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Unless tomatoes are in season and I’m in some sort of hipster farm-to-table restaurant, I’ll always hold the tomatoes or put them to the side, and inevitably a

Unless tomatoes are in season and I’m in some sort of hipster farm-to-table restaurant, I’ll always hold the tomatoes or put them to the side, and inevitably a companion will ask why I don't like tomatoes and I wind up in an argument over whether or not tomatoes are supposed to taste like water. It's dismaying. Do Americans think that the flavor of tomato sauce is an additive? Alton Brown had a good layperson-friendly bit about this in Good Eats but I can't find the episode on YouTube… anyway it worths.

a3n 11y ago
> Do Americans think that the flavor of tomato sauce is an additive? Yes. Everything here is an additive. Tomato sauce is "tomato flavored sauce." Butter is "butter spread." Etc. A bit of an exaggeration, but when you buy packaged food, look at what it's calling itself. If you think you're buying NOUN, but the label says NOUN OTHER, then you're buying OTHER, with flavor or other essential attribute added that may or may not be based on NOUN. Enjoy your cheese spread.
- bcook 11y ago
  lol. Regarding the tenuous connection between tomatoes & ketchup, a friend of mine once posed me the question: "have you ever tasted a tomato that tasted anything like ketchup?". Nope.
  - dragontamer 11y ago
    Ketchup is a combination of tomato paste, vinegar, and sugar however. Tomato paste is where you go if you need a pure tomato taste.
    - zeveb 11y ago
      > Ketchup is a combination of tomato paste, vinegar, and sugar however. And clove! Can't forget that.
    - DrScump 11y ago
      Ketchup is a combination of tomato paste... generally made from the worst, otherwise-unusable tomatoes.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
    Along those lines, "properly made" (aka homemade) ketchup tastes only vaguely like the commercial brands. So much so that I can't get my own kids to eat my home made ketchup :-(
    - batbomb 11y ago
      That's because Heinz is perfection.
  - dragonwriter 11y ago
    > Regarding the tenuous connection between tomatoes & ketchup, a friend of mine once posed me the question: "have you ever tasted a tomato that tasted anything like ketchup?". Ketchup evolved as an English approximation of a Southeast Asian pickled-fish-based condiment which ended up using mushrooms and later tomatoes because of availability. Its not really intended to taste like tomatoes, its supposed to use tomatoes and other ingredients to taste like something almost completely unlike tomatoes.
    - eli_gottlieb 11y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchup
  - tomkinstinch 11y ago
    While part of the flavor of ketchup can be attributed to other ingredients and their preparation, it's possible some of the flavor may be attributable to the tomatoes they use, at least for Heinz ketchup: Heinz has their own cultivar of tomato. (It's open source[1].) The flavor may be wonderful in tomato form. Who knows? Related Nature article: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v485/n7400/full/485547a.html http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v485/n7400/full/485547a... 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/assembly/GCA_000188115.2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/assembly/GCA_000188115.2
- jakub_g 11y ago
  Another variation I've seen (in eastern Europe at least) is cheating by omission. They make it look like a NOUN, they wrap it like a NOUN, they name it with some nicely-sounding brand name, and do not write what it is, because it looks like a NOUN, so it must be NOUN, right? In the fineprint there's the explanation: not margarine, but "hydrogenated fat product", not ice cream, but "glacial dessert product", not a chocolate, but "chocolate-like product" etc.
  - DrScump 11y ago
    In the U.S., a lot of name-brand "ice cream" doesn't even meet the legal definition of ice cream, so they have to call it "frozen dairy dessert"... including most of the Breyer's line (years ago, they were sort of premium). But stay away from Three Twins' Orange Confetti, lest you be lost to addiction. It's sorta like crack, but at least crack doesn't have calories or carbs or fat.
- TranquilMarmot 11y ago
  As I was reading the original article, I wondered if the FDA has any regulations about this sort of stuff ("What constitutes a tomato? When is something no longer a tomato?") I did find a bit about naming different types of canned tomatoes[1]. I would have had no idea that there is such a difference between "tomato paste" and "tomato puree" and they even have regulations about how many seeds and peels and such can be in the can. So, even reading all the ingredients and everything on the can, there may be some hidden terminology you may not know about in the way the food is named. Very interesting. [1] http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=155.191 http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrs...
sp332 11y ago
Edit: how about this clip? http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/choosing-tomatoes-0157352.html http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/choosing-tomatoes-0157352.... Most likely season 2 episode 11 "Pantry Raid II: Seeing Red" or season 6 episode 6 "Tomato Envy". Food Network takes down most Good Eats episodes on YouTube because they sell some of them for $2 each. Here's a crummy version of Seeing Red that may be deleted soon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FNWPtKtKPc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FNWPtKtKPc and Tomato Envy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq2tifYVEdY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq2tifYVEdY I think tomatoes are often added for color instead of flavor.

