- [Amiel] Hi everyone, I'm Amiel Stanek.
Editor at large at Bon Appetit.
And this, is Almost Every
Way to Cook a Tomato.
Who doesn't love a good tomato?
There is so many delicious and different
types to choose from.
You've got sweet little
Sungolds, meaty Romas,
All different shapes and sizes and colors
of Heirloom tomatoes.
But today, we're gonna
be taking a closer look
at the good old fashioned
Beefsteak tomato.
It's got a great balance
of flesh to juice,
it's a super tomato-ey tomato.
It's really versatile, and hey, stop.
It's really, hey, stop seriously.
Quit it, oww.
Stop, quit.
How do you like that?
Okay, so, we've got a lot of tomatoes
and we're gonna try to cook them
in every way that we
can possibly think of.
Stop doing that!
Mom!
Raw tomato.
Well, you don't need to
do anything to a tomato
in order to eat it.
So, we're just gonna take it as it is.
You know, a tomato is a fruit after all.
So I'm just gonna eat it like an apple.
Mmm, a little bit sweet, little bit tart.
You got a lot of textural contrast.
The skin, the flesh, the seeds, the juice.
There's a lot going on.
If this was a peak summer tomato,
I'd be perfectly happy eating it this way.
Sliced and salted tomato.
A little salt goes a long way.
We're gonna slice this
with a serated knife,
which is often easier.
We're gonna place our slices on a rack,
hit both sides with a little salt,
and let it sit for 15 minutes or so
to get some of the water
out before we dig in.
So, while it's been sitting, you can see
that some liquid has kind
of collected on the surface.
And that's just the liquid from
the tomato being drawn out.
It looks almost redder.
Mmm, so simple and delicious.
This to me, is the platonic
ideal of a raw tomato.
The salt both intensifies
and concentrates the flavor.
So it tastes extra tomato-ey.
Sometimes, simple is best.
Pan-seared tomato.
Okay, we're gonna cut
out the core real quick.
Cut it in half, and pat it dry
so it'll take a sear more easily.
Little bit of oil in this hot pan.
Put our tomatoes in, cut side down.
And that, my friends, is a seared tomato.
Mmm, this smells really good.
We've got some good caramelization
of the tomatoes natural sugars.
Mmm, a nice concentrated, complex
flavor around those cut sides.
But the rest is just raw tomato.
We'd probably get more bang for our buck
if we had sliced this
tomato instead of halving it
to create more surface area.
It's promising though.
Fried tomato.
We're gonna cut this into five slices.
Lay them out on paper towels
and hit them with salt.
Then let them sit for about 15 minutes
to draw out some moisture.
Okay, now we're gonna
dredge them in flour,
egg, and then break crumbs.
Place them carefully into this hot oil.
Give them a flip when they're browned.
Hit them with a bit of salt, and
fried tomatoes.
These are beautiful, nice
and crispy all around.
And you can still see a
smidge of the tomato in there.
Cutting in, you can see the inside
looks soft and pretty cooked.
Mmm, that's great.
The tomato is a bit watery,
but the fat and the
crunch really compliment
the flavor and texture of the fruit.
Typically this is done
with unripe green tomatoes.
But this would make a great
appetizer during tomato season.
Blanched tomato.
I'm gonna take this paring knife,
and just make a little x mark.
Some salt, then carefully
lower our tomato in.
Let it sit for about a minute.
Then pull it out and transfer
it to a bowl of ice water.
Then I'm going to use this
knife to slide the skin off.
So it was really easy to
just slip the skin off.
This exterior layer is a little bit mealy.
But otherwise, this tomato
is totally raw inside.
Which is the idea.
Mmm, yep, it's pretty much a
raw tomato without the skin.
It's not adding all that much
to the tomato eating experience.
But if you wanted to use tomatoes
in a recipe without the skin,
it's a really easy way to get there.
Tomato sushi.
Now we're gonna put a
blanched tomato to good use.
We're gonna cut our tomato into pieces.
Remove the tough core,
and then carefully cut out
the inner membrane with
the seeds and juices.
Get those into a bowl and add
some soy sauce, sesame oil
and let that marinade
for about 15 minutes.
Okay, the pieces are very delicate
now that they've been marinading.
