Tomato Sauce and tomatoes are universally associated with Italian Food, and for good reason, as tomatoes and tomato sauce are both important components of many, but not all, Italian Food recipes.
In a perfect world one would walk outside to their garden and choose from any number varieties of non-hybridized or heirloom tomatoes in varying degrees of ripeness. Green for frying with breadcrumbs, semi-ripe for salads and as sandwich toppings, very ripe for sauces. The skin would be thin and the tomato flavor overpowering. But this is not a perfect world.
Huge corporate seed companies decided decades ago that the market demanded commercially raised tomatoes be picked by machine to save labor. They had to be harvested green, not ripe, so that could travel long distances, not suffer damage, and be ready for artificial ripening in a gas filled room. They also decided that all tomatoes had to look perfect, without any craggy surfaces or brown spots; totally symmetrical.
This breeding process produced gorgeous looking fruit, but unfortunately, one with a waxy, thick skin, mealy meat, and very little tomato flavor. Today, virtually every variety of tomato has been hybridized in this fashion. Older varieties, heirloom tomatoes, still exist, but only because small farmers are filling the need of tomato purists by planting these old seeds. They require much more care and produce uneven fruit. But the flavor… oh… the flavor.
Ironically, even many heirloom or older seeds have been hybridized to a degree somewhere along the line to improve disease resistance. While still much more delicious than the average “new age” tomato, they lack the true flavor of the original Open-Pollinated plants. Fortunately there are a number of seed houses worldwide that specialize in very old, non-hybridized tomato seeds that are readily available for purchase online.
Here in the U.S. commercial heirloom production is increasing but not enough to make them affordable to the average consumer, at least yet.
Large scale commercial heirloom tomato production is still to be found in the San Marzano region of Italy, near Naples, where some of the world’s finest tomatoes are grown. San Marzano tomatoes are plum shaped, similar to the Roma variety, but thinner and with a much more delicate, thin skin, and a powerful tomato flavor.
Heirloom tomatoes like San Marzano are Open-Pollinated varieties that change little from one season to the next. The Italian government has designated that true San Marzano tomatoes, like many other authentic foods and cheeses, bear the D.O.G., or the European Union’s Designation Of Origin label on every can or container, so they are easy to identify in the store. The other label that identifies these authentic food products, from Italy, is DOP certified: Denominazione di Origine Protetta or Protected Designation of Origin.
My two favorite producers of San Marzano are the Cento and Pomi brands. Both are readily available in stores and both companies produce very reasonably priced tomatoes. Cento makes an all natural puree, without preservatives, that I bought last week at my local grocery store for $1.29 per can and most Pomi all natural, unpreserved cans sell for around $2.25. Most importantly they give you a choice of tomatoes with or without preservatives, specifically Citric Acid.
When choosing canned or preserved tomatoes ALWAYS choose those packed WITHOUT Citric Acid if you have a choice. Tomatoes canned without preservatives can mimic and many times even rival fresh, vine ripened tomatoes for flavor.
When one begins any discussion about this it is important to note that the Holy Grail of achieving the finest, most extraordinary flavor, is the just picked, vine ripened, heirloom variety tomato, Italian variety or not.
Here’s the order of preference:
- Fresh, extra ripe, vine ripened heirloom tomatoes – WAY TOO EXPENSIVE.
- Fresh, extra ripe, vine ripened hybrid tomatoes – WAY TOO EXPENSIVE.
- Canned Tomatoes WITHOUT CITRIC ACID or other preservatives – THE WINNER!!!!
- Canned Tomatoes with Citric Acid or other preservatives – ONLY WHEN NECESSARY.
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