Canned San Marzano tomatoes (merged)

[Jeekinz]

Originally Posted by *amy*

Now, wish I knew what Calcium chloride was. Guessing it's a preservative. The tomaters on the right look plumper/firmer.

Wiki says it's a salty preservative that doesn't add sodium to the product.

Yes, the ones on the right are plumper/firmer, if that's what your after.

[shortchef]

I swear by the Cento brand. We are fortunate to have an Italian grocery here in Steubenville and I can get these anytime. Lidia Bastianich has a restaurant in Pittsburgh (just east of here) and her marinara sauce recipe was published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She recommended Italian San Marzano tomatoes, and I always make her sauce, made with those and fresh basil.

[bethzaring]

interesting comparision jeeks, thanks for the effort. It was not until last week that I found out that San Marzano tomatoes meant anything other than tomatoes harvested from a San Marzano tomato plant.

[Robo410]

America grows great tomatoes. Many brands of excellent canned tomatoes coming right from Jersey or Pennsylvania or California to name three common areas. BUT, the San Marzano from Italia is a thing unto itself and must be grown in that soil to have that flavor.

OK who here has ever had a green zebra tomato? WOW! (but it would make a funky colored sauce, eh?)

[ronjohn55]

Interesting stuff Jeekins!

The labels are especially interesting to me. The US grown tomatoes having calcium chloride and Citric Acid.... weird.

Calcium Chloride would be a "salt" (no, not salt, a "salt" or chalk) which I would expect to be more of a basic additive.... Maybe that's why the citric acid, to bring it back to balance?

YT!! We need a chemical analysis over here!!

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by Jeekinz

Wiki says it's a salty preservative that doesn't add sodium to the product.

That's because it's *calcium* chloride, not *sodium* chloride. There are lots of different kinds of chemical salts.

When will "chemical" stop being a bad word? Like it or not, we're all made of chemicals and our bodies are sophisticated chemistry factories. This is not to say there aren't bad chemicals out there, but let's not demonize them all.

[PanchoHambre]

interesting study jeeks. Until you pointed it out I assumed "san marzano' meant from "san marzano"

as pertaining to some discussion in the "economizing" thread I would be curious to see how these "premium" products stack up to a generic supermaket brand or mass produced brand such as Rienzi or Progresso or Hunts.

San Marzanos are supposed to have a distinct taste and be superior for sauce making

Always interesting to look into what is behind a label.

[Jeekinz]

Originally Posted by GotGarlic

That's because it's *calcium* chloride, not *sodium* chloride. There are lots of different kinds of chemical salts.

When will "chemical" stop being a bad word? Like it or not, we're all made of chemicals and our bodies are sophisticated chemistry factories. This is not to say there aren't bad chemicals out there, but let's not demonize them all.

Sorry, my brain was a little fried last night to read the whole dissertation on Wikipedia. The emoticon was a reflection of the complexity of the subject. Next time I'll make sure I study up on my periodic table first.