We've got some warm sushi rice
that I'm gonna form into a little nugget.
And then carefully lay a piece of this
tuna-looking tomato on top
and compress it slightly.
Eh, I'm no Jiro.
So, I guess this is sushi, and so far
as it's on top of rice and
it kinda looks like fish.
The rice is still warm
and the tomato is cool.
So there's some interesting
contrast going on.
It smells great.
Mmm, I mean, this is tasty.
The flavor profile is great.
The soy sauce really backs
up the fruits natural umami.
But sushi it is not.
Tomato tartare.
We've got another blanched
and peeled tomato.
And we're gonna quarter
it, cut the core out,
and then remove the
seedy parts and membrane
which will water things down.
And then dice it up nice.
We're gonna toss it with a
bit of salt and olive oil.
Put this fancy ring mold on a plate,
and pack this mixture in
there to give it some shape.
Pull up the mold, and tomato tartare.
This is more of a visual
gimmick than anything else.
Diced tomato made to look
like beef or tuna tartare.
The whole thing kinda falls apart.
It doesn't adhere the way that
a protein-based tartare would.
Mmm, I mean, it tastes good
with the salt and the olive oil
but this is basically
just a bruschetta topping.
Where's the bread?
Raw tomato sauce.
So this is the simplest
possible raw tomato sauce.
We're gonna grate it into a bowl,
which is cool because
the skin just kind of
stays behind in my hand.
A little bit of oil, a pinch of salt,
stir that together, and we're done.
Very rustico.
The texture is loose and pulpy and uneven.
And while we don't have any skin in there,
we've still got some seeds.
Mmm, that's really yummy.
Just pure clean tomato flavor,
with an appealingly rough texture.
I don't think I'd want this
with pasta necessarily.
But it would be great with
a bit of garlic and parsley
as a sauce for fish or
something like that.
Tomato passata sauce.
This is probably the simplest
Italian tomato sauce there is.
Some wouldn't even call it a sauce.
We're gonna cook these
for just a few minutes,
until they're broken
down and kind of soupy.
And now we're gonna transfer
our just-cooked tomatoes
to a food mill, which is
gonna break down the tomatoes
and keep any pieces of skin and seeds
out of the finished product.
And we're done.
So there's no seeds, no skin in there.
Just totally smooth and homogenous.
It's definitely a little bit loose,
since it didn't cook down long
enough to get any water out.
Mmm, definitely sweeter
than our raw sauce,
because the seeds tend to
lend a bit of bitterness.
It's not bad, but this
would make a better base
for another sauce than
a sauce on it's own.
Cooked tomato sauce.
Similar, but different.
We've got our passada, but now we're
gonna get it back into this saucepan
and let it cook down for
the next 45 minutes or so
to try to concentrate it's flavor.
Definitely looks concentrated.
Get this into a bowl, and we've got
some tasty looking tomato sauce.
Obviously, this doesn't
have any of the aeromatics
that you would typically associate
with a proper tomato sauce.
It's darker and noticeably
thicker, not nearly as watery.
Mmm wow, that tastes so different.
Darker, deeper, way more
concentrated and savory.
This is definitely what I want
as the base for my spaghetti sauce.
Tomato paste.
Let's take it one step further, shall we?
We have our 45 minute cooked tomato sauce
and we're gonna put it on this sheet pan
and let it cook down in the
oven for another four hours.
Whoa, that looks like
tomato paste alright.
This is noticeably darker and thicker
than your store bought
tomato paste would be.
It's almost gelatinous.
And it's darkened a lot around the edges.
Mmm, oh my gosh this is
actually so so delicious.
Ya know, store bought tomato paste
often has kind of a tinny
metallic kind of raw flavor.
But this tastes incredible.
Huge umami flavor.
Tomato leather.
We've got our cooked-down sauce,
we're gonna spread it out
evenly on this parchment.
Then we're gonna get the rack in there
and let it go at 135
degrees for about 10 hours.
Whoa!
This looks wild.
I mean ancient scroll made from
dinosaur flesh or something.
It's tough and leathery.
It definitely feels like
a dried-out Fruit Roll-up.
Mmm wow.
The flavor is so concentrated,
that it actually really does taste fruity.
Sweet, acidic, I bet you
could convince somebody
that this was raspberry
or something like that.
