4 ms·

Store-bought tomatoes are often flavorless and pithy to my taste, but good tomatoes are easy to get here. All you have to do is grow your own, which a lot of u

Store-bought tomatoes are often flavorless and pithy to my taste, but good tomatoes are easy to get here. All you have to do is grow your own, which a lot of us do. I've grown cherry tomatoes that taste like, well... cherries. Actual little tart sweet berries that I dry out and eat like raisins. I've never had anything like it in a store or restaurant.

sametmax 8y ago
I would not call growing "easy" :)
- rangibaby 8y ago
  I guess it depends on where you live but in Japan tomatoes are considered a “noob” crop because they are so easy to grow
  - sametmax 8y ago
    And Python is an easy language. That doesn't mean you are going to produce a good script.
- nate_meurer 8y ago
  I'm in Colorado, and tomatoes grow like weeds here. I've had so many volunteer plants from fallen berries that I almost wouldn't have to replant. In my meager experience, soil is the most important variable. I've grown huge bumper crops one year, and then the next year only spindly pathetic vines with berries that refuse to ripen. I assume it's soil exhaustion, because compost or fertilizer fix it. Edit: I do have to water. If I don't water then the volunteers die, so "like weeds" isn't totally accurate. But not too far off either.
  - sametmax 8y ago
    > In my meager experience, soil is the most important variable It may very well be the reason most vegetables taste like crap today: we keep exhausting all the soils.
  - ip26 8y ago
    I do have to water Yeah, I was gonna say... What's your soil like? I'm a bit north of you; ours drains pretty darn poorly, which I always hear tomatoes hate
    - nate_meurer 8y ago
      Nothing special. Suburban fill, lots of clay. We have a billion tons of clay all around Denver, and a surprising amount ends up on the surface when neighborhoods are developed. I never paid attention to drainage, but maybe I've just been lucky.
CompelTechnic 8y ago
I've recently found that canned tomatoes can be way more flavorful than fresh ones. I've spent the last year or so experimenting with pasta sauce and tomato soup, and have recently settled on "SMT" brand san marzano crushed tomatoes as making a sauce that is 300% better than pre-mixed sauce. Before starting to boil your noodles, chop a large onion. Get a huge frying pan (I use a deep 16" pan), because you will eventually mix the whole meal into it. Fry the onion with oil and salt. Add mushrooms or peppers if desired. Wait a bit. Push the onion to the side and position the empty side of the pan on the hottest part of the burner, and crank the heat up. Add 1 pound of ground beef (between 80% and 90% lean), and salt and pepper. Fry it until cooked 90% through. Add fresh garlic. Now dump your 18 oz can of delicious crushed tomatoes into it. Wash the can out by filling it 1/4 of the way with water and add this fluid to the pan. Add a small amount of cumin, a whole lot of basil, and a whole lot of paprika. Keep it simmering and NOW you can start cooking your noodles. When your noodes are done, after straining, dump them in the pan and mix it up. The longer the simmer, the better the sauce, but there is diminishing marginal returns. I don't ever go to the trouble of simmering more than 20 minutes b/c I'm a busy boy, some people would consider this sacrilege. Best spaghetthi you have had in a looong time. Even better if you make the noodles from scratch, but that is a degree of dedication that I rarely use.
- sizzzzlerz 8y ago
  Try sautéing your garlic with the onions once they've softened. Sixty seconds is all you need. It blooms the garlic aroma and cooks out the harshness that fresh garlic can have. I've not tried using cumin or paprika in my sauce. I'm hooked on spicing the sauce up with red pepper flakes.
- ljf 8y ago
  Tinned are often 'better' as they are tinned when ripe (or even slightly over ripe) as there arent the same concerns about transporting them.
- sametmax 8y ago
  Yes, and ice cream taste amazing. That's not the debate. With proper ingredients, you can make anything taste fantastic.

sametmax 8y ago

I would not call growing "easy" :)

rangibaby 8y ago
I guess it depends on where you live but in Japan tomatoes are considered a “noob” crop because they are so easy to grow
- sametmax 8y ago
  And Python is an easy language. That doesn't mean you are going to produce a good script.
nate_meurer 8y ago
I'm in Colorado, and tomatoes grow like weeds here. I've had so many volunteer plants from fallen berries that I almost wouldn't have to replant. In my meager experience, soil is the most important variable. I've grown huge bumper crops one year, and then the next year only spindly pathetic vines with berries that refuse to ripen. I assume it's soil exhaustion, because compost or fertilizer fix it. Edit: I do have to water. If I don't water then the volunteers die, so "like weeds" isn't totally accurate. But not too far off either.
- sametmax 8y ago
  > In my meager experience, soil is the most important variable It may very well be the reason most vegetables taste like crap today: we keep exhausting all the soils.
- ip26 8y ago
  I do have to water Yeah, I was gonna say... What's your soil like? I'm a bit north of you; ours drains pretty darn poorly, which I always hear tomatoes hate
  - nate_meurer 8y ago
    Nothing special. Suburban fill, lots of clay. We have a billion tons of clay all around Denver, and a surprising amount ends up on the surface when neighborhoods are developed. I never paid attention to drainage, but maybe I've just been lucky.

CompelTechnic 8y ago

I've recently found that canned tomatoes can be way more flavorful than fresh ones. I've spent the last year or so experimenting with pasta sauce and tomato soup, and have recently settled on "SMT" brand san marzano crushed tomatoes as making a sauce that is 300% better than pre-mixed sauce. Before starting to boil your noodles, chop a large onion. Get a huge frying pan (I use a deep 16" pan), because you will eventually mix the whole meal into it. Fry the onion with oil and salt. Add mushrooms or peppers if desired. Wait a bit. Push the onion to the side and position the empty side of the pan on the hottest part of the burner, and crank the heat up. Add 1 pound of ground beef (between 80% and 90% lean), and salt and pepper. Fry it until cooked 90% through. Add fresh garlic. Now dump your 18 oz can of delicious crushed tomatoes into it. Wash the can out by filling it 1/4 of the way with water and add this fluid to the pan. Add a small amount of cumin, a whole lot of basil, and a whole lot of paprika. Keep it simmering and NOW you can start cooking your noodles. When your noodes are done, after straining, dump them in the pan and mix it up. The longer the simmer, the better the sauce, but there is diminishing marginal returns. I don't ever go to the trouble of simmering more than 20 minutes b/c I'm a busy boy, some people would consider this sacrilege. Best spaghetthi you have had in a looong time. Even better if you make the noodles from scratch, but that is a degree of dedication that I rarely use.

sizzzzlerz 8y ago
Try sautéing your garlic with the onions once they've softened. Sixty seconds is all you need. It blooms the garlic aroma and cooks out the harshness that fresh garlic can have. I've not tried using cumin or paprika in my sauce. I'm hooked on spicing the sauce up with red pepper flakes.
ljf 8y ago
Tinned are often 'better' as they are tinned when ripe (or even slightly over ripe) as there arent the same concerns about transporting them.
sametmax 8y ago
Yes, and ice cream taste amazing. That's not the debate. With proper ingredients, you can make anything taste fantastic.