Bob's 3am Tomato Sauce

this is the long awaited tomato sauce recipe that bob caught me cooking at 3am on a friday or rather early saturday morning.

i'm an old woman now. i don't hit the clubs anymore. i am revoltingly unable to hold my drink anymore like i used to when i was a kid - as evidenced by the damning photos that jen took when i was crawling on my carpet and rob was sitting over me laughing like a hyena. but jill and her lost ability to hold her drink is another chapter altogether.

back to being an old woman - my sleep patterns have altered. sometimes on a friday or saturday night i am hit with this supernatural inspiration and i just start taking out pots and pans and before i know it, i am slicing, dicing, sauteeing. i find that the deeper i am in thought about the state of my life, the better my food comes out. sometimes in the middle of slicing onions or finely chopping herbs, i find myself awash in a tangle of emotions and the different thoughts that come to mind.

cooking for me, is the opportunity to ponder my life and the day's occurences. i sink, into this oblivion and my movements are automatic. my hands, my nose and my taste buds have a life of their own.

i don't measure anything. i just know exactly how much to put because i've been cooking for so long i've learnt how much is how much by eyeballing everything. it's like riding a bike or driving a car - you learn to move with your bicycle or handle your car the more you ride or drive it. and after you have learned all its little tics and tricks - you can then safely say, this is MY bike or this is MY car because by then only you will have the answers to the little tics that surprise other people when they try to ride your car or your bike.

same with cooking - you have to understand how the tomatoes look, how ripe or underripe, how sweet the variety is or how acidic. if the basil is no good or lush and aromatic. then you have to adjust accordingly to what you have and because you are caring for nature's bounty, there is never any predicting the state you will find tomatoes in.

to be honest, i don't even remember everything that happens consciously when i am in that cooking haze. time disappears and the whole world stands still for me in that moment. nothing is alive except me and the fire. the world could crumble at that moment and i would be left in front of my stove, ladle in hand, pot at the ready.

and this is why it took me so long to try and remember that 3am tomato sauce haze. this is the best i could remember it to be bob - your visit to london is one of the best chapters in my london book, so in your honor, it shall forever be known as Bob's 3am Tomato Sauce. thank you for being such an incredible friend forever.

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you have to cook this using a wooden spoon.



first heat up some regular olive oil in a heavy sauce pan. tip in some anchovies - i prefer those canned in olive oil with garlic. if so, i tip in the whole small, flat tin, olive oil and all. the heat must be soft and you have to wait for the anchovies to melt slowly and disintegrate into the oil.



once the anchovies have disintegrated, add the finely chopped head of garlic. again on slow fire let the garlic slowly color to a soft barely there gold.

then add one finely chopped very large white onion. if the pan needs more olive oil at this stage add more. once the onion smell has evaporated, start seasoning with a sprinkle of salt, pepper and sugar (but only a touch!). the sugar will help the onions caramelize. again do this on a medium heat - slowly let the sugars come out of the onion. once the onion starts to be slightly brown (which means the natural sugars have leached out at the onions are very sweet at this stage), add your cherry tomatoes. maybe a kilo.


toss the tomatoes in the whole garlic/onion/olive oil mixture but DO NOT crush them. just coat them evenly in the oil mixture. this is why it is important you use only a wooden spoon.

if the mixture seems dry, add more olive oil and a tablespoon or so of fish sauce. again mix gently. then cover the pan. RESIST adding any water. lower the heat and go away for a while but be on guard that the pan doesn't dry out. if the pan is drying out before any of the tomatoes burst, add a tablespoon or two of white wine. after a bit, some of the tomatoes will have burst. you then have permission to start crushing the ones that have burst. again season lightly with salt, pepper and sugar - not in equal amounts! and judge against how much salt you put in the onions, and if you put fish sauce.

eventually, all the tomatoes will have poppped from the heat and you will now have a pan full of tomato juice unadulterated by water. keep stirring. if the tomatoes aren't as red as you want them to be, stir in a tablespoon or so of tomato paste.

simmer over very low heat for 30-45 minutes stirring every now and then. check for seasonings (sugar to balance out the tomatoes if they are sour). if it needs more liquid, add some broth on hand. at that time, i had some shrimp broth which i made previously and was sitting in my freezer.

bob - the magic part of that sauce was that i used my home made shrimp broth which is a recipe in its own right =)

at this point, you should be happy with the color, the body and texture of the sauce. chop some flat leaf parsley, basil and tarragon - a good handful of each. then turn off the heat and stir in the herbs.



voila - Bob's 3am Tomato Sauce.

serve over pasta with some genuine parmigiano reggiano, crusty garlic bread and crisp white wine. or pour over fish and bake for 20 minutes. or mix with some double cream to cook some prawns in to be poured over pasta. or blended and sieved then served in a glass with some vodka, worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, celery salt and a celery stalk....3am Tomato Sauce goes a long way.

3am Tomato Sauce is a bit like life - it'll go for as long as your will and your imagination will let you.