7 ms·
Canned tomatos. Usually better than the real thing since what's in the can is ripe, juicy and tasteful. Something we only get in the middle of summer from rea
by CaptainZapp 3y ago
Canned tomatos.
Usually better than the real thing since what's in the can is ripe, juicy and tasteful.
Something we only get in the middle of summer from real tomatos in middle and northern Europe.
Note, though, that the can should contain tomatos with no salt (let alone acid) added. Just the pure product.
- MichaelZuo 3y agoAre all cans of tomatoes manufactured during their ripest period?
- em500 3y agoThe theory is that tomatoes meant for canning can be harvested at a more optimal stage of ripeness (and they don't need to be bred for long shelf life) compared to fresh ones. I don't know if anyone has done any serious testing of the theory though.
- mschild 3y agoIn Germany, and maybe other countries as well, the tomato cans have a 3 digit number printed on the bottom of the can. 220 for example. That's the canning date. The good ones, read Italian ones, usually also include a 2 letter code, like SA for Salerno, which indicates origin. Obviously not a guarantee, but you can at least eliminate ones that were canned too early or too late depending on variety. Common advice is to pick the ones canned between 215 and 245 (Early August to early September) as that's the typical harvest time.
- WelcomeShorty 3y agoTIL! I had to check and yes, the cans sold here (Switzerland) have the same code. Now I have a new hangup and that's buying those within the right range :)
- solardev 3y agoI don't eat tomatoes, but... How does the date encoding work? 215 = August 245 = September Is it just the day of the year?
- madcaptenor 3y agoI think so - the 215th day of the year is August 3.
- solardev 3y agoWhat happens in leap years?
- mschild 3y agoThe 3rd of August probably becomes 216 so just add 1
- madcaptenor 3y agoyes - I thought of that but figured that it didn't matter for figuring out what tomatoes would be best.
- solardev 3y agoIt's such an interesting system I never even considered. Does this mean most of the tomatoes are all planted and harvested on roughly the same days? I thought it would've been like a farm by farm, rolling harvest kinda situation.
- mschild 3y agoDepends on region and variety. Tomatoes on the same plant also don't ripen on the same day.
- mschild 3y agoYup. For reference: https://www.epochconverter.com/days/2023 https://www.epochconverter.com/days/2023
- jasonwatkinspdx 3y agoOne other aspect is the tomatoes sold in supermarkets have to be varieties that can withstand some considerable time being trucked around, where as presumably the canning facilities are regional to the growers.
- nonethewiser 3y agoThat’s a great question.
- sakerbos 3y agoTotally agree! One of my favourite meals is pasta with sauce made from canned plum tomatoes, garlic, chilli, salt, pepper and basil. Also, canned San Marzano tomatoes for pizza sauce is the best I've ever had! Although I'd love to try the uncanned version one day.
- jghn 3y agoYes this. Heirloom tomatoes freshly harvested are ideal but impossible for most of the year. Then canned are in second place. And a very, very distant third are grocery store tomatoes
- nonethewiser 3y agoI mostly agree yet canned tomatoes simply can’t replace fresh in many cases. Like a slice of tomato on a burger, chicken sandwich, etc. So canned vs fresh but “out of season” is really more situational.
- jghn 3y agoYes. And outside of a very small set of exceptions [1], in those situations I'd rather have "no tomato" vs an out of season grocery store tomato. For the most part I find they add negative value to the whole. [1] These are circumstances where what I'm eating has nostalgic value from before my eyes were opened. Like how diced tomatoes on american style hard shell tacos gives me warm fuzzy feelings :)