User:Le Commissaire/Tombet

Tombet or tumbet is a traditional summer vegetable dish from Majorca, consisting of layers of sliced potatoes, aubergines and red bell peppers previously fried in olive oil. It is available at almost every local restaurant on the island.

Tombet is often served along with fish or meat, but on its own it makes a good vegetarian dish.

Preparation
Tombet is a vegetable-based dish initially for the summer month, the season in which its ingredients are ripe. Nowadays, since vegetables are available all the time, the dish can be eaten all year round.

The aubergines and red peppers should not be peeled. The whole is topped with tomato fried with garlic and parsley and presented in a way that it looks like a pie without a crust.

Tombet is the Majorcan version of the Occitan ratatouille or the Catalan samfaina. Influenced by those dishes, nowadays some people add zucchini to the mixture, but this is a vegetable that is not present in the original dish. The secret of its preparation is to fry the ingredients separately before assembling the dish, as they do not all have the same cooking times.

Sometimes used as a base for fish or meat, it makes a good vegetarian dish on its own, cold or warm. It can be topped with a fried egg to make a great meet-free dish.