Definitely cool.
Tomato powder.
Let's take our dehydrator
situation once step further.
We're gonna slice our tomatoes,
put them on this dehydrator rack,
and let it go at 140
degrees for about 12 hours.
Okay, these are good and dry by now.
We've got our spice grinder,
and we're gonna break
our dried tomato slices
into pieces and buzz 'em up.
Voila, tomato powder.
This has such a gorgeous, dark,
ruddy, rusty sort of color.
And it just kind of sticks to
your hands like Dorito dust.
Mm, whoa wild.
It's really sweet, really
fruity, ton of acid up front.
This would be great as part of a dry rub
or a popcorn seasoning
or something like that.
Ya know, it's a beautiful day,
let's take this party outside.
Smoked tomato.
We got a tomato, we got a smoker.
We're gonna open this up,
get our tomato in there, close it.
Alright, let's get our
smokey boy outta there.
It looks good.
This is kinda freaky looking,
the skin is starting to peel off.
And the whole thing does feel pretty soft.
I mean it was in there
at a low temperature
for a really long period of time.
Insides totally cooked,
still pretty juicy.
Mmm, fair amount of smoke
flavor on that outside,
which is really nice with the
tomatoes natural savoriness.
Torched tomato.
We got our tomatoes, we got our Searzall
which is just a modified blow torch.
We're gonna do our thing.
Alright, okay.
Whelp, yeah that looks done I guess.
We got a lot of color
on those cut sides, but
yeah, it's pretty much totally raw inside.
Yeah, not particularly special.
The browning doesn't have the same
appealing smokey quality that
our charred tomatoes did.
I'm gonna pass on this one.
Laser tomato.
This right here, is
the most powerful laser
that we were able to find on the internet.
Alright let's let a rip.
Whoa, um, somethings happening alright.
Maybe let's try a different spot?
Let's see what we can do here.
Alright, ya know, I'm
tired of holding this thing
let's call it.
Hello world.
So yeah, we got a smiley
little laser tomato here.
Got one eye here, and
then other eye is slightly
smaller here, and then
this sick grin here.
You know, I'm gonna call him Thomas.
Thomas is not really cooked.
But look at that face.
Ahh, no no no.
Yeah, it's a raw tomato.
Not sure what else to say.
It's still really juicy.
Sorry little guy.
I'm not sure all this
fresh air is good for me.
Okay let's go back to the kitchen.
Juiced tomato.
We got our tomatoes, we got our juicer.
And we're gonna turn this
bad boy on and let a rip.
[juicer noises]
Alright then.
This is cool, you've got
this kind of foamy part
and the bottom seems to be a
lot thinner and more watery.
Mmm it's pretty tasty.
Ya know, it's much smoother
and lighter in body
than a pureed tomato.
Tomato water.
Now we're gonna make a kind
of fancied up tomato juice.
We're gonna quarter our tomatoes,
get them into this blender
with a pinch of salt,
buzz 'em up, and then pour the puree into
a fine mesh strainer
lined with cheese cloth.
We're gonna pop this in the
fridge and let it sit overnight.
Alright, now that our solids
have separated from our liquid
we're gonna pour this out,
and that's our tomato water.
It's got a beautiful pinky orange color.
And it's almost completely transparent.
There are a few flecks
of tomato solids in there
that got past the cheese cloth.
Mmm, yum.
The tomato flavor here
is mild but really sweet.
The texture is really fascinating.
Tomato soda.
If we can make tomato
water, why not tomato soda?
We've got our tomato water,
we're gonna plug it in to this carbonator
and push this button a few
times to make it fizz up.
Am I doing this right?
Uh, tomato soda?
The operating instructions
say not to put anything
other than water in the machine, so
maybe that had something
to do with it overflowing.
It's nice and clear looking,
but not super fizzy.
Mm, it's light, it's fruity.
It's more mineral water
fizzy than seltzer fizzy.
It's interesting, but a pretty
disorienting thing to drink.
Ya know, now that we're good and hydrated,
let's get a little sunshine.
Campfire tomatoes.
Ah, the great outdoors.
We're gonna take these three tomatoes
and put them right in
here on the coals to char.
And then we're gonna nestle
this foil-wrapped one
right in here.
And we're just gonna take
these off as they're ready.
