San Marzano Tomatoes – 1,000 Foods To Eat Project

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1,000 Foods To Eat Project

I am working my way through the foods that are listed in the book 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die by Mimi Sheraton. This is called my 1,000 Foods to Eat Project. San Marzano Tomatoes is Food #35 in my project. 🙂

What Are San Marzano Tomatoes?

Many people who are knowledgeable about tomatoes consider San Marzano tomatoes the best on earth. Why?

They are grown in the Naples region of Italy, close to Mount Vesuvius. The soil around this area is extremely fruitful due to its proximity to Vesuvius. Characteristic of these tomatoes are:

• Firm pulp
• Sweet flavor
• Skins slip off easily
• Low seed count
• Deep red color

Now, it seems there is some controversy as to whether these delicious tomatoes are actually worth it. Truly, I think they are. I didn’t do a taste test with other tomatoes but I did use them in a Spicy Pasta Puttanesca sauce and I have no complaints, none whatsoever. 🙂

DOP Certification

There is a certifying body for these tomatoes called Denominazione di Origine Protetta which means “Protected Designation of Origin.” To obtain this Certification, the tomatoes need to be grown and packaged according to some pretty strict rules. This designation ensures the highest quality product.

Here is an interesting article on DOP Foods of Italy from WalksOfItaly.com. In addition to these tomatoes, DOP certifications are also granted to olive oil, Parmigiano Reggiano, and proscuitto among other foods. In order for a food to have DOP certification, the label must state that it is DOP certified.

I looked for the DOP Certification on the Cento San Marzano canned tomatoes that I purchased. It wasn’t there. So I did a little digging, and discovered that Cento San Marzano’s used to be DOP certified, but there was some issue over their label not conforming to a new organization’s requirements.

Cento San Marzano’s are now certified by Agri-Cert, which is the largest 3rd party certifying body in the European Union. If you’d like to read more about this, please view this article called “The Truth About San Marzano Tomatoes” on the Cento website.

I’m happy to say that I am completely enchanted with Cento San Marzano Tomatoes, DOP Certified or not! These cans even have a lot code on the top or bottom of the can. You can submit your lot code on Find My Field and view the field in the Sarnese Nocerino area of Italy where your tomatoes were grown. Pretty cool indeed!

Spicy Pasta Puttanesca

I decided to try the San Marzano Tomatoes in a Spicy Pasta Puttanesca. WOW! I cannot source fresh San Marzano tomatoes where I live, so I used canned San Marzano tomatoes by Cento.

It was absolutely delicious! I believe I will be exclusively using these tomatoes from now on. 🙂

I had some leftover San Marzano’s after making my Spicy Pasta Puttanesca, so I used those in The BEST Tomato Basil Chicken recipe that I have here on this site. 🙂 It was SUPERB!

In conclusion, I hope you will try these AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS tomatoes in your next meal that requires tomatoes! If you can get fresh ones awesome! If not, then try the canned version which is absolutely delicious as well!

Some Other Foods In The 1,000 Foods to Eat Project!

Japanese Eggplant

French Tarragon Chicken

Please follow along with me on this quest to try the 1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die, from the book by Mimi Sheraton! Join me in this journey and discover new foods, experiences, and cuisines which I hope will add inspiration, fun, and joy to your life! For a list of the foods tried so far visit the 1,000 Foods to Eat Project page.

Please join me by signing up here. 🙂

Cheers!

Grace