Canned whole peeled tomatoes

There’s nothing like fresh tomatoes, I know, for cooking stews and pasta sauces, for sauteeing… the fresher and plumper the tomatoes, the better the cooked dish turns out. Tomatoes are widely available, they are cheap and storing isn’t hard because they stay fresh in the fridge for several days.

There are months during the year, however, towards the end of summer and during the first few months of the monsoon season, when the quality of fresh tomatoes leaves much to be desired. I don’t know why that is so. I have long suspected that farmers, in anticipation of the rains and typhoons, harvest the tomatoes before they are ready. Hence, the markets are inundated with unripe green tomatoes.

Although they aren’t so bad for sauteeing, as far as I’m concerned, they just won’t do for making stews and pasta sauces. That’s when I switch to canned whole tomatoes.

Tomato sauce and tomato paste are alternatives too. But I like texture in my stew and pasta sauce. I like the bits of mushy tomatoes that did not completely liquefy during cooking. That’s why I prefer canned whole tomatoes over tomato sauce and tomato paste.

There are several brands available in most supermarkets but I am allergic to expensive items. Among the brands I have tried, Molinera suits my preferences best — cheaper than other brands but the quality is comparable to the more expensive ones.