只有出嘴巴的份兒，每年都坐在家裡等著公公打電話來，叫我們去領十瓶番茄糊回家。
At the first few years after I moved to Italy, when it came to summer my in-laws were always requesting their children to go back home to help making passata (tomato concentrate) for the year’s reserve. Michele and I were not the ones to go, for the reason that our working time weren’t (and still aren’t) stable and I had never done something like this before. Others were in their summer vacation and had some time to spare. So up to now Michele and I are always the one to help consuming, waiting for my in-law’s call to go and pick-up ten bottles or so.



聽米奇說，這種自製蕃茄糊，是南方人的習慣。南部是蕃茄的重要產區，之所以在夏天製作番茄糊，主要是因為七月到九月是聖馬爾札諾（San Marzano）番茄的盛產期，這種果實瘦長、如成人手指四至五倍粗的番茄品種，最適合拿來製作番茄糊。雖說任何品種的番茄，只要長熟了都可以拿來做番茄糊，不過用聖馬爾札諾番茄製作的番茄糊，口感鮮美味濃，酸度較低又不會太甜，因此許多南部人都有趁盛產期在家裡做一批存放起來的習慣，以備冬季之用。
According to Michele, the habit to make passata for winter preserve is from south Italy. Many southern areas are important production area for tomato. From July to September, it’s the season for San Marzano tomato. This tomato of four to five fingers’ thickness is most suitable for passata. Even though almost every kind of tomanto can be used for passata as long as ripen, passata made from San Marzano is famous for its strong and fresh taste. It’s neither acid nor sweet. Many southern people have the habit to produce home made passata during production season and preserve it for winter.

這兩年公婆身體狀況不如以往，每年雖然都嚷著要做，體力上卻不堪負荷，嚷著嚷著，卻也讓我起了嘗試的念頭。於是我們選了個比較不炎熱的早上，撥了通電話給公婆詢問做法，然後興致沖沖地跑到市場，大致把材料買齊，煞有其事地做起番茄糊來。
The health conditions of my in-laws are getting worse these years. Though they are thinking to make it, their physical energy cannot really afford such tiring work. They’ve been talking about it so much that I started to think about giving it a try myself. So we chose a not-too-hot morning, called my in-laws asking for the right ingredients, and then went shopping for passata making.

兩公斤半的番茄、兩根西洋芹、一根紅蘿蔔、四瓣大蒜、一顆大洋蔥，加上一把新鮮的西洋香芹和羅勒作為調味料之用，材料就這麼簡單。所有材料都切成小塊，把西洋芹、紅蘿蔔、大蒜和洋蔥放入深鍋中，加水至剛好把所有材料蓋過的程度，開火煮到紅蘿蔔變軟以後，加入番茄，大致攪拌再加入一杯水，繼續用大火熬煮，煮開後約莫十分鐘加入鹽巴調味續煮。我用的是七公升的鍋子，熬到可以輾磨的程度，大概是所有材料丟入鍋中以後的三分之一左右。鍋子離火前五分鐘，丟入切碎的香芹和羅勒，攪拌起鍋待用。
Tow and half kilos of tomato, two sticks celery, one medium carrot, four cloves garlic, one big onion, and a bunch of parsley and basilic, simple as it is and no more than that. Chop everything into small pieces. Put celery, carrot, garlic and onion into a deep pot and pour enough water just to cover everything. Cook over high heat until vegetables are cooked. Add tomato, mix roughly and then add a cup of water. Continue cooking over high heat for about fifteen to twenty minutes and then add salt to taste. I was using a sever liters pot. Cook until the tomato is reduced to one-third, and it’s ready to pass the vegetable mill. Add basilic and parsley five minutes before switching off the fire.

煮好的番茄得經過壓擠過篩的動作，才能裝罐。公公那兒有專門的機器，可以分離果肉和殘渣，沒有習慣做番茄糊的我們，只好晚起袖子，拿起專用的蔬菜輾磨器（vegetable mill），一瓢瓢地壓製。壓出來的番茄糊裝罐蓋緊以後，再放入滾水中續煮半小時殺菌密封，取出後用毯子或棉被蓋起來包好，讓溫度慢慢降下來，放置兩天以後便大功告成。
The cooked vegetable mixture has to be passed through vegetable mill and then bottled. My in-laws have the machine version vegetable mill that can separate the tomato puree from the residual seeds and skins. We don’t have that kind of luxury and can only use the manual vegetable mill and process the mixture spoon by spoon. After the puree was bottled, we wrapped the bottles, put them into water and re-cooked the bottles for half hour for vacuum and disinfection. The bottles were then taken out from boiling water and covered with thick blanket to cool slowly. It’s normally ready after covered with blanket for two to three days.

兩公斤半的新鮮番茄，也只讓我做出三罐半公升裝的番茄糊。這反而讓我納悶起來，公婆每次替自己和子女加起來五個家庭製作番茄糊，量到底有多大？米奇這下子才告訴我，某次我在公公車庫裡看到一個直徑約莫五十公分、高七十公分的大鋁鍋，就是每年製作番茄糊的主要工具，每次至少也煮個四五鍋才肯罷休，幾百公斤的番茄絕對跑不掉。這會兒我倒是真的嚇了一跳！如果不是因為自己動手可以調配自己喜愛的口感，不然也真的不需要大費周章，畢竟番茄糊這種東西很容易買到，價格又便宜，只不過，有著一手好廚藝的婆婆總是很難接受超市裡的現成品，能夠自己做絕對不假他人之手。
Two and half kilos of tomato were made into three half-liter bottles of passata. I was wondering how much tomato my in-laws were using to produce enough passata for five families? Michele then told me that the big aluminum pot with fifty-centimeter diameter and seventy-centimeter height I once saw in the garage of my in-laws is the main apparatus for passata making. They prepared four to five pots of it every time and hundreds kilos of tomato were used at least. It really surprises me! If not for flavoring it according to personal taste, it’s not really necessary to spend so much efforts doing homemade passata. After all, one can easily find it in supermarket with low cost. However, Michele’s mother is a good cook and cannot really accept the ready-made mass production in the supermarket. Whatever she is able to prepare herself, she will never go for the ready-made stuff.

對貪圖便利的我來說，這大概是第一次也是最後一次自製番茄糊，不過感覺上這次似乎是自掘陷阱，以後再也不能用「我不會」來當藉口了！
For me, it’s probably the first time and the last time. It seems to me that I’m digging a hole for myself… I can’t never use “I don’t know how” as the excuse to escape!!