Tomatillos

What a difference a few years can make! When I was working on my first book, the only way many people could buy tomatillos in this country was canned, and I felt obliged to give directions for making tomatillo sauce with the canned ones, no matter how much I loathed them. Now fresh tomatillos are a familiar sight even in supermarkets. This elegant little fruit, tomate verde or tomate de cáscara in Mexico, is used in sauces where a mild, subtle tartness is called for. One of my most joyful discoveries in Veracruz was the wonderful pairing that tomatillos make with avocado in an uncooked green sauce (see salsa verde con aguacate). It is a most refreshing change from guacamole, with the lightly acid tomatillos tempering the richness of the avocado.