Stekovics Tapenade – with Tomatoes and Black Walnuts – 125g

The Stekovics Tapenade is an intensely tomato-flavored cream, made from black walnuts (unripe walnuts), tomatoes, and garlic, following a recipe from the French herb guru Jean-Marie Dumaine, who lives in the Ahr region. He discovered that unripe green walnuts, when processed into black walnuts, have a similar aroma to black olives, which are typically used to make tapenade. The ripe tomatoes of various old varieties are first quartered and then slowly dried in the oven overnight, which intensifies their already unique aroma. The dried tomatoes are processed into a fine pesto with plenty of fresh garlic, chili, tomato vinegar, and rapeseed oil, then filled into jars. #

The tapenade is great as a pesto with pasta or roasted potatoes, tastes delicious on crispy bread, aged cheeses or feta, as a dip with raw vegetables or crackers, but also with lamb or venison dishes.

Black Walnuts – Harvested Unripe and Yet Delicious

In June, around St. John's Day (June 21st), the green nuts of the walnut tree are harvested before the shell forms. Then, numerous holes are pricked into the green husk with a fork or wooden skewers; it's best to wear gloves to avoid getting completely black fingers. Afterwards, the green nuts are stored for months, floating in barrels of brine, with the black water being replaced repeatedly until the green nuts have become delicious black walnuts. It's an effort that pays off.

Stekovics Tapenade – from the Emperor of Tomatoes

Erich Stekovics is on a quest for lost flavors. In his "paradise," he cultivates over 4000 tomato varieties and now well over 200 chili varieties. Erich Stekovics is the Emperor of Tomatoes; on Lake Neusiedl in Austria, he plants and cultivates countless old, almost forgotten varieties of tomatoes, bell peppers, chilies, garlic, and cucumbers, and transforms them into delicious preserved goods in jars, like this tapenade.

What Erich Stekovics plants has flavor. And he is particularly captivated by old varieties of tomato and chili plants. And no one can fool him easily. Among his personal favorite varieties is the chili variety 'Gänseschnabel', which he preserves in the finest Beerenauslese vinegar.