Neela is a young girl who enjoys preparing meals with her mother. Her favorite day of the week is Saturday. They go to the green market on that day.
“Tomatoes For Neela,” Padma Lakshmi’s amusing foray into the realm of children’s books, blends the author’s recollections of family cooking with practical food advice, a homage to farmworkers, and even a pair of recipes.
“It is just a very small personal story that centers around a young single mother who also is a recipe writer like me,” says Lakshmi, the host of Bravo’s “Top Chef” and “Taste the Nation” on Hulu. “It’s just really about teaching children how to cook from an early age, respecting Mother Nature and eating when things are in season.”
Neela and her mother make a sauce with tomatoes from the green market, enough to jar for the winter and share with Neela’s grandma when she comes to visit from India. Meanwhile, her grandma, who is present in spirit, looks down from framed images. Neela meticulously records all of the recipes.
There’s also a history lesson, with Neela describing the fruit’s origins in Latin America and how they were once dreaded by various tribes. She discovers that different varieties, such as heirlooms or cherry, are suitable for different meals. She makes her sauce with plum tomatoes since they contain less seeds.