Tomato paste is a thick paste made from tomato, which are cooked for several hours to reduce water content. The seeds and skins are then strained out and the liquid is cooked again to reduce the base to a thick, rich concentrate.[Kimberley Willis, Viktor Budnik Knack Canning, Pickling & Preserving: Tools, Techniques & Recipes 2010 Page 88 "Tomato paste - Good tomato paste is a kitchen staple. All tomatoes can be cooked, but starting with paste-type tomatoes, often called Roma tomatoes, will make a faster, smoother product. Juicy tomatoes may take twice as long ..."] Tomato paste is used to impart an intense tomato flavour to a variety of dishes, such as pasta, soups and Braising meat. It is used as an ingredient in many world cuisines.
By contrast, tomato purée is a liquid with a thinner consistency than tomato paste, while tomato sauce is even thinner in consistency.[Barbara Ann Kipfer The Culinarian: A Kitchen Desk Reference 2012 - Page 561 "Tomato paste is concentrate of puréed tomatoes sold in cans or at double strength in tubes. ... The differences between tomato paste, tomato purée, and tomato sauce are texture and depth of flavor (the thicker the consistency, the deeper ..."]
History and traditions
Tomato paste is a traditional food ingredient used in many cuisines.
One traditional practice was applied by spreading out a much-reduced tomato sauce on wooden boards that were set outdoors under the hot sun to dry the paste until it was thick enough, when it was scraped up and held together in a dense mass.
[Lyn Rutherford, Patrick McLeavey - The Book of Antipasti - Page 8, 1992: "Sun-dried tomato paste — with a richer flavor than ordinary tomato paste, sun-dried tomato paste is a really useful cupboard ingredient."][Bill Pritchard, David Burch Agri-Food Globalization in Perspective 2003 - Page 183: "Northern Italy is potentially vulnerable to the restructuring of pan-European supply chains because its key output, industrial grade tomato paste, is a standard product readily substitutable from a number of production areas."] Commercial production uses tomatoes with thick
pericarp walls and lower overall moisture.
Regional differences
Tomato paste in
Iran is thick made by cooking tomatoes for a long time to reduce the water content, removing the seeds and skin, and cooking it more to make a thick, tasty condiment. In the US,
tomato paste is simply concentrated tomato solids (no seeds or skin), sometimes with added sweetener (high-fructose corn syrup), and with a standard of identity (in the Code of Federal Regulations, see
21 CFR 155.191).
Tomato purée has a lower tomato soluble solids requirement, the cutoff being 24%. For comparison, typical fresh round tomatoes have a soluble solid content of 3.5–5.5% (refractometric Brix), while cherry tomatoes have double the amount.
Flavor is generally related to the relative concentrations of sugars and acids in the fruit, mainly fructose and citric acid. The best, most flavorsome combination is a high sugar and high acid content. Crop nutrition can influence tomato taste.
Uses
Tomato paste is added to dishes to impart an intense flavour, particularly the natural
umami flavour found in tomatoes. Examples of dishes in which tomato paste may be commonly used include pasta sauces, soups, and braised meat. The paste is typically added early in the cooking process and sautéed to achieve
caramelization.
Based on the manufacturing conditions, the paste can be the basis for making ketchup or reconstituted tomato juice:
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Hot break: heated to about , pectin is preserved, paste is thicker and can be used for ketchup
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Warm break: heated to about , colour is not preserved, but flavour is preserved
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Cold break: heated to about , colour and flavour are preserved, so it can be reconstituted into juice
See also
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Salça – tomato paste from Turkey
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Chili sauce and paste
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List of tomato dishes
