Product Description
THE COOK’s TOUR
Big flavor. If you want it in your sauces, ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby. Hand crushing your own large, peeled canned tomatoes lets you lose the hard bits of the stem and the tops and pick a “grind” that works for any recipe. They are the base of my marinara sauce, pizza sauce, and much more.
WHAT DO THEY DO?
San Marzano tomatoes will up your food’s A-game. Tomatoes are a tough thing if you don’t grow your own. In the US, store-bought are usually shipped green and gassed locally to turn them red. Even the “vine ripened” are shipped with the vines on them, and ripened in transit, not on the bush.
Canned peeled tomatoes, particularly tomatoes, grown in San Marzano are a great compromise. Picked at their ripeness cooked and canned, they offer maximum flavor. Fresh tomatoes rock in salsas and ceviches, and, if you grow your own, and can bring that “day of” flavor to your food, by all means, use them.
If you don’t grow, though, this your best bet because all peeled tomatoes, even all San Marzanos are not created equal. The tomatoes grown outside of Valle del Sarno lack the conditions that make them special.
Some producers pick their tomatoes a bit green too. That leaves hard tops that are very fibrous and tough that have to be removed. Some sneak in tomato sauce to make the can look more robust and save money by putting in fewer peeled tomatoes.
You can tell a good can when you open it. The tomatoes in their own juice won’t be heavy in sauce, but a medium-dense juice. Cento’s organic doesn’t cut those corners.
Cento is one of the best brands, San Marzano is one of the best tomato-producing regions in the world, and now they have an organic certified tomato?
Win-win-win.
EXPERIENCE
Italian “plum” tomatoes are ideal for making sauces, putting in soups, stews, etc. Roma tomatoes are the most common fresh, but, watery and seedy, they are not ideal at all, even if you grow your own. San Marzano tomatoes are longer and thinner. Their flesh is thick with few seeds. The taste? Richer, sweeter and less acidic.
THE FEATURES
- Grown in Italy, traditionally in the Sarnese Nocerino region
- Certified San Marzano varietal (third-party verified)
- Organic, no pesticides or additives in production
- Whole peeled tomatoes packed in puree
- Balanced sweetness with low acidity
- Minimal ingredients, no artificial preservatives
- Recognized by chefs for consistency and flavor quality
THE SPECIFICATIONS
- Ingredients: Organic San Marzano tomatoes, organic tomato puree, sea salt, citric acid
- Form: Whole peeled plum tomatoes
- Texture: Firm flesh with low seed content
- Packaging: BPA-free can
- Size: Typically 28 oz (794 g) can
- Origin: Italy, Campania region near Mount Vesuvius
- Brand: Cento
THE CARE NOTE
Store unopened in a cool, dry place. After opening, transfer contents to a non-metal container, refrigerate, and use within 3–5 days.
MY TAKE
There are a number of producers of San Marzano tomatoes. Cento’s regular tomatoes, found as a staple at Costco, are very good, and a definite three diamond nod. These organic tomatoes, though? They bring Cento up to four diamonds, because of their quality and organic food safety.
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