a3n 11y ago

> Do Americans think that the flavor of tomato sauce is an additive? Yes. Everything here is an additive. Tomato sauce is "tomato flavored sauce." Butter is "butter spread." Etc. A bit of an exaggeration, but when you buy packaged food, look at what it's calling itself. If you think you're buying NOUN, but the label says NOUN OTHER, then you're buying OTHER, with flavor or other essential attribute added that may or may not be based on NOUN. Enjoy your cheese spread.

bcook 11y ago
lol. Regarding the tenuous connection between tomatoes & ketchup, a friend of mine once posed me the question: "have you ever tasted a tomato that tasted anything like ketchup?". Nope.
- dragontamer 11y ago
  Ketchup is a combination of tomato paste, vinegar, and sugar however. Tomato paste is where you go if you need a pure tomato taste.
  - zeveb 11y ago
    > Ketchup is a combination of tomato paste, vinegar, and sugar however. And clove! Can't forget that.
  - DrScump 11y ago
    Ketchup is a combination of tomato paste... generally made from the worst, otherwise-unusable tomatoes.
- HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
  Along those lines, "properly made" (aka homemade) ketchup tastes only vaguely like the commercial brands. So much so that I can't get my own kids to eat my home made ketchup :-(
  - batbomb 11y ago
    That's because Heinz is perfection.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > Regarding the tenuous connection between tomatoes & ketchup, a friend of mine once posed me the question: "have you ever tasted a tomato that tasted anything like ketchup?". Ketchup evolved as an English approximation of a Southeast Asian pickled-fish-based condiment which ended up using mushrooms and later tomatoes because of availability. Its not really intended to taste like tomatoes, its supposed to use tomatoes and other ingredients to taste like something almost completely unlike tomatoes.
  - eli_gottlieb 11y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchup
- tomkinstinch 11y ago
  While part of the flavor of ketchup can be attributed to other ingredients and their preparation, it's possible some of the flavor may be attributable to the tomatoes they use, at least for Heinz ketchup: Heinz has their own cultivar of tomato. (It's open source[1].) The flavor may be wonderful in tomato form. Who knows? Related Nature article: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v485/n7400/full/485547a.html http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v485/n7400/full/485547a... 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/assembly/GCA_000188115.2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/assembly/GCA_000188115.2
jakub_g 11y ago
Another variation I've seen (in eastern Europe at least) is cheating by omission. They make it look like a NOUN, they wrap it like a NOUN, they name it with some nicely-sounding brand name, and do not write what it is, because it looks like a NOUN, so it must be NOUN, right? In the fineprint there's the explanation: not margarine, but "hydrogenated fat product", not ice cream, but "glacial dessert product", not a chocolate, but "chocolate-like product" etc.
- DrScump 11y ago
  In the U.S., a lot of name-brand "ice cream" doesn't even meet the legal definition of ice cream, so they have to call it "frozen dairy dessert"... including most of the Breyer's line (years ago, they were sort of premium). But stay away from Three Twins' Orange Confetti, lest you be lost to addiction. It's sorta like crack, but at least crack doesn't have calories or carbs or fat.
TranquilMarmot 11y ago
As I was reading the original article, I wondered if the FDA has any regulations about this sort of stuff ("What constitutes a tomato? When is something no longer a tomato?") I did find a bit about naming different types of canned tomatoes[1]. I would have had no idea that there is such a difference between "tomato paste" and "tomato puree" and they even have regulations about how many seeds and peels and such can be in the can. So, even reading all the ingredients and everything on the can, there may be some hidden terminology you may not know about in the way the food is named. Very interesting. [1] http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=155.191 http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrs...

sp332 11y ago

Edit: how about this clip? http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/choosing-tomatoes-0157352.html http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/choosing-tomatoes-0157352.... Most likely season 2 episode 11 "Pantry Raid II: Seeing Red" or season 6 episode 6 "Tomato Envy". Food Network takes down most Good Eats episodes on YouTube because they sell some of them for $2 each. Here's a crummy version of Seeing Red that may be deleted soon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FNWPtKtKPc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FNWPtKtKPc and Tomato Envy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq2tifYVEdY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq2tifYVEdY I think tomatoes are often added for color instead of flavor.