San Marzano vs San Marzano?

[Roll_Bones]

I got into a little debate regarding San Marzano tomatoes.
I am using the Nina brand that Costco sells. (hey Craig you out there).

Turns out I read an article on San Marzano tomatoes and how to tell if you are actually getting San Marzanos.

https://www.tastecooking.com/fake-rolex-canned-tomatoes

So, I go and look at my can of Nina. And then find another Nina label on the internet. Whats the deal here?

 

[Andy M.]

Difficult to determine if any can, regardless of label, could be a fraud. I buy Pastene, not a nation brand. Their SM tomato cans have all kinds of stamps, seals and serial numbers. They taste great and cost almost $5.00 a can. I have no idea if they're legit.

They also have a 'San Marzano Style' tomato that's much cheaper and still tastes great.

My advice. Buy a tomato that tastes good and don't worry about the labels.

I look for a canned whole tomato that's not super acidic. When making a tomato sauce I always add tomato paste and sauté it so it's natural sweetness offsets the acidity of the tomato. I refuse to add sugar to tomato sauce.

 

[Roll_Bones]

I'm just trying to settle a debate. I love the Nina SM.
But I am curious if they are indeed true SM's.

I bought another brand of supposed SM fire roasted made by Muir. These are not as good as the Nina and I could tell immediately after opening the can. They were good, but I had to pick out membranes and under ripe pieces.

Costco also used to sell the 1 gallon crushed Nina SM.
The article says that real SM's don't come crushed.
Thanks Andy

 

[salt and pepper]

If it has the D.O.P. , it's the real thing from Italy.

 

[Roll_Bones]

No DOP on the Nina. Take a good look at the can not the label.
It says "San Marzano Region"

I'm next going to Costco. Just to know. I already love the tomatoes
Thanks

 

[Bigjim68]

I'm just trying to settle a debate. I love the Nina SM.
But I am curious if they are indeed true SM's.

I bought another brand of supposed SM fire roasted made by Muir. These are not as good as the Nina and I could tell immediately after opening the can. They were good, but I had to pick out membranes and under ripe pieces.

Costco also used to sell the 1 gallon crushed Nina SM.
The article says that real SM's don't come crushed.
Thanks Andy

It's my understanding that San Marzano is a variety of tomato which originated in or around Marzano, Italy. As such, there may be two things going on. The variety and the location in which it is grown. I'm sure the area would like you to believe theirs is the one true SM tomato, and therefore superior, which may or not be true.

 

[caseydog]

It's my understanding that San Marzano is a variety of tomato which originated in or around Marzano, Italy. As such, there may be two things going on. The variety and the location in which it is grown. I'm sure the area would like you to believe theirs is the one true SM tomato, and therefore superior, which may or not be true.

What originally made a real San Marzano tomato better is the volcanic soil that the plants grow in, near the base of Mount Vesuvius.

Today, the seeds of the San Marzano tomato are grown in other places, but to be called a San Marzano tomato, it has to come from that particular region, much like Champagne must come from the Champagne region of France, or it is not real Champagne.

The D.O.P on the label is the only way you know if a can of tomatoes is truly San Marzano tomatoes. Similar products will be labeled "San Marzano Style," or something like that.

CD

 

[Roll_Bones]

It's my understanding that San Marzano is a variety of tomato which originated in or around Marzano, Italy. As such, there may be two things going on. The variety and the location in which it is grown. I'm sure the area would like you to believe theirs is the one true SM tomato, and therefore superior, which may or not be true.

I read another article where the Consorzio tells the story.
I guess its like Parmesan Regiano. Where its like some law or something?

What originally made a real San Marzano tomato better is the volcanic soil that the plants grow in, near the base of Mount Vesuvius.
Today, the seeds of the San Marzano tomato are grown in other places, but to be called a San Marzano tomato, it has to come from that particular region, much like Champagne must come from the Champagne region of France, or it is not real Champagne.
The D.O.P on the label is the only way you know if a can of tomatoes is truly San Marzano tomatoes. Similar products will be labeled "San Marzano Style," or something like that.
CD

I wonder what Costco has to say about this. The label is decieving. Says it's from the SM region and well, you can see the can above.
The other side of the can is in Italian.
Also if it helps, there is a couple whole basil leaves in each can. Raw basil leaves. I could do without basil. If I want basil I can add it myself. But good stuff it is. I will lose this debate, but I still have my Costco Nina tomatoes.
They used to sell a gallon can of them crushed. This is also supposed to be wrong. No crushed or diced SM tomatoes supposedly.

I knew the people here would be a great resource. Wheres Craig and my girl GG?

 

[buckytom]

I noticed that year's ago simply by price comparison. The real D.O.P. San Marzanos were much more expensive than other so-called and equally labelled San Marzanos. Muir Glen included.

The difference in taste was much more obvious.

 

[Kayelle]

I look for a canned whole tomato that's not super acidic. When making a tomato sauce I always add tomato paste and sauté it so it's natural sweetness offsets the acidity of the tomato. I refuse to add sugar to tomato sauce.

I didn't know this Andy. How can you determine if a brand of tomatoes is less acidic and can you give me an idea of the ratio of T.paste to canned tomatoes that you use? I also refuse to add sugar to tomatoes.
TIA

 

[caseydog]

I didn't know this Andy. How can you determine if a brand of tomatoes is less acidic and can you give me an idea of the ratio of T.paste to canned tomatoes that you use? I also refuse to add sugar to tomatoes.
TIA

The acidity is more than likely affected by the soil a tomato is grown in. I know the San Marzano tomatoes that I buy, with the D.O.P on them, are less acidic. I refuse to add sugar to my tomato sauces, either. That's why I pay extra for the San Marzano tomatoes.

