Crispy / Crunchy Tomato Shells

[jpwcollins]

Hello all!

This is my first post having enjoyed reading the eG fora for some time now, and I couldn't think of anywhere better to ask for some advice.

I've been working on a recipe for a canape/amuse bouche which is a take on the classic Caprese salad. It consists of half of a tomato (really sweet, roughly golf-ball sized, seeded and hollowed out), containing a sphere (a la Ferran Adria spherification kit) of shredded mozzarella and basil sitting on top of a little dollop of roasted cherry tomato gel. So far the flavour's not bad, and the effect of the mozzarella and basil ball 'popping' in the mouth is exactly what I had hoped for.

What I hope to do, though, is to increase the texture contrast between the tomato shell and the mozzarella ball by somehow making the tomato altogether crispier. My initial idea was to coat the raw tomato in a caramel a bit like a toffee apple but that didn't work (partly because I horribly burned the caramel and partly because it just turned out chewy and soggy). So it's over to the group - any ideas? No fancy equipment available (I'm very much a home cook) but open to ideas and ingenuity!

Thanks in advance. I look forward to showing you guys how it will turn out in the end!

jpwc

[Nayan Gowda]

How about make a savoury tomato meringue base? Google throws up a few ideas as to how this could be done.

[jpwcollins]

Sounds like a great idea Nayan. I'm guessing tomato water and dried egg white (perhaps a little red food colouring) would do the trick - I'll give it a go and report back.

In the meantime, does anyone have any ideas which would preserve the actual tomato itself?

Thanks!