Discovering Tomolives
Words by Matt Burch
My first restaurant job was at La Baguette Bistro at age 18. I was immediately immersed in a new world of dishes like lamb persillade and escargot de bourgogne. Sometimes on a shift, servers would sneak a little "bar snack" from the arrangement of cocktail garnishes (a practice neither Michel nor Alain Buthion approved of, to be clear). La Baguette’s selection of blue cheese-stuffed olives and the like seemed exotic to me. One day fellow server Leah Wright energetically requested I "open up,” then quickly fired what I thought was an oddly hued olive into my mouth.
A few moments in, I realized this was no olive but an alien, tangy, juicy morsel of deliciousness. It was a "Tomolive" or pickled green grape tomato. I never worked a shift without eating three of them. After I left La Baguette, I didn't see them for years. I went on to start my own locally sourced grocery store, Urban Agrarian, where we specialize in sourcing the best local food we can find, as well as other specialty items. But even as a grocer, I couldn’t find Tomolives.
I was thrilled to eventually learn that Tomolives came from a business called Bryant Preserving Company just over the border in Alma, Arkansas. This spring I picked up a pallet of its preserved products for Urban Agrarian—pickled asparagus, Brussels sprouts, eggs, okra and more. But the glorious prize of my trip was a distributor-level quantity of those delicious, unique, and elusive Tomolives. Try a jar, thank me later, and consider yourself an initiate into a very unique, regional, and subtly exclusive club of pickled food gourmands.
INGREDIENTS
Pineapple-Mint-Tomolive Juice:
20 mint leaves, roughly 1/4 cup
1 cup chopped fresh pineapple
5 Tomolives
Turbinado Syrup:
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
1/2 cup very hot water
1.5 oz Pineapple-Mint-Tomolive juice
1.5 oz white pot still rum
1 oz turbinado syrup
.5 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz Tomolive brine
METHOD
Add Pineapple-Mint-Tomolive Juice ingredients into food processor or blender and process until a smooth puree. Press through a fine mesh strainer and discard pulp.
Combine sugar and water. Stir until dissolved to create Turbinado Syrup.
Add ingredients to cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until cold. Strain into ice-filled rocks glass or Collins glass. Garnish with mint spring and skewered Tomolives.