CD

 

[Kayelle]

This is an interesting conversation. Personally, I wouldn't pay $5.00 for a can of tomatoes but maybe that's just me. Then again, brands don't mean much to me and I don't own a Coach handbag either.

 

[Aunt Bea]

This is an interesting conversation. Personally, I wouldn't pay $5.00 for a can of tomatoes but maybe that's just me. Then again, brands don't mean much to me and I don't own a Coach handbag either.

I'm with you Kayelle!!!

I use these crushed tomatoes from the local Wegman's, on sale until the end of the year for seventy-nine cents a can!

Don't forget to rinse the can with a little wine!

A pinch of baking soda added to the tomatoes will help neutralize the acid and make them taste a little sweeter.

 

[caseydog]

This is an interesting conversation. Personally, I wouldn't pay $5.00 for a can of tomatoes but maybe that's just me. Then again, brands don't mean much to me and I don't own a Coach handbag either.

I will gladly pay five bucks for a can of SM tomatoes, if I am making tomato sauce with fresh herbs from my garden -- for a meal where the sauce is the star of the show.

Now, if I am making a big pot of chili, where the tomato's flavor is not front-and-center, I will use something cheaper.

CD

 

[GotGarlic]

I guess its like Parmesan Regiano. Where its like some law or something?

The European Union has internal regulations that stipulate how and where certain products must be produced to be considered "authentic" and be allowed to put DOP on the label. The United States does not require adherence to these standards, so what's sold here with certain names can be misleading.

I knew the people here would be a great resource. Wheres Craig and my girl GG?

Aw, aren't you sweet?

I haven't said anything because whether or not a tomato product contains Italian San Marzano tomatoes is not important to me. I buy whatever is on sale.

The acidity of tomatoes is determined by the variety and the growing conditions, including length of daylight hours and cloudiness during the season. The acids and sugars in the fruit are developed by photosynthesis, so the more sun they get, the more flavor they will have. Since sweeter tomatoes have more natural sugars (fructose and glucose) than acids in them, I don't have a problem with adding a pinch of sugar if I think it needs it. Usually, though, browning onions for the sauce releases enough sugar to create a good balance.

More info here: https://hort.purdue.edu/prod_quality/commodities/tomato.html

RB, it might be fun to set up a double-blind taste test to see what you think when you don't know what you're eating. Epicurious had a surprising result when they did that: https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/best-canned-tomatoes-san-marzano-italian-taste-test-article

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I actually did a blind test with Himself. I used only three cans, whole tomatoes, cut in bite-size pieces. I had an authentic, stamped-with-a-seal, genuine San Marzano, ol' reliable Hunts, and...I think it was Pastene (which may be regional - it's headquartered in Canton, MA). Not sure of the third. Which is a shame, really, since I think that one was preferred - but by only a tiny margin over the Hunt's. That's probably why I don't remember that one sample, since Himself said that he prefers Hunt's. It's what his Mom used, it's what I've used most of the time. I did try to make a batch of spaghetti sauce with Contadina...once. I tried to save a few pennies as a newlywed, and was instructed to blow the bank on the Hunt's.

 

[GotGarlic]

I actually did a blind test with Himself. I used only three cans, whole tomatoes, cut in bite-size pieces.

Kewl Double-blind is the gold standard, though, because the tester can unintentionally communicate a preference that the subject of the test might pick up on.

 

[Caslon]

This discussion reminds me that I have a can of Del Monte stewed tomatoes on the shelf that I've been meaning to use.

 

[di reston]

Living in Italy - which is not to boast - I've never noticed the difference between canned San Marzano tomatoes, or any other canned toms unless they're canned on the cheap. For a while some time ago, on British television they doing Hail Mary's for virtues of San Marzano tomatoes, and it was them or nothing. Curiously, now, they seem to have disappeared off the horizon. Then there were the articles about how the housewives of Naples concentrated their fresh San Marzano hand harvested and reduced to a concentrate on the balconies of Naples.To me that's just snobbery.
I have to say, that there is a vast difference between the flavour of fresh harvested of ALL tomatoes, Tomato Roma included, and the canned the varieties of the same. If I lived over in the US, I would go for, any time, home produced toms that do the job just as well at half (or more) the price.


di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde

 

[di reston]

The San Marzano DOP variety of tomatoes is expensive over here, plus, it's cultivated in the officialy designated grounds that define San Marzano. There is'nt enough of the stuff to supply the whole world, let alone Italy! The San Marzano type of tomato, is widely cultivated, although they have the designated title 'San Marzan'. The San Marzano DOP tomatoes are cultivated on the slopes of Vesuvius, and the San Marzano tomatoes are cultivated widely around that area - in Italy. The myth of the San Marzano DOP tomato is further amplified by the practise by the housewives of Naples, who are known to reduce their home-made 'polpa', or sauce, down to a purèe, on the balconies of their dwellings in Naples, and on the roadsides of the more agricultural areas. It is very expensive!
I can quite understand why people opt for 'San Marzano' tomatoes on there own. If I were and had a suitable piece of land, I'd get the 'San Marzano' seeds and grow them myself, then make my own tomato purèe! I'm sure that the soils of the USA are equally up to producing good stuff!

di reston

Eneough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde