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Questions tagged [tomatoes]

Questions around preparing or cooking with tomatoes, along with selecting appropriate varieties

Tomatoes are considered as for culinary purposes despite that botanically they are fruits.

Resources:

272 questions
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What causes a tomato sauce to have a bitterness and getting rid of it?

My tomato sauce is coming out great, lots of flavor, especially after I was able to reduce it following the tips here However, it is still slightly bitter. What causes a tomato sauce to have a (in my case, slight) bitterness and how do you get rid…
Matt
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How to get best taste out of tomatoes?

I'm making an Indian dish, for this I need tomatoes, no matter what recipe I follow I'm not getting the taste of the restaurant. Is this because I'm not preparing tomato properly or is it because I'm not choosing good tomatoes? How can I identify…
user79421
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How do I preserve a tomato's freshness after it is cut?

I've seen and read online, and experienced firsthand, that refrigerating a tomato is an awful idea. Not only does it lose freshness, it does little to prevent wilting and leads to flavorless tomato. But, eventually a tomato needs to be cut if…
Zibbobz
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Does ketchup belong in the fridge, or the cupboard?

I'm hoping this will solve a biiig long-running debate I have with my friends. Heinz Tomato Ketchup (The UK version contains sugar from beets, rather than HFCS like the US version) I tend to think that ketchup should live in the fridge, once…
Tom O'Connor
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Would sous vide-ing tomatoes result in a deeply caramelised tomato sauce?

I am looking to take the effort out of slow-cooking tomatoes for several hours over the stove and wondered if sous-vide may be a possible method of doing this. I understand that the end result may be slightly watery but this sauce can then be…
seeker
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What do you do with left over tomato paste?

I sometimes make sauces that use tomato paste. The problem is that usually I need only one or two tablespoons and I don't know what to do with the rest of the can. The smallest can I could find is 6 oz. and while it only costs 50 cents, I hate the…
None
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3 answers

Non-alcoholic substitution for dry white wine in bolognese sauce and other tomato sauces?

What is the purpose of dry white wine in a recipe like bolognese sauce? I need to substitute something non-alcoholic for the wine and while I've found many great lists of possible substitutions, the actual selection depends on the role the wine…
fitzhugh
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what makes red tomato sauce turn orange in colour?

I have noticed that tomato sauce (having started with deep red tomatoes) can turn orange. The colour change isn't from mixing in an ingredient of different colour such as cream. It seems to occur in these observed circumstances: Blended using a…
MandoMando
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What is the difference between tomato puree, paste and sauce?

I was looking for a recipe for an Italian tomato sauce when I came across an old cookbook from an American Creole Chef I like, but I'm really confused about the terminology he uses for some of the ingredients and wondered if someone could clarify…
spiceyokooko
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Peeling tomatoes

I have a recipe that calls for peeling tomatoes. I've found elsewhere that this is often done by boiling them and letting the skin lift away during that process. Is there anything else that can make this easier? Even after boiling, they are still…
Dinah
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Sun Drying Tomatoes

Sorry if this seems obvious, but is there a method to making your own sun-dried tomatoes or is it really as simple as leaving them out in the sun? How long should it take to reach the proper "dryness"? Once dried what is the best way to store? Any…
awithrow
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How can I use these new findings on tomatoes to my advantage?

A new study appears to suggest that the characteristics that make a tomato most appealing when choosing one at the store also make it the least appealing when biting into it. Apparently, it is the very same gene that can either make a tomato uniform…
Ray
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Is there any significant flavour difference between dehydrated and sun-dried tomatoes?

I have a large batch of tomatoes which I want to preserve. I am confused between sundrying them and dehydrating them. Essentially they are the same processes but is there any significant flavour difference between dehydrated and sun-dried tomatoes?
Sim101011
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Is tomato foliage edible?

I was picking some home-grown basil for a simple pasta dish yesterday, and like many people who grow in home-made compost find tomato seedlings are very common weeds. Obviously the leaves of basil and tomato are very different shapes, but the colour…
Chris H
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Why specifically use Passata, rather than tomatoes, in Ragu?

When making real Ragu, what really is the specific difference between using tomatoes (so, for say 1kg of meat, a big pile of tomatoes, chopped and cooked-in for many hours as the last step) using Passata (so, for say 1kg of meat, a few cups of…
Fattie
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