Water is the essence of life, we cannot live without it. But sometimes when cooking, removing water helps intensify flavours.

Onions are often cooked slowly under a low heat which evaporates the water in them and caramelizes the natural sugars. Tomatoes also contain a lot of water, and when we make a tomato sauce we are also evaporating the liquid and concentrating the tomato flavour.

Executive Chef Jason Bangerter of Langdon Hall, Ontario recently gave a Chefs Lesson on CTV News in Kitchener. Langdon Hall is an upscale hotel, a member of Relais & Chateau, North America, located in the countryside in Cambridge, Ontario.

Langdon Hall specializes in local farm to table cuisine, presented at its best. If Michelin stars were awarded in Canada, Langdon Hall would certainly qualify. I’ve stayed there once, dined there and had one of the best meals of my life.

I met Chef Bangerter several years ago at the Taste Canada Awards.

He was unveiling a chocolate he has developed for Langdon Hall, in France at the prestigious Cocoa Barry Or Noir Lab in Paris.

Like all great chefs, he is a good teacher and I looked forward to seeing how he prepared Heirloom Tomatoes on CTV.

He made a soup with tomato water, garnished with coloured cherry tomatoes and herbs which looked so pretty I knew I had to try it.

Tomatoes are at their peak right now, and taste like tomatoes should.

I made a small batch of the soup for only two people. I bought about three steak tomatoes, chopped them up, added salt, fresh chopped garlic, and some oregano. The water is pressed out of the tomato pulp by putting the tomato mixture in cheese cloth, tying it into a pouch and hanging it over a bowl so the water will drip out. I squeezed my bag to speed up the process.

The garlic, oregano and salt added a complexity to the tomato water.

I blanched coloured cherry tomatoes according to Chef Bangerter’s directions and garnished the tomato water with them. Not having the amazing garden that Langdon Hall has I still was able to chop some chives from my garden and find an oregano blossom for garnish. Chef Bangerter used tweezers to delicately place each herb on his bowl, creating a dish almost too beautiful to eat.

There was enough tomato water left to make a Bloody Mary with, I simply added vodka, a squirt of lemon juice and one ice cube. Again the tomato water turned the drink into something special.

The leftover pulp of the tomatoes and garlic were lightly cooked in a saute pan and then spread on toast, in sort of the Spanish style of Pan con Tomate, which uses fresh grated tomatoes and garlic spread on toast. (Sorry no photo)

Tomato water is packed with flavour but has a lightness and freshness. 

If you want to make one special dish for the summer I recommend this soup. Slow down and honour the hard work our farmers do by bringing the best out of their produce, and be inspired by one of our great chefs.

You can watch the video yourself for inspiration. (click here)