Foil wrapped tomato.
Oh steamy.
Didn't get much color but
it's definitely really soft.
Nothing too exciting.
I mean, it's cooked
through, but there wasn't
anywhere for the liquid to go,
so it just kinda steamed in there.
Not sure why I would
cook a tomato this way,
but it does work I guess.
Charred tomato.
So the skin is burnt and
just kind of peeling away.
And it's definitely fully fully cooked.
That's actually really delicious.
I was worried that the skin
would taste too bitter,
but there's a lot of nice smoke
flavor, a lot of complexity.
Ya know, I wanna take
this one step further.
Let's go back to the fire.
Campfire tomato sauce.
Okay, we're gonna put a
pot right on the fire here.
And then squeeze a couple of
our charred tomatoes in there.
We're gonna add a little oil and salt,
and let that cook down
a bit to create a sauce.
Should be good, let's give this a try.
We've got some little bits of that
charred skin that didn't break down.
Maybe not ideal.
It's nice and chunky though, really thick.
The flavor is really delicious.
We cooked off some of that water
and it's really concentrated.
With tons of umami.
Throw some pasta in there and you have a
pretty incredible alfresco dinner.
Tomato on a stick.
Well, if we're gonna cook
over this fire anymore
we're gonna need some more wood,
so I may as well just use this easel,
because let's face it I'm
never gonna be a real artist.
And I'm never gonna do anything.
Make a name for myself.
Just like my mother always said.
Who likes painting anyways?
People just love to YouTube, ya know?
They're just gonna go online
and watch these videos
and no one's ever gonna
wanna see my paintings
or anything I've ever done.
This roaring fire brought to you
by my deflated sense of self.
So, we've got a tomato on a stick.
And we're gonna spit roast it over
this fire of broken dreams.
And we're gonna see if
it amounts to anything.
Pretty sure there's some
chemicals in that wood that are
probably poisonous.
It's on fire.
And there she goes, we all
saw that coming, didn't we?
No surprises here.
Let's see if I can salvage
even a shred of my dignity.
Sense of self-worth.
Okay great.
This, like many things in
life, is a real disappointment.
It's ugly and messy and dark.
I guess I'm gonna have to eat it.
Mm, tastes like ashes.
Both literally and figuratively.
Bitterness, despair.
Ya know, I think it's
time we went back inside.
Tomato ice pop.
Alright, let's lighten things
up a little bit, shall we?
So, we're gonna put our
tomatoes into this blender
with a bit of sugar,
which will keep the pops
from getting too icy,
and buzz it all up.
Now, I'm gonna put these into
the freezer for the night.
And now that they're fully frozen,
we're gonna get this into some
warm water so it releases.
And there's our tomato ice pop.
It's interesting, it looks
like the tomato water
and the solids kind of separated a bit.
It certainly smells like tomato.
Ya know, it's not as
sweet as you'd expect.
And it's a bit icy.
I should have added more sugar.
It's intriguing, but it would be better
if it was like Bloody Mary
flavored or something like that.
On it's own, it's a
little bit of a letdown.
Tomato granita.
Alright, let's blend our prepped tomatoes,
along with a bit of sugar and salt.
Then strain it.
And pour it into this loaf pan.
We're gonna put this into the
freezer for about an hour.
Now that it's mostly frozen,
we're gonna use a fork
to rough it up a bit and then
get it back into the freezer
for another couple of hours.
Okay, now it's totally frozen.
We're gonna rough it up even more,
and get that granita into a bowl.
Beautiful.
This looks really pretty.
The texture is kind of like a shaved ice.
Mmm, the mouth feels really cool.
And it's icy and refreshing
and it kind of just
dissolves on your tongue.
It really plays up the
sweetness of that tomato.
I don't know how much
of this I'd wanna eat,
but it would make a great palette cleanser
in the middle of a long summer meal.
Tomato ice cream.
We've got an ice cream maker.
We've got a creme en glaze,
which is just a simple french custard
made with cream, sugar, a
little salt, and some egg yolks.
We're gonna pour that into the machine,
and we're gonna come back
when it's almost frozen.
Okay, now that the ice
cream is almost there,
we're gonna pour some tomato pasada in
and let it finish freezing.
