TASTE Accoutrements Flavor Lab
Tomato Ketchup - an Existential Crisis?
Can Accoutrements have existential crises?
In the long-standing order of food culture, can a forever-loved condiment ‘standard’ fall out of favor?
Can its lessening demand simply be collateral damage as at-home meals change?
This may be Tomato Ketchup's plight. Who are the competitors?
Tomato jam, often caramelized by slow-cooking sweet and spicy flavor affinities;
Tomato relish, commonly made savory with onions, vinegar and spices;
Tomato confit, slow-roasted in olive oil, garlic and herbs;
Tomato butter, a reduction of tomatoes, brown sugar and spices to a spreadable paste;
Tomato gelee, a tomato-based gelatin often used in restaurant plating;
Tomato dust, a dehydrated tomato powder, one of my favorite flavored powders;
Tomato hot sauce, demonstrating yet again that anything can be transformed into a hot sauce using fermentation; and,
Tomato vinegar, a variety of countless vinegars used in marinades and dressings.
No one has ever accused Tomato Ketchup of over-glamming the pantry. It's a tried and true partner and one need not be a gourmand to appreciate its value.
As reminders… two of TASTE | Pacific Northwest’s purposes are:
to help readers plan for upcoming seasonal foodstuffs so the sauce or the confit or the dust or the vinegar you’d love having in your pantry is doable because you’ve planned for the raw ingredients. Take a quick look at how we used sauce tomatoes like Astiana, San Marzano and local plum tomatoes in season to easily craft the foundation for Tomato Ketchup.
to increase our understanding of how flavor development really works. Check out this system chefs use to develop flavor - most especially, in condiments. We’re always layering flavor.
While I took red meat out of my diet 15 years to ago, we do use our house made ketchup with amazingly tender turkey burgers, made absolutely luscious with copious amounts of onions and herbs - on intermittent fasting days!
If I'm making a choice to eat leanly two days a week, and I can elevate those simple meals with an Accoutrements Extraordinaire, why not?
Before we go any further, let’s have a peak at the laundry list of flavor affinities we offer in each TASTE Flavor Lab. For tomatoes:
Artichokes, arugula, asparagus, avocados, basil, bay leaf, beans (black, green, white), bell peppers, bread!, capers, cauliflower, cayenne, celery (seed), chard, cheese (feta, goat, Gorg, Gruyere, Mozz, Parm, ricotta), chickpeas, chiles, chives, chutneys!, cilantro, coriander, corn, cream, cucumbers, cumin, dill, eggplant, eggs, fennel, garlic, ginger, grains, greens, leeks, lemon, lentils, lime, marjoram, mint, mushrooms (porcini, portobello), nutmeg, olive oil, olives, onions, oregano, paprika, parsley, parsnips, pasta, pepper (black, white), polenta, potatoes, quinoa, relishes!, rice, risotto, rosemary, saffron, sage, salads, salsas, salt (sea), scallions, shallots, sour cream, soy sauce, spinach, squash, stocks (veg), tarragon, thyme, tofu, turmeric, vinegar, watermelon, wheat berries, Worcestershire sauce, yogurt, zucchini!
For a primer on TASTE Flavor Lab’s two previous Accoutrements recipes, go here and here.
ONLY ONE HEADNOTE!
Please, please be reminded that if you salted your tomatoes as you roasted them, you will likely NOT need salt in this recipe. Taste before executing!
Also, you have discretion at the end of the cooking time to punch it up just a bit with an additional splash or two of white vinegar. That acid can also act as a flavor enhancer.
If you’re not enjoying my 30-second video introductions on new TASTE Flavor Lab recipes, please do! Substack Notes is where the conversation occurs!
As reminders…
Next week is the last week for free subscribers to receive new Accoutrements recipes!
Thereafter, only paid subscribers will receive weekly Accoutrements recipes; free subscribers will receive Accoutrements recipes once per month.
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