In conversation with Author of the Roasting Tin series, Rukmini Iyer

Image by Jurriaan Huting 

We’re delighted to be working with Rukmini Iyer this British tomato fortnight, we sat down together to get to know her a little better.

Embracing seasonality is at the heart of delicious cooking, what does seasonality mean to you?

It means making the most of the brief seasons when we have wonderful, once-a-year produce – be it blood oranges and pink forced rhubarb in January, Jersey Royals through spring, English asparagus in May or wonderful British tomatoes through the summer. It’s really special to have those ingredients for just a short month or so, and get creative using them in as many recipes as possible – I was very excited to feed my baby her very first peas and tomatoes from my own outdoor crops!

Your book / books focus on simple, hearty recipes which are both delicious and nutritional, do you have a favourite recipe where the tomato is the hero ingredient? 

It’s got to be the roasted tomato, black pepper and bay orzo – such a simple dish where the tomatoes are a star. The French mustard & tomato tart is also a favourite – both dishes take minutes to put together and let the flavour of the tomatoes really shine.

There are so many beautiful varieties of tomatoes, do you have a favourite?

I grew Galina and Gardener’s Sweetheart last year and would definitely grow them again for their excellent flavour and prolific harvests! (And as they survived my slightly intermittent care!)

Do you have a nostalgic food memory which reminds you of your childhood?

Sweet recipes like fairy cakes, flapjacks and chocolate rice crispie cakes always make me think of cooking with my mum as a child, and the smell of fresh doughnuts when you walk past a shop similarly make me think of after school snacks (pity my daughter, who only gets baked goods sweetened with fruit and usually made with spelt or wholemeal flour!)

What are three things you can’t live without in the kitchen?

Lemons and limes (do they count as one ingredient?!), Maldon sea salt, and good free-range eggs, preferably Clarence Court.

As summer approaches, what are you most looking forward to eating on a summer evening outdoors?

I’m really looking forward to firing up the pizza oven and having friends over for pizza parties – it’s great making a huge batch of dough, putting out all the toppings and letting everyone make their own pizza. Everything tastes better made and eaten outdoors (ideally with a nice glass of rosé or an Aperol Spritz)

This year, we’re celebrating Toms in Ten recipes, what’s your go to, for a quick working lunch or snack for your child?

You can have this one hot off the press – I just made this 10 minute pasta sauce for my daughter this morning and it was an absolute hit. I heated a glug of olive oil in a small frying pan, added a clove of grated fresh garlic and a big handful of quartered cherry tomatoes, then sauteed them together for 5-6 minutes with finely chopped asparagus and roughly chopped butter beans. A squeeze of lemon and big spoon of cream cheese to finish – a toddler success! (My daughter loves tomatoes, but has quite specific taste and prefers whole roasted datterini tomatoes to any other type!)

 Rukmini has created five recipes for British tomato fortnight, check them out on our recipe page.