The tomato tasting

Tomato preserves are a popular food, consumed all over the world. Their popularity is related not only to their nutritional value and versatility in cooking, but also to their special flavor. The characteristic taste of tomatoes and their products is due to the reducing sugars (fructose and glucose), free acids (mainly citric), more than 400 different volatile compounds they contain, polysaccharides, and minerals.

The content of these components depends on various factors: variety, soil, climate, human factor.

Today there has been a great diversification in the consumption of tomatoes in cooking, thanks to a renewed focus on ingredients by restaurateurs, particularly in the Pizza sector, and recipes are beginning to distinguish between the different varieties, used depending on the combination with other ingredients and the final balance of the dish. Pizza chefs, increasingly referred to as Pizza Chefs, very frequently offer pizzas made with peeled tomatoes, San Marzano peeled tomatoes, datterini tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, corbarini tomatoes, piennolo del Vesuvio tomatoes, etc., following fashions or color, i.e., choosing only to amaze or to generate curiosity, without adequate knowledge of the sensory characteristics or the correct pairings of the various types of tomatoes.

Sensory characteristics and correct pairings of tomatoes

ICAB La Fiammante has commissioned Dr. Francesco Martusciello (Storytelling Meridiano) to draw up a tomato tasting sheet and establish a sensory profile of the different preserves produced. The results will make it possible to organize training courses for chefs and pizza makers who want to learn more about the correct use of tomatoes and their proper pairings with other ingredients.

Check out the tasting manual here:https://www.lafiammante.it/manuale-degustazione.pdf

The pilot meeting was held at the headquarters of Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana and was met with great interest from industry professionals from different countries around the world. At the end of the lecture, a reasoned tasting (tasting) of the different types of preserved tomatoes was offered to those present.