Preserve us: making the most of tomatoes

1kg red tomatoes, cores removed
75ml water, or the juice caught from coring the tomatoes
300g granulated sugar
250g light brown sugar
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 small lemon, sliced very thinly
1 head of garlic, peeled, cloves left whole
1 tsp cumin seeds
4cm piece ginger, roughly grated
6-8 cardamom pods, left whole

1. Place all the ingredients into a large heavy-bottomed pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring regularly, for about 15 minutes.
2. Return to the boil and simmer steadily for at least 1 ¼ hours until a little cooled preserve spooned onto a chilled plate wrinkles when you push it with your finger.
3. Pour immediately into a 500g sterilised jar, removing the cardamom pods if you wish. Seal, allow to cool and store in a cool dark place.
4. Serve with cheese – this is especially delicious with ripe goats’ cheese.

Easy Tomato Salad
Take 2 ripe beef tomatoes and slice them thinly. Place on a serving plate and scatter over half a finely chopped small red onion, together with 1 peeled clove of garlic, minced with a cleaver. Stir together 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 1 tsp balsamic vinegar and pour this over the top. Serves 2.