Jung family nursery

The fact that Frankfurt is the twins' mother tongue cannot be overheard and their quick wit is unbeatable. Even show host Günther Jauch capitulated when the twin sisters were guests on "Who wants to be a millionaire?". This and other TV appearances, such as in the ARD travel series "Verrückt nach Meer" and the RTL cooking casting show "Das Erfolgsrezept", made the two blondes probably the best-known twins in Hessen.

The personal recipe for success of Heidi Jung, a fifth-generation gardener in Frankfurt-Oberrad, is down to earth. Depending on the variety, the result is between two and ten centimetres tall, sometimes oval, heart-shaped or round and shines in shades ranging from snow white and lemon yellow to fiery red and chocolate brown. In summer, customers from all over the Rhine-Main region make a pilgrimage to the realm of the Hessian "Tomato Queen" to marvel at the more than 50 different varieties and get their hands on a colorful basket. The seasonal salads, herbs and home-grown vegetables are also in great demand.

"And where do the tomatoes all come from? From Holland, or what?" Christel, self-appointed social media representative of the Jung family nursery, is unbeatable at parrying comments like this: "Have you got Insta? Search for 'tomatenheidi', you can watch our tomatoes grow and Heidi doing her thing!"

Another recipe for success that has proven itself over the years is the all-female staffing of the stand: Dancing Queen Maxi and hobby baker Maren, head representative Eva, Iris and Sina, Christel's tennis partners, head Heidi, daughter Julia, who teaches young families how to garden, and Franzi, who at 80 is the oldest member of the stand. "No bickering, no shouting, we manage here like two dozen guys and we're still in a good mood," says boss Heidi, commenting on the advantages of consistently doing without men.

Incidentally, the regular customers of all genders know this: Anyone who rounds up the purchase amount is rewarded with a peppy bell ringing. Because the tip goes into the collective vacation fund. The market girls have already conquered New York and other major cities. Soon it's off to Budapest, where Eva, a native Hungarian, takes over as tour guide.

Tip: If you want to enjoy the full aroma of Heidi's home-grown tomatoes, sprinkle a pinch of powdered sugar over the sliced tomatoes instead of salt. The fine, sweet snow enhances the aroma of the nightshade, whereas salt reduces it.

Recipe idea: Sweet tomato tiramisu with tonka bean*

Ingredients for 4 people:

• 750 g cherry tomatoes
• 1 stem of fresh mint
• 6 - 7 tbsp low-fat quark
• 400 g mascarpone
• 1 packet of ladyfingers
• 7 - 8 tbsp grated white chocolate
• 1 pinch of dried, grated orange peel
• 1 tonka bean
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp bourbon vanilla, ground
• 6 -7 tbsp raw cane sugar
• 1 sachet of vanilla sugar

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (top and bottom heat). Wash, halve and deseed the cherry tomatoes. Place in a baking dish with the cut side facing up. Mix the vanilla and sugar together.

Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture evenly over the tomatoes. Roast the tomatoes in the middle of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes.

In the meantime, place the mascarpone, quark, remaining sugar mixture, orange zest and egg yolks in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer until smooth. Finely grate some tonka beans with a nutmeg grater and fold into the mascarpone cream. Grate the white chocolate and roughly crumble the sponge fingers.

When you can smell a sweet tomato aroma coming from the oven, remove the baking dish and leave the tomatoes to cool slightly. If the stewed tomatoes are not sweet enough, sweeten with a little vanilla sugar.

Cover the base of four tall (preserving) jars with biscuit crumbs. Layer the tomatoes, mascarpone cream and chocolate shavings in succession. Repeat the process until the jars are well filled.

Divide the remaining grated chocolate over the glasses and chill for at least three hours. Rinse the mint, pluck the leaves and decorate the glasses with them.

Tip: Tonka beans are available from Andrea Frank (Frank's Kräuter- und Gewürzwelt) at the weekly market. The almond-shaped seeds of the tonka tree have aromas of vanilla, rum, woodruff, hay flowers and bitter almond - a sophisticated addition to the mascarpone and stewed tomatoes. Please dose carefully!

*from:
Susanne Reininger: Colorful and healthy. Everything with tomatoes. CoCon-Verlag, ISBN: 978-3863142339, 16,80 €