They Say Canned Tomatoes

By Claudia Itzkowich

Having grown up in Mexico, I was surprised when I moved to New York and I discovered that even respectable cooks - and cookbooks! - called for canned tomatoes.

It didn’t take me long to understand that not every latitude is blessed with the bounty of vegetables one can get fresh in Mexico year-round.

But I still admire people like my friend Alba, chef and co-owner of restaurant Bu in Montreal, who follows the Italian way to solve the issue by boiling dozens of kilos of the beautifully ripe tomatoes of the end of the summer and pours the puree, with a few drops of olive oil and a basil leave, in sealed mason jars.

Thanks to such an endeavor, here I am in the dead of winter with her daughter Alice, savoring the most delicious farfalle alla puttanesca, with capers and black olives. As simple as it is perfect.