What did you cook or eat today (July 2020)?

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TastyReuben said:
Talk to a lot of cooks over here, and you'll find there's a huuuuuge argument about using sugar with tomatoes, tomato sauce, pizza sauce, etc. Some say using it reduces the acidity in the tomatoes, some say it's an absolute no-no, and eventually, you'll hear, "My sweet little nonna never did that, and she was from a tiny village outside Rome!" followed by, "Well, my sweet little nonna did, and she was from an even tinier village in Sicily, so there!"
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I had a mate here, who is now unfortunately dead, who was an advocate of a little sugar on tomatoes and a little salt on strawberries.
 
TastyReuben said:
Talk to a lot of cooks over here, and you'll find there's a huuuuuge argument about using sugar with tomatoes, tomato sauce, pizza sauce, etc. Some say using it reduces the acidity in the tomatoes, some say it's an absolute no-no, and eventually, you'll hear, "My sweet little nonna never did that, and she was from a tiny village outside Rome!" followed by, "Well, my sweet little nonna did, and she was from an even tinier village in Sicily, so there!"

My personal feeling is, when you're making sauce, and you've got good sweet tomatoes, you probably don't need the sugar, but if the tomatoes are too acidic, a little sugar will help them. Taste the sauce and use the sugar if you need to. Easy! :)

However, in this case, I think the sugar didn't really have much to do with the tomatoes, it was just a part of the vinaigrette. Sugar (or honey) is a frequent ingredient in vinaigrette, here at least it is, and I think that's why it's included. The dressing is just a simple herb vinaigrette.

Even with the sugar, MrsTasty said it was too vinegary! :)
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I've never heard of adding sugar on fresh tomatoes, I barely put salt in them - especially when they are juicy and a bit ripe.

Going back to sugar in tomato sauce, apart from the nonne who are now cited too often to justify something that would only work with a little common sense and experimentation (I wonder: are we the only in Italy who have nonne?), I am for the no-no about adding sugar in the tomato sauce (obviously not even talking about honey), regardless of whether it is made with fresh tomatoes or using the packaged sauce, I just add a small piece of carrot that releases its natural sugars during cooking. That's it :)
 
Yorky said:
I had a mate here, who is now unfortunately dead, who was an advocate of a little sugar on tomatoes and a little salt on strawberries.
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I grew up always putting a little salt on fruit, especially apples, mushmelon/cantaloupe, and watermelon.
 
MypinchofItaly said:
I just add a small piece of carrot that releases its natural sugars during cooking. That's it :)
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That's a good idea. :okay:

Bear in mind that you have some of the best tomatoes in the world in Italy. A bit of sugar can help along less than top notch tomatoes that we sometimes get in the UK and no doubt in the USA as well.
 
Morning Glory said:
That's a good idea. :okay:

Bear in mind that you have some of the best tomatoes in the world in Italy. A bit of sugar can help along less than top notch tomatoes that we sometimes get in the UK and no doubt in the USA as well.
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Yup. I was just at Kroger this morning, and their "Vine-Ripened Hothouse Tomatoes," were a lovely...pale pink. :(
 
Homemade maraschino cherry cookies.
43082
 
MypinchofItaly said:
So you made a sort of Caprese salad in a bun, nice idea.
However, I’m curious about sugar addition in your tomato salad, it’s something completely new to me
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It is very common in the US to use some sugar with tomato products, although I have not seen it used in a salad like TR's. So, it was something new to me, too, but I can understand it.

CD
 
Morning Glory said:
That's a good idea. :okay:

Bear in mind that you have some of the best tomatoes in the world in Italy. A bit of sugar can help along less than top notch tomatoes that we sometimes get in the UK and no doubt in the USA as well.
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In the US, grocery store tomatoes often have very little flavor. Factory-Farm tomatoes are harvested before ripe, transported, and a gas is used to artificially ripen them. It is the same gas given off by bananas that causes them to over-ripen too fast, I believe.

CD
 
Part of the problem sometimes with tomatoes having no flavor is refrigeration. Nothing like chilly temps to cause a tomato to lose it's flavor. Mine always sit on the counter, I never refrigerate them.
 
caseydog said:
In the US, grocery store tomatoes often have very little flavor. Factory-Farm tomatoes are harvested before ripe, transported, and a gas is used to artificially ripen them. It is the same gas given off by bananas that causes them to over-ripen too fast, I believe.

CD
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Yep, and it's why you can pick up a somewhat reddish tomato at Kroger and it's so hard, you can play baseball with it.

JASOH1 said:
Part of the problem sometimes with tomatoes having no flavor is refrigeration. Nothing like chilly temps to cause a tomato to lose it's flavor. Mine always sit on the counter, I never refrigerate them.
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Serious Eats put some science to this and found out it's largely an old cooks' tale. They're fine to refrigerate (cucumbers, too) - just be sure to let them come back up to room temp before eating.

Ignore the Headlines: Sometimes Tomatoes Belong in the Fridge
 
TastyReuben said:
Yep, and it's why you can pick up a somewhat reddish tomato at Kroger and it's so hard, you can play baseball with it.


Serious Eats put some science to this and found out it's largely an old cooks' tale. They're fine to refrigerate (cucumbers, too) - just be sure to let them come back up to room temp before eating.

Ignore the Headlines: Sometimes Tomatoes Belong in the Fridge
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Maybe it's just psychological, but it seems like mine taste better not refrigerated. At any rate, they last on the counter a really long time and continue to ripen if they are still pinkish in hue when procured.
 
Morning Glory said:
That's a good idea. :okay:

Bear in mind that you have some of the best tomatoes in the world in Italy. A bit of sugar can help along less than top notch tomatoes that we sometimes get in the UK and no doubt in the USA as well.
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Ah that’s not so true since Italy is not all the same 🙃
Tomatoes that come from the South of Italy (Campania, Basilicata, etc) are surely special and luckily here in the North of Italy we can get them in supermarkets, but tomatoes that grow here are not special at all and sometimes tasteless, inly with a good look but so disappointing.
Sometimes also in Italy there is the habit to put a bit of sugar in tomato sauce because it’s a bit acidic. But putting sugar sounds so chimical to me, something wrong as concept, whilst put something natural like carrot or even pumpkin (when in season), sounds more natural to me.
Or a banana 😂
 
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