Tomato paste

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)

A can of tomato paste next to two heads of garlic

Tomato paste is a thick paste made from ripened tomatoes with skin and seeds removed. Originally it was an artisan product that is still made the traditional way in parts of Sicily, Southern Italy and Malta. The artisan product is made by spreading out a much reduced tomato sauce on wooden boards. The boards are set outdoors under the hot August sun to dry the paste until it is thick enough, when scraped up, to hold together in a richly coloured dark ball.

In the UK paste is referred to as puree or concentrate, whereas in the US paste is not equal to puree which is much more liquid heavy.

Today this artisan product is hard to find and most people use the industrial (much thinner) version. Depending on its manufacturing conditions, tomato paste can be the basis for making ketchup or reconstituted tomato juice.

• Hot break: heated to about 100°C; pectin is preserved -> thicker -> ketchup.
• Cold break: heated to about 66°C; colour and flavour is preserved -> juice

Its most common culinary usage is to enrich the flavour of sauces, particularly tomato sauce. It is most commonly available in tin cans and squeeze tubes.

See also

• Tomato purée
• Tomato sauce
• Ketchup

References

External links

• Influence of Tomato Paste Processing on the Linear Viscoelasticity ...
• History of the Tomato
• Processed Tomato Products (about Japan's import market)

This food ingredient-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e