Tomato Sherbert

Wash and core tomatoes, chop them, and drop them into a stainless steel or enamelware saucepan. Peel and mince shallots and add to tomatoes, along with the celery rib, 1 tsp salt, the sugar, the crushed heads of the cloves (do not use the stems.), the cinnamon stick broken into small pieces, and the orange rind. Bring to a boil, then simmer over very low heat until tomatoes are very soft, about 30 minutes.

Discard cinnamon stick pieces, orange rind and celery. Put everything else through a food mill, then force through a fine sieve. Taste, and add more salt if needed.

Pour into a loaf pan and freeze for 1 hour. Beat egg whites with lemon juice and a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Scrape frozen sherbet into a cold bowl, beat with a rotary beater until smooth, then fold in egg whites.

Return to freezer and freeze for 3 hours, or until firm. Serve as a first course, garnished with sour cream and mint leaves, or as a 'refresher' after the main course of a heavy dinner