San Marzanos are what tomato sauce aficionados go gaga for. The small plum variety is considered by many to make the best tomato sauce. It is fleshier than most tomatoes, has a deep, robust flavor, few seeds, and low acidity. In fact the San Marzano gave birth to tomato sauce as we know it. Grown in the region of Campania (also home to pizza and macaroni), San Marzanos are exported all over the world, but can be grown anywhere with rich soil and warm breezes. Happy Boy Farms' Mediterranean climate suits them well and the people buying rave about the sauce they're making.
the gorgeous city of CampaniaUsually, when someone tells you that a San Marzano tomato makes the penultimate tomato sauce you probably buy a couple 28 oz cans and try it for yourself. But since Happy Boy is growing them and since he knows I'm always game to cook, James brought home a flat of San Marzano tomatoes this weekend.
It was truly a labor of love; I have no food mill.
As I am holding out for a cute one like this....and so, I peeled them all by hand.
While peeling them, I thought a lot about the factory workers in Italy who peel the tomatoes for canning. Surely someone, not a machine, must do this, right? It's a delicate, tedious task and a machine would surely destroy the fruit in the process. But someone must have figured out how to have a machine do the work by now. Even so, it most certainly was once a human task. I thought of James' Nonna who immigrated to San Francisco from Monfalcone, Italy around 1956 and got a job stuffing olives with pimentos. I don't know about doing it as a full-time job, but I actually enjoyed the work: the cold plunge in the ice bath, the intense heat of the tomato in my hand, the stripping of its skin, its silky denuded body in my hands, watching my pile of gems grow. Peeling a flat of tomatoes is a tedious but sensory-rich task and if you're feeling game I have a few words of advice:
1. You will need to boil the tomatoes to loosen the skins to peel. I did this in two batches, standing vigil at the pot with a neighboring colander and slotted spoon at the ready to scoop as they pop their skins. You'd be surprised how long it takes some of them to pop. The skins are their strongest defense and this is why I'm peeling them; curls of tough tomato skin are not a good texture in sauce. If you listen carefully, you can sometimes hear the release of a gentle puff of air as the tomato skin breaks at the surface.
2. Have a large bowl of ice water at your elbow. The tomatoes can be plunged in the ice water, but they shouldn't really soak in it. Not only will the ice water shock the stubbornest tomato into popping their jacket, but it will be there to rescue you when you burn your little paws on these piping hot fruits. Even after plunging into ice water they retain quite a bit of heat and you will need to cool your fingers a bit.
3. The best way I found to peel them is to grab the stem, where the plant holds onto its fruit the most tenaciously, and sort of squeeze the tomato out of its skin, pinching the stem to pull the skin off in one movement. The fruit should just slide out of its little jacket and into your bowl.
After peeling them all, I was left with this:
While peeling them, I thought a lot about the factory workers in Italy who peel the tomatoes for canning. Surely someone, not a machine, must do this, right? It's a delicate, tedious task and a machine would surely destroy the fruit in the process. But someone must have figured out how to have a machine do the work by now. Even so, it most certainly was once a human task. I thought of James' Nonna who immigrated to San Francisco from Monfalcone, Italy around 1956 and got a job stuffing olives with pimentos. I don't know about doing it as a full-time job, but I actually enjoyed the work: the cold plunge in the ice bath, the intense heat of the tomato in my hand, the stripping of its skin, its silky denuded body in my hands, watching my pile of gems grow. Peeling a flat of tomatoes is a tedious but sensory-rich task and if you're feeling game I have a few words of advice:
1. You will need to boil the tomatoes to loosen the skins to peel. I did this in two batches, standing vigil at the pot with a neighboring colander and slotted spoon at the ready to scoop as they pop their skins. You'd be surprised how long it takes some of them to pop. The skins are their strongest defense and this is why I'm peeling them; curls of tough tomato skin are not a good texture in sauce. If you listen carefully, you can sometimes hear the release of a gentle puff of air as the tomato skin breaks at the surface.
2. Have a large bowl of ice water at your elbow. The tomatoes can be plunged in the ice water, but they shouldn't really soak in it. Not only will the ice water shock the stubbornest tomato into popping their jacket, but it will be there to rescue you when you burn your little paws on these piping hot fruits. Even after plunging into ice water they retain quite a bit of heat and you will need to cool your fingers a bit.
3. The best way I found to peel them is to grab the stem, where the plant holds onto its fruit the most tenaciously, and sort of squeeze the tomato out of its skin, pinching the stem to pull the skin off in one movement. The fruit should just slide out of its little jacket and into your bowl.
After peeling them all, I was left with this:
100 oz of whole peeled San MarzanosNow to make the sauce!
I decided on two, a vegetarian one and a meat one.
They are exactly the same, except that one has four spicy Italian sausages (pre-cooked and drained of fat) added to the pot.
Basic San Marzano Tomato Sauce
6 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 medium carrot, finely shredded
56 oz whole, peeled San Marzano tomatoes (that's two 28 oz cans for those of you using cans)
1/4 C fresh basil, chiffonaded
Salt and Pepper to taste
1. Sweat the onions over med-high heat in olive oil until carmelized. This could take up to 15 minutes.
2. Add garlic and saute for two more minutes, until aromatic.
3. Add carrots and saute for another few minutes.
3a. If you are making a meat sauce add the cooked and drained crumbles now.
4. Add tomatoes that have been quickly pulsed with their juices in a cuisinart or put through a food mill.
5. Stir frequently at medium heat till slightly reduced.
6. Stir in basil, salt and pepper.
Meat Sauce
Vegetarian Sauce
My hard-won and delicious dinner.
yum!
ReplyDeletei love your blog. but you don't mention scoring the skins of the tomatoes before you boil, which i find makes them easy to peel (you've got something to hold on to). do you not recommend it?
ReplyDeletehttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rzFVk9x-Wps/S_yMkPz0HHI/AAAAAAAACeA/-s_JbaKhUjA/s1600/IMG_0480.JPG
scoring is a pretty smart idea. i will have to try that next time. where do you make the cut? thanks for reading!
ReplyDeletejust cut a little X at the bottom of the tomato (directly opposite the stem). after you boil and dunk them in cold water, just pull the tabs.
ReplyDelete