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Post by brownrexx on Jun 29, 2021 8:05:40 GMT -5
Last year I brought fresh garden tomatoes to a dinner with friends. She immediately got out the sugar bowl. She said that sprinkling tomato slices with sugar was wonderful but we didn't like it.
I don't season them with anything and hubby seasons them with salt.
Do you season your fresh tomatoes or just eat them straight?
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Post by paulf on Jun 29, 2021 9:54:57 GMT -5
Mostly straight for me, however sometimes a little salt. I grew up putting sugar on tomatoes since the varieties my Dad grew were absolutely the tartest tomatoes ever grown. All he ever did was grow the big, bigger, betters, boys and girls. Took me a long time even think about growing tomatoes since those hardware store varieties tasted so bad.
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Post by paquebot on Jun 29, 2021 9:58:20 GMT -5
Oh how well I remember this from 70 years ago. During threshing time, huge meals and always fresh tomatoes. Soon there would be a discussion over salt and pepper or sugar since one family member insisted on sugar. I've had them both ways and like both. If someone wanted to use sugar, I would the last one to question it.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 29, 2021 10:47:00 GMT -5
Other than the cherry tomatoes I eat in the garden, I put a little salt on the ones I eat. I always eat that bottom slice off tomatoes, when dicing them up for a dish.
Here's something that I heard about recently on another site, that I had never heard before - putting black salt on tomatoes. Haven't tried it yet, but I definitely will.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 29, 2021 12:56:52 GMT -5
Depends on how good the tomato is. If it's good, especially if it has a nice balance between tart and sweet, I eat it just the way they come off the plant. A fresh homegrown tomato just the way God made it is one of the joys of summer.
If the tomatoes are a little bland, I use a little salt. Or I put them on a salad with a strongly-flavored salad dressing. If they are really bland, they end up in sauce - salt, herbs, and cooking them down to concentrate flavors turns even pretty bland tomatoes into decent sauce. Rarely do I resort to adding sugar to tomato sauce, but I have done so on a couple of occasions. But if the sauce needs a little sweetness and richness, I am more likely to add a can of commercial tomato paste than sugar, because it adds concentrated tomato flavor as well as sweetness.
Having said all that, on a BLT salt and pepper are mandatory!
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Post by octave1 on Jun 29, 2021 14:11:24 GMT -5
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 29, 2021 16:03:40 GMT -5
Interesting. I don't think that I ever thought so much about this but I know that some people, like my DH, prefer the more tart tomatoes. I have never liked eating raw tomatoes but a few years ago I discovered that I actually liked raw Brandywine tomatoes and they are some of the sweet ones. Maybe I never liked raw tomatoes because we always had tart ones.
I still would not want sugar on a tomato but maybe those who like sugar prefer the sweeter tomatoes too.
Tonight I am making fried green tomatoes for hubby's birthday and I actually like those even though they have a tartness. I guess that cooking makes them taste different to me. Some people use a horseradish mayonnaise dip for them but we just eat them plain.
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tallpines
Pro Member
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Post by tallpines on Jun 29, 2021 18:13:20 GMT -5
I prefer VIRGIN tomatoes!
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Post by september on Jun 29, 2021 21:43:57 GMT -5
Nothing at all, or maybe salt and pepper for a sandwich. Really good tomatoes have enough acidity, sweetness and complexity of flavor to shine by themselves! I never knew anyone put sugar on tomatoes til I was at a friend's house when I was in my teens. Fresh tomatoes and sugar just is not a combo that my brain can reconcile, but each to his own! Like salt on watermelon or cantaloupe? Not for me.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 30, 2021 16:23:37 GMT -5
Interesting. I don't think that I ever thought so much about this but I know that some people, like my DH, prefer the more tart tomatoes. I have never liked eating raw tomatoes but a few years ago I discovered that I actually liked raw Brandywine tomatoes and they are some of the sweet ones. Maybe I never liked raw tomatoes because we always had tart ones. I still would not want sugar on a tomato but maybe those who like sugar prefer the sweeter tomatoes too. Tonight I am making fried green tomatoes for hubby's birthday and I actually like those even though they have a tartness. I guess that cooking makes them taste different to me. Some people use a horseradish mayonnaise dip for them but we just eat them plain. One of the local Southern cooking restaurants around here has a fried green tomatoes appetizer that they serve with a remoulade sauce. It's a fantastic combination.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 30, 2021 16:25:48 GMT -5
Nothing at all, or maybe salt and pepper for a sandwich. Really good tomatoes have enough acidity, sweetness and complexity of flavor to shine by themselves! I never knew anyone put sugar on tomatoes til I was at a friend's house when I was in my teens. Fresh tomatoes and sugar just is not a combo that my brain can reconcile, but each to his own! Like salt on watermelon or cantaloupe? Not for me. I've always thought salt on melons was gross. I don't care for melons anyway, but it actually grosses me out when DH salts melons. I can't watch him do it! But it is pretty popular down here - lots of people salt their melons.