Then we're gonna get this into a loaf pan
and freeze it until it's totally solid.
Alright, let's make ourselves
a little sundae, shall we?
Cherry tomato on top.
Perfect.
The texture is a little bit icy.
And that's just because
there's so much water
in that tomato pasada we added.
It's not super super smooth.
The tomato flavor is
pretty muted actually.
I think it would have worked
way better with tomato paste.
But, I do think that the
sweet floral qualities
are coming through.
It's interesting, but
I think I'd rather have
the granita at the end of the day.
Baked tomato.
We've got a halved tomato
and we're gonna pop
this into a 300 degree
oven for about an hour.
And we got a baked tomato.
So, because it was at
such a low temperature,
we didn't get a ton of color.
But it has shrunken a bit.
And it's not super super cooked inside.
It's still a little firm.
The flavor is definitely
concentrated somewhat.
But I think it could have
gone for a few more hours.
And for sure want some salt and fat.
Not that much going on here,
but this method has potential.
Roasted tomato.
Now we have a halved tomato
with a bit of salt and oil
and we're gonna put it into a
400 degree oven for about 45 minutes.
And out he comes.
This definitely cooked
down pretty significantly.
It's changed color a lot.
And there's good charring,
even though it's still pretty juicy.
That's really really nice.
The flavor is much denser.
And that char adds
plenty of complexity that
balances the sweetness and acidity.
This a great oven method.
Broiled tomato.
One more time, for good measure.
Halved, salted, oiled.
And we're gonna pop it into the broiler.
Boom, smokey.
Oh, alright.
Broiled tomatoes.
The heat was really intense and direct.
And the oil produced a lot of smoke.
You can kind of see that the
skin is sloughing off here
and it still feels very firm.
The inside is mostly raw.
Yeah, there's a bit of an acrid kind of
smokey flavor going on.
The inside is mealy and pretty raw.
This would probably be better
with a smaller less dense tomato.
But, didn't work right here.
Confit tomato.
For my last oven trick,
we've got some tomatoes
we've halved and submerged in olive oil.
And we're gonna put them
into a 300 degree oven
for about 45 minutes.
Voila!
Confit tomatoes.
These are definitely firmer
than I thought they'd be
after that much time in the oven.
This would probably work
better with a smaller tomato.
Really glossy with that olive oil.
It's really pretty.
It's super tasty.
Really rich and that
texture is almost silky.
This is a winner for sure.
Ya know, I think I'm finally
ready to go outside again.
Grilled tomatoes.
We got our tomatoes.
We got a hot grill.
We're gonna put a whole tomato over here.
And then a tomato that we've
halved, salted and oiled here.
And then some chunks of tomato
we've threaded onto skewers, here.
We're just going to pull
these off as they're ready.
Whole grilled tomato.
So the skin has split a little bit,
and we have some grill marks.
But it still feels really firm.
I think it's too thick to
cook properly this way.
Yeah, I mean it's warm throughout
but it's not really cooked through.
Yeah, not a lot going on here.
This is basically just a warmed up tomato.
Grilled half tomato.
This definitely looks more cooked,
and we've got some
appealing charring here.
But it also stuck a bit.
So I think the most flavorful
bits may have got left behind.
Okay, okay.
A little bit of that
caramelized flavor we like.
Sweetness, complexity, all that.
But just not that much of it.
It's not bad, but not
that distinctive either.
Skewered tomatoes.
These pieces feel pretty universally soft.
They've got some color around the edges
but we also lost a few pieces on the grill
because the chunks got so soft.
Ya know, this actually tastes
better than the other two.
We increased the surface area,
which made them cook
more fully and quickly.
It's a little bit clumsy, but
not bad at all.
Let's go back to the kitchen.
Gazpacho.
There are a lot of different
ways to make gazpacho,
but my favorite is one
that's thin, drinkable,
and emulsified with a lot of olive oil.
Pinch of salt, add some
cherry vinegar for acid.
And once it's going, we're
gonna stream in that olive oil
and process it until it's
smooth and matte looking.
Beautiful.
The way that the olive
oil emulsified in there
changed the color a lot.
It's almost orangey.
Mmm yumm I love this.
It's got nice body from
the oil, it's acidic,
it's very refreshing.
Blender cooked tomato.
