Canned Tomatoes

[siduri]

Originally Posted by Jannie

I've never been much for canned tomato's but ever since local stores started selling "vine ripened " tomato's with the stems still on-which were pretty good at first, it now seems nothing I buy has hardly any flavor at all, I grew up eating tomato's like an apple as well as in salads, soups etc.,and now that I live in an apartment, I can't grow my own. It seem that whatever I get only adds color but not much else. I read the thing Cooks reviewed but haven't tried them yet, mostly I miss tomato's in salads.
Jannie

Hi Jannie,
there is one thing people forget about tomatoes. They are a seasonal fruit. You can hybrid (and genetically modify) foods to grow out of season, to have the color that is appealing in the store, to keep and to transport easily, but if you want a good tomato, you have to wait for summer (or spring, anyway, depending on your area) and they have to be locally grown. I'm sure you didn;lt eat tomatoes like an apple in the winter off your vine unless you live in some tropical climate, and even then, i think there are still growing seasons.
Forget tomatoes in salad in winter. They'll taste all the better if you wait for summer and eat them then, after waiting all that time. If you need to cook with them, buy canned. If you want to eat them, try to buy from someone who grows them locally. Otherwise they won;t be good.

[DC Sunshine]

Tinned tomatoes are a basic staple in our pantry, particularly when they are out of season. The tomato shaped things you get in the fruit and veg dept have no taste at all. And they're a good short cut, and generally picked and packed in season, so are much a preferred alternative.

Shel - hard to tell if they'd be any good by now, depends on the can lining. There's no use by dates on cans here either

[AllanMcPherson]

Shel,

Yeah, I think I've been taken by "fraudulant" tomatos. I know, read the lable...

I'm in Ontario, Canada and Muir Glen products run about $4.00 a can, about 2.5 times the coast of "decent" grocery store tomatoes.

We're on the cusp of fresh tomatoes here. Every day off I'm at the local farmers market just praying for the good stuff. Can't wait!

--Al

[tasty28]

Spam attempt

[shel]

Originally Posted by Jannie

I've never been much for canned tomato's but ever since local stores started selling "vine ripened " tomato's with the stems still on-which were pretty good at first, it now seems nothing I buy has hardly any flavor at all

Check out where those tomatoes come from. Many are shipped from the Netherlands, some come in from Mexico, some have been hydroponically farmed in the US ... all are insipid pretenders, IMO.

Shel