Drying tomatoes in the sun was one of the many inventive ways the Italians devised to ensure themselves of a supply of the vital vegetable all year round.

Since then sun-dried tomatoes have become as prized for their characteristic meaty flavour and texture as for their keeping qualities. Only relatively recently did the rest of the world wake up to their potential, much to the surprise of the Italians, who had been using them for centuries.

Their success has spawned a great array of similar specialities, including sun-dried aubergines [eggplant], peppers and courgettes [zucchini].

The vegetables are cut into slices, sprinkled with salt and then laid out on trays in the sun like tomatoes. If you want, you can get a roughly similar effect at home by putting the vegetable slices on trays in a very low oven for several hours.