Now, we're gonna use the heat of this
high-powered blenders
motor to cook our tomatoes.
These have been blanched and peeled,
and we're gonna prep them.
Get them into our blender.
And let that run for
about 10 whole minutes.
Ohh, steamy.
Blender cooked tomatoes.
This is pretty hot after being
in the blender for that long.
The motor generates so much heat.
It's definitely aerated, it's kinda foamy.
I mean, it tastes like
slightly cooked tomato.
If we had some garlic, maybe
a little cream or butter.
We could have a proper soup.
Not bad, but more of a starting point.
Microwave tomato.
We got our tomato, we got our microwave.
We're just gonna stab this a few times
to let some steam out when it cooks.
And pop it in there
for about four minutes.
Hm okay, let's put it
in for another round.
And, a microwave tomato.
It burst a little bit and some of
the liquid leeched out here.
I mean it seems pretty unevenly cooked.
Some really soft parts,
and some still quite firm.
I mean, it's just a hot tomato.
Not sure why I would do this,
but I'm not offended by it.
Ironed tomato.
We've cut our tomato in half,
we're just gonna spray our
iron with a bit of Pam.
Just sitting in my hotel
room, needing to cook a tomato
with whatever I've got.
Well, I guess this is done?
Definitely got some uneven-ness
in terms of the coloration.
But we did get some
browning right around here.
Yeah, it's still pretty raw.
I mean, I'm liking the flavor
that the browning offered,
but this is just a mostly uncooked tomato.
Sous vide tomato.
We have an already blanched tomato.
We're going to season it.
Suck all the air out of this bag.
And then this immersion
circulator is gonna cook it
at a consistent 140ish
degrees for about 45 minutes.
And she's done.
Fascinating.
So the tomato seems
fully cooked throughout.
But also really firm.
The flesh was kind of
compressed and is a lot denser.
And a lot of the liquid has
just kind of leeched out here.
This is really cool.
The flesh is really meaty,
and the flavor is denser
and more concentrated than
I would have expected.
This has a lot of potential.
I'd love to see how it
would taste if we added
a marinade or spice mix or
something like that to it.
Slow cooker tomato.
We're gonna get this lid off,
put our tomato right in here
and then add about a cup of
water just to get it going.
Turn this bad boy on.
And we're gonna let it
go for about four hours.
Yup, that's cooked alright.
The whole thing feels really soft,
and it definitely darkened somewhat.
It's still very juicy.
I mean, it's very tender.
But it just kinda tastes cooked.
It would make way more
sense to use a slow cooker
to cook down a pasada
or something like that.
With a whole tomato it's just kinda silly.
Canned tomato.
We've got three tomatoes
that we already blanched.
And we're gonna core these,
get them into our jar.
Add a bit of salt and lemon juice.
Close it up, and get it into this
pot of hot water so it'll seal.
Alright, it's been 45 minutes.
These tomatoes are definitely canned.
Alright, let's get it open.
Yeah, we're really just
looking at whole tomatoes
floating in their own liquid.
They've fallen apart somewhat.
They're mostly intact.
You know, that's actually way
more flavorful than I'd expect.
Way better than grocery
store canned tomatoes.
None of that tin can flavor.
I'd love to use this as a base
for a pasta dish or a braise.
Yum!
Tomato brulee.
Well, you can brulee a
grapefruit, why not a tomato?
We're gonna sprinkle our
tomato halves with some sugar.
Then use our culinary torch to blast them.
That's gettin' crispy.
Well, looks bruleed to me.
We managed a pretty handsome crust here.
And it really smells like caramel.
The tomato underneath
is almost totally raw.
Let's cut a little piece.
Interesting.
It's obviously super sweet.
There's also a strong
savory note from where
the tomato juices caramelized
along with the sugar.
It's not bad exactly,
but definitely an
unexpected flavor situation.
Not sure if I like it or not.
Tomato tatin.
This dish is traditionally
made with apples.
But why not tomatoes?
Smear butter in this cast-iron pan.
Pour a layer of sugar over.
Arrange our prepped tomatoes.
We're gonna turn the
heat on and let the sugar
and tomato juices cook down to a caramel.
Now, we layer some defrosted
puff pastry over top.
Tuck it in, make a few slits.
