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Top Tomato, Paste that Is.

America’s Test Kitchen (you know the happy cooks and product testers behind Cook’s Illustrated Magazine and the America’s Test Kitchen TV Show) recently conducted a taste test of 7 different Tomato Pastes. The contestants were all canned tomato pastes except for the Amore brand which comes in a tube and was the “hands down” winner.

The Contestants

• Amore Tomato Paste
• Cento Tomato Paste
• Contadina Tomato Paste
• Hunt’s Tomato Paste
• Muir Glen Organic Tomato Paste
• Redpack Tomato Paste
• Rienzi Tomato Paste

According to the article, “All delivered a big tomato punch, but the one in the tube was the hands-down winner. Described as “intense” and “fresh,” the winning brand, Amore Tomato Paste, is the only tomato paste that contains fat, which could account for its bigger flavor. The brand also scored points because of its tube packaging. Just squeeze out what you need and store the rest in the fridge.”

For more information on their findings, here is a link to the article. Tomato Paste. The article recommends that you use the amount of paste required in the recipe. This is a good tip. Do not pay attention to the claims that the tube variety is concentrated and use less. I have personally used Amore and it is excellent. It is more pricey than the canned variety but as ATK says, it is more flavorful and stays fresh in your fridge for quite a while. I only use it for recipes that call for a tablespoon or so of tomato paste.

I hope you enjoyed this Food Find of the week. If you have a special product you would like to see featured on Jersey Bites, send me your suggestions and tips for use. JerseyBites (at) gmail.com

Saturday, March 14th, 2009, by Deborah Smith, Executive Editor and is filed under "Tomatoes ". You can leave a response here, or send a Trackback from your own site.