This morning I was set the task of trying to make something like the Smoked Tomato Soup I ate in Camp & Furnace on Monday night.

We don’t have a smoker but we have the second best thing which is a kettle barbeque. There were still some coals left in the bottom of it from last weekend. Before I went shopping I raked this up into a neat pile and set them alight. The lid went on and I took myself down to Birkenhead.

For the first time in what seems a long time I went to Wards and bought myself a selection of fish for a stew this evening. They had a big bundle of razor clams so I bought four of those. I have not cooked them before but I can remember eating thirty-five years ago on a family holiday in Menorca. They came as part of a paella great pieces of fishy rubber bands. I think that holiday may have been the first time I ate lobster.

I then went on to the grocers. There was some talk on what I had cooked last weekend and if things had gone okay. They bags of old tomatoes going for 50p each. I bought two of those and a selection of other tomatoes.

Back home the barbeque was giving off a good solid heat. I chopped up the larger tomatoes and then tipped them all into a large metal roasting dish. There was a sad red pepper in the fruit basket so that went in as well with some chopped onion and garlic and tarragon. I then stirred in a good glass full of olive oil and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

The roasting dish then went onto the rack of the barbeque. I tore a few handfuls of sage leaves from the nearby bush, put the lid on and left it.

After an hour the tomatoes were soft and giving of their juices.

They all went through the mouli and then through a sieve until I ended up with a thick smooth liquid.

We ate the soup with chunks of bread still going strong from last weekend. There was a smoky background to the taste.

Listening to Isaac Hayes and White Denim.