Ode to tomato – Kayanas

“The street filled with tomatoes, midday, summer, light is halved like a tomato, its juice runs through the streets. (….)

The tomato offers its gift of fiery color and cool completeness.

Pablo Neruda   “Ode to tomato”





Every summer I look forward to harvest the first ripe tomatoes in order to make kayanas with the right taste.

That magnificent combination of tomatoes and eggs is my favorite main course for the hot summer days. It is also nice over toasted bread as an appetizer in a summer lunch, or as a rich sauce for pasta.

Kayanas can be seasoned with oregano, basil, mint or garlic but please only one of them; tomato has to be the King of flavor.

This food reminds me of my childhood, when my mother used to cook it with tomatoes from our garden. I could eat that every day for the whole season!

Serves 2

ingredients:

600gr peeled and finely chopped tomatoes

4-6 eggs

150gr olive oil

1 Tsp sugar

salt, pepper, oregano

In a saucepan put the tomatoes, sugar some salt and pepper and simmer in low heat until  2/3 of the juices are evaporated.

 Add the olive oil and oregano and continue cooking the sauce for a few more minutes before you add the eggs. Add the eggs WITHOUT beating them, - just break them over the tomato sauce and when the whites just start to set, stir gently with a wooden spatula until the eggs are totally cooked. The final result should look like a red canvas with white and yellow spots!
Kayanas, is mostly cooked in Peloponnese, where I come from.