Tomatillo, Gooseberry, Persimmon and Tomato Salad

imagesThe original name for tomatillo is tomate (in Nahuatl, tomātl, ‘fat thing’). When Aztecs started to cultivate a similar but bigger red fruit, they called the new species jitomate (‘fat thing with navel’).

You can see why they referred to a navel even today when you look at snarled navels of “heirloom” tomato varieties. In Aztec mythology the navel was the original link to life, what was left after the umbilical cord dropped off.

They had similar thoughts about corn silk, which ran back to the living root in multifarious, variegated ways. So maybe some fresh kernels of corn could be scattered over the top of this salad as a garnish.

Tomatillos are related to gooseberries, obvious when you see them side-by-side. The connection to persimmons is a stretch. They do make quite a combo when their flavors are matched. Both also contain more pectin than your average fruit.

This is a speculative dish, since the chances of having all these fruit lying around at once are slim.

So we are free to imagine any salad dressing which might enter our mind.

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Thanks to Richard Haly for the Nahuatl background.