And pop that into a 450 degree
oven for about 24 minutes.
Gorgeous.
Alright, all we have to do
is put this plate on top
and try to flip it out
in one fluid motion.
Hey, not too shabby.
This kinda smells like a dessert pizza.
This is really special and different.
It definitely plays up the
sweeter side of the tomatoes.
And this buttery pastry
really rounds things out.
It's super cool.
Pickled tomato.
Okay, let's put our prepped
tomato slices into this jar.
We're gonna add some
salt and sugar to this
hot vinegar and water
mixture, and stir to dissolve.
We're gonna pour that over.
Close it up.
Then we're gonna fridge this
until it's cold and pickle-y.
Let's pop that lid off.
Mmm, smells nice and vinegar-y.
Yum.
The sugar and the vinegar really back up
the natural sweetness
and acidity of the fruit.
So it tastes really tomato-ey.
I couldn't eat a whole plate of these.
But they'd be great with cheese,
or to chase a shot of cold vodka.
Fermented tomato.
Now that we've pickled a tomato,
we're gonna try to ferment one.
We're gonna core it, dice it,
mix it with some salt, and then
put it in a bag and seal it.
We're gonna let this sit for
a few days at room temperature
while the friendly microbes
and bacteria in there do their thing.
Wow okay, so we can tell
that these are fermented
because the bag is puffed up.
Which tells us that the
little guys in there
have been converting
sugar to acid and CO2.
We're gonna cut it open.
Whoa, that smells wild!
That smell is crazy.
It's really yeasty and funky,
which I find very appealing.
But others might find gross.
The tomato pieces have
broken down somewhat.
Almost as if they've been cooked.
Let's give this a taste.
Wow, wow, wow, wow.
Wild.
It's funky.
Almost fizzy, with a kind of
sour malty beer-like flavor.
Big umami energy.
It almost tastes fruitier
than it did before.
This has a ton of potential.
I'd love to see what this would
be like in a tomato sauce.
Tomato caviar.
Science time.
Alright, we got some tomato juice here.
And we're gonna whisk
in some sodium alginate,
which is gonna thicken it.
We're gonna let this
chill for a few hours.
Now, it's really thick and
jiggly, almost like ketchup.
We got some warm water
here, and we're gonna mix
this calcium chloride
in until it dissolves.
Then we take the syringe,
slurp up some tomato business,
and start adding a drop at
a time to the water bath.
Kinda looking more like
tadpoles than beads of caviar.
But, I guess that's something.
So, here we have our tomato
quote caviar unquote.
I mean, it only barely looks like caviar.
But the beads are definitely firm.
And it formed a bit of a skin.
Yeah, I mean, it honestly
just tastes like tomato juice.
But has a kind of sponge-y texture.
This is more of a gimmicky molecular
gastronomy thing than anything else.
I'll pass on this one, thanks.
Tomato aspic.
A little 1950's dinner
party throwback for ya.
We're gonna bring some
tomato juice up to a simmer
to reduce it slightly.
Meanwhile, we've got some cold water here,
and we're gonna whisk this gelatin in
until it's fully dissolved.
Then we're gonna spray
this bundt pan with Pam
so our aspic doesn't stick.
Then stir our gelatin mixture
into the hot tomato juice
and pour that into our bundt pan.
This is gonna need to sit in
the fridge for a while to set.
Okay, so you can see that
our aspic firmed up nicely.
Now comes the tricky part.
We're gonna set it into
this bowl of warm water,
so that hopefully releases from the pan.
Put a plate over top and,
boom, tomato aspic.
Who's hungry?
J-E-L-L-O.
This looks nuts.
It's so bouncy and freaky looking.
Can you believe that people
used to actually serve this?
You know, it actually tastes pretty good.
The texture is weird as all hell.
But if I really leaned
into it, I would love this
with a plop of cottage cheese
right there in the middle.
This is definitely, a
way to cook a tomato.
Alright, today we prepared tomatoes
just about every way we could think of.
What did we learn?
Well, for one, tomatoes have
a wide range of complex flavors.
And different methods play
to their different strengths.
We also learned that tomatoes
contain a lot of water.
And some of our favorite
ways of cooking them
were all about concentrating
them as much as possible.
Have a method that you
didn't see here today?
Leave it in the comments.
