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Published 1992
Tomatoes are integral to Lowcountry cuisine. Many soups, stews, and vegetable dishes owe their distinctive qualities to the humble tomato and its miraculous saucing abilities. With our subtropical climate, 2 crops per year are normal. It is a waste not to have a few tomato plants here, if only on a balcony: nothing matches the flavor of juicy vine-ripened ones. In their absence I often use canned tomatoes in cooked dishes calling for tomatoes; they are invariably better than store-bought and out of season. When the harvest is in, though, I do make my own catsup and sun-dried tomatoes using very old Carolina receipts.