This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...
To find out more...
The taste of raw tomatoes
Let's take a look at tomatoes, which are still in full bloom at the end of summer (as I write these lines), and which make for delicious salads.
I had already talked to you about the interest of peeling tomatoes, which gives them an extraordinary sweetness in the mouth, but let's talk about the taste this time. Of course, we are talking about seasonal tomatoes, which have grown in the area, and are both tasty and juicy.
I had already talked to you about the interest of peeling tomatoes, which gives them an extraordinary sweetness in the mouth, but let's talk about the taste this time. Of course, we are talking about seasonal tomatoes, which have grown in the area, and are both tasty and juicy.
14 K 4.9/5 (14 reviews)
Keywords for this post:TomatoesTasteSummerSeasonSaltJuiceExtractionLast modified on: September 8th 2018
The taste of raw tomatoes
Let's say you were going to make a salad with tomato slices, you might have peeled them (if not, try it as soon as possible!) and sliced them before putting them in your salad bowl. It's natural to do this, but it will have an unpleasant effect: when in contact with the dressing and the salt it contains, the tomato slices will give off a lot of juice, vegetation water in fact, and this juice will dilute the sauce in question. This means that if you prepare your tomato salad in advance, it is likely to be bathed in a very liquid juice-sauce mixture, which is not very pleasant.
Can this be avoided? Yes, there is a way to correct this problem, as in this recipe for example:
- You peel your tomatoes (if possible)
- You cut them into slices
- You lightly salt the tomato slices on each side with fine salt (very important)
- You put these salted slices on a grid, and you let them rest for 1 hour if possible, 30 minutes minimum
Doing it this way will have 2 effects:
1) The fine salt in contact with the tomato slices, will pump some of the water that will fall under the grill, which will "dry" the tomatoes a little, and all this water will not go into your salad afterwards.
2) The salt will enhance the taste of your tomatoes
After the resting time, drain carefully the slices, continue your tomato salad as you were used to, but think about reducing or removing the salt from your sauce, since you bring it with the tomatoes, and we must always be careful with salt in our diet.
This way of proceeding can also be applied for stuffed tomatoes for example: once hollowed out, salt the inside and put them upside down on a grid for 1 hour. Then use as usual.
To sum up: Before using tomatoes in a recipe, especially raw, it is always better to salt them with fine salt, and let them rest for a good hour so that the excess vegetation water escapes, and then use them normally.
What to do with the tomato water recovered in this way? Put it in a closed jar in the fridge, and pour it into a sauce or the cooking of your next recipe based on cooked tomatoes. Or... make yourself an amazing, clear Bloody-Mary!
Can this be avoided? Yes, there is a way to correct this problem, as in this recipe for example:
- You peel your tomatoes (if possible)
- You cut them into slices
- You lightly salt the tomato slices on each side with fine salt (very important)
- You put these salted slices on a grid, and you let them rest for 1 hour if possible, 30 minutes minimum
Doing it this way will have 2 effects:
1) The fine salt in contact with the tomato slices, will pump some of the water that will fall under the grill, which will "dry" the tomatoes a little, and all this water will not go into your salad afterwards.
2) The salt will enhance the taste of your tomatoes
After the resting time, drain carefully the slices, continue your tomato salad as you were used to, but think about reducing or removing the salt from your sauce, since you bring it with the tomatoes, and we must always be careful with salt in our diet.
This way of proceeding can also be applied for stuffed tomatoes for example: once hollowed out, salt the inside and put them upside down on a grid for 1 hour. Then use as usual.
To sum up: Before using tomatoes in a recipe, especially raw, it is always better to salt them with fine salt, and let them rest for a good hour so that the excess vegetation water escapes, and then use them normally.
What to do with the tomato water recovered in this way? Put it in a closed jar in the fridge, and pour it into a sauce or the cooking of your next recipe based on cooked tomatoes. Or... make yourself an amazing, clear Bloody-Mary!
Lasts posts
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?September 3rd 20251,134
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...August 26th 20254,4115
Cake moulds
When we make a cake, or a cake of the same rectangular shape, we usually take out our usual mould and tell ourselves that the recipe is anyway "for a cake", but is it really that simple?August 25th 20254,7305
Thinning out herbs
If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...August 8th 20252,9375
Add a bay leaf
Bay leaf: small in size, but big in flavor. You'll find it in hundreds of recipes, and it's often added to cooking meat, in a sauce or broth, usually accompanied by other herbs or products. It's a staple of Provençal, Mediterranean and Oriental cuisine, but not the only one. Usually, in a...July 31th 20253,0415
Other pages you may also like
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?September 3rd 20251,134
The art of the charlotte
In cooking, a charlotte is a delicious moulded dessert, with biscuits around the outside that have been soaked in a flavoured syrup, filled with a light cream or mousse. The charlotte is left to set in the fridge before being turned out and served in slices. It is very light and a lovely sweet...February 27th 201344 K4.3
A few tips for effective kneading at home
When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.June 23th 2021280 K 23.7
85 grams of eggs?
Some time ago, I already spoke to you about the difference between baking and pastry-making, I emphasized, among other things, the precision of pastry-making which requires grams, cm, degrees and minutes. That's why, on the one hand, you have baking and cooking, where a certain tolerance is...November 26th 201854 K4.6
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...June 16th 2021144 K4.5
Post a comment or question
Follow this page (as 2 people already do)
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.