Tinned tomatoes

A fruit of the Andes, domesticated in Mexico, now the base of half the world's sauces.

What to do with it

Classics built on it

PunjabiButter chickenTandoori chicken simmered in a mild, silky sauce of tomato, butter and cream, scented with dried fenugreek.No one here has made it yetPunjabiDal makhaniWhole black lentils and kidney beans, simmered for hours with butter, tomato and cream until thick and velvety.No one here has made it yetMoroccanHariraA soup of tomato, lentils, chickpeas and a little lamb, thick with herbs and thickened at the end with flour, served with lemon and dates.No one here has made it yetItalianCaponataFried aubergine with celery, onion, tomato, capers and olives, in a sweet-and-sour sauce of vinegar and sugar.No one here has made it yetItalianPizza napoletanaA soft round of long-risen dough, topped simply — tomato, mozzarella, basil, oil — and baked for about a minute in a wood-fired oven until blistered at the rim.No one here has made it yetItalianPasta alla NormaPasta in a sauce of tomato, garlic and basil with fried aubergine, under a snow of grated ricotta salata.No one here has made it yetGreekMoussakaLayers of fried aubergine and minced lamb or beef in a cinnamon-scented tomato sauce, under a thick crust of béchamel, baked.No one here has made it yetGreekPastitsioLong tubes of pasta layered with a spiced meat sauce under thick béchamel, baked and cut in tall squares.No one here has made it yet