Glutted!

Here's where we get into audience participation. I can see you trying to shuffle down in your seat, trying to make yourself appear inconspicuous. It hasn't worked, I can still see you. (Nasty shade of hair dye, btw.)

I need an intrepid assistant, or several. Here's the problem: 6 kilos of cherry tomatoes.

Tomatoes are the number one cash crop of this area, and chiriz, as they get called, are the main variety produced. Since the start of la crisis in 2008, lots of people have returned to the villages of the Alpujarras from the cities, having lost jobs, had homes repossessed, and/or split with spouses due to the stress of money troubles. Many of these people return to the family home and find that the plots of land that their ancestors cleared, that their grandparents depended on and that their parents let fall into disuse are now their only potential source of income. The number of tomato fields around Alcútar and Bérchules has just about trebled over the past three years.

Rotting on the vine - photo taken today!

Now, these are good toms. Most are not organic, but the amount of pesticides and fertilisers that they get sprayed with is quite low; high altitude and clean air help keep the creepy crawlies down. Don't forget, they're planting these vines at the same altitude (1,300m/4,300ft)+ as the top of Ben Nevis! The problem for the farmers is one of basic economics: over the course of the growing season supply rises to outstrip demand. When they first start cropping in June they may get as much as €2,00 a kilo from the wholesaler. (These wholesalers call themselves 'cooperatives', but they're anything but cooperative, in fact dictatorial would be a better word, and they're all privately owned).

By the time autumn comes around prices will have fallen to unprofitable lows of around ¢20 a kilo. At those sort of prices there is absolutely no point in picking them; the labour, transport and packing cost more than that. Incidentally, what kind of price are you paying for cherry tomatoes in the supermarket? Did you know that the farmer in Spain is actually receiving on average less than a Euro per kilo?  I looked on a price comparison website and found that Tesco's Value line cherries sell at £3.20 a kilo, or €3,82. Here they are literally giving them away. I am a fortunate recipient of the salad the world forgot.

Ketchup, relish, jam and frozen... and still they aren't finished

One of my neighbours deposited a 12-kilo crate of the little sweeties on my doorstep on Tuesday. Since then I've made pasta sauce; tomato relish; tomato jam; and spicy ketchup. Yesterday I frozen two batches of them naked; not me, them. Today I'm going to bottle some more in brine. I'm not sure what they will taste like when I use them, but this article I found online seems to sing their praises. I'm also going to dry some in a very low oven for a few hours, then preserve them in oil.

After all this effort, I've still got 6kg left. I guess I could have made bigger quantities of everything, but then what to do with it all. I sell a bit of produce to guests at Las Chimeneas, but frankly, who in their right mind would want to buy preserved tomatoes and carry them all the way home after their holiday? These are excellent toms, but you'd hardly claim that there is something uniquely exceptional about them.

This is where you come in. What trick have I missed? What would you do with six spare kilos of sweet, cherry tomatoes?