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Post by paquebot on Jun 30, 2021 16:59:54 GMT -5
Looks like I am the only one here who has had tomatoes with sugar. after all, they are legally a fruit. It never was a lot of sugar but enough to know that it was almost a dessert.
Haven't tried salt on watermelon but cantaloupe gets both salt and pepper but honeydew melons do not.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jun 30, 2021 21:13:13 GMT -5
Nothing at all, or maybe salt and pepper for a sandwich. Really good tomatoes have enough acidity, sweetness and complexity of flavor to shine by themselves! I never knew anyone put sugar on tomatoes til I was at a friend's house when I was in my teens. Fresh tomatoes and sugar just is not a combo that my brain can reconcile, but each to his own! Like salt on watermelon or cantaloupe? Not for me. I've always thought salt on melons was gross. I don't care for melons anyway, but it actually grosses me out when DH salts melons. I can't watch him do it! But it is pretty popular down here - lots of people salt their melons. My family does that and it’s Butt nasty! If I want a slice of watermelon or cantaloupe, I have to snatch it before they get a hold of it. It’s Grody to the Max! I’m not big on salt anyways. I don’t think I’d want sugar on my maters either!
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Post by brownrexx on Jul 1, 2021 7:18:00 GMT -5
I am not big on salt either and I use it minimally but my hubby likes salt on watermelon and cantaloupe. My Mom liked that too but I never understood salt on something sweet. Yuk.
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Post by paulf on Jul 1, 2021 8:54:29 GMT -5
I do lightly salt muskmelon and watermelon if they are not as sweet as they should be. Most all home grown melons do not get salted. Grocery store melons tend to be bland except one store sells Athena muskmelon and that variety is a good one for being from a grocery store.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jul 1, 2021 10:09:56 GMT -5
My Dad used to put salt on watermelon, but then, he probably salted his ice cream. Think about salted caramel brownies. Something I used to have to make to take to my family's Thanksgiving dinners, after a few of them had it at my house (funny how I had a number of things I had to take, but did little of the cooking at those events). Salting sweets, like melon, isn't so much different. I still won't be putting sugar on tomatoes, however.
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tallpines
Pro Member
Posts: 298
Zone:: 4a
Favorite Vegetable:: This week, it’s Rhubarb
Joined: February 2019
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Post by tallpines on Jul 1, 2021 11:02:51 GMT -5
My memory has been jogged …..
While I have never consciously put sugar on a tomato ……. This dialogue has reminded me of a “comfort food” from my childhood..
My Mother would open a pint jar of her canned goods containing chunky tomato sauce ……. And serve it as dessert! Was best eaten with a slice of crusty homemade buttered bread!
I now …. Suspect that tomato sauce had been sweetened with sugar!
OMG ….. I had forgotten all about how absolutely wonderful it was!
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jul 1, 2021 12:15:20 GMT -5
My memory has been jogged ….. While I have never consciously put sugar on a tomato ……. This dialogue has reminded me of a “comfort food” from my childhood.. My Mother would open a pint jar of her canned goods containing chunky tomato sauce ……. And serve it as dessert! Was best eaten with a slice of crusty homemade buttered bread! I now …. Suspect that tomato sauce had been sweetened with sugar! OMG ….. I had forgotten all about how absolutely wonderful it was! Most pasta sauces have sugar added to balance out the tartness. A pat of butter works too!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 3, 2021 13:06:14 GMT -5
Dave, I am funny about salted caramel and other salted sweets, too. Every once in a while I get one that gets the balance just right for me and it's great. But most of them I don't enjoy because there's too much salt and it detracts from everything else.
It's not that I don't like salt - there are lots of genuinely salty foods that I like. But for my taste, most people overdo the salt with salted sweets.
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