This just in. I found canned whole tomatoes!
I know. What a weird thing to be excited about. However, if you cook like me you should understand my excitement. Canned, diced tomatoes were practically a staple in my cooking in the US – soups, Mexican dishes, pasta sauces. I used them almost everyday.
I was baffled that I couldn’t find this product when we moved here. I tried buying can after can of tomato products hoping I was missing something on the label and that they were actually chopped or whole. Each time I’d open the can to find tomato sauce or paste.
Over the past few months I’ve gone through the recipes that I brought down trying to find new things to make. I would say almost half of them call for canned tomatoes so I immediately eliminated them as an option.
About a month ago I noticed a new tomato product at the supermarket on the end of an aisle. I decided not to press my luck and walked on past it. Then I forgot what the can had said so I couldn’t come home and translate it.
Well, I saw this product again the other night and decided to give them a try. I opened them yesterday and…woohoo!...they were whole canned tomatoes. They aren’t diced, but I can do that myself. This is as exciting as the oatmeal find!
I even made chili yesterday (with seasoning I brought from home). Just in time for the cooler weather we are having in Maringá.
It seems crazy that I could miss such a simple ingredient, but I had no idea how much I used them until I had to do without them. I’m thinking I should probably go back to the store and buy up every can they have. You know how the grocery stores here can be. I’ll probably go back tomorrow and there will be none in sight!
I know. What a weird thing to be excited about. However, if you cook like me you should understand my excitement. Canned, diced tomatoes were practically a staple in my cooking in the US – soups, Mexican dishes, pasta sauces. I used them almost everyday.
I was baffled that I couldn’t find this product when we moved here. I tried buying can after can of tomato products hoping I was missing something on the label and that they were actually chopped or whole. Each time I’d open the can to find tomato sauce or paste.
Over the past few months I’ve gone through the recipes that I brought down trying to find new things to make. I would say almost half of them call for canned tomatoes so I immediately eliminated them as an option.
About a month ago I noticed a new tomato product at the supermarket on the end of an aisle. I decided not to press my luck and walked on past it. Then I forgot what the can had said so I couldn’t come home and translate it.
Well, I saw this product again the other night and decided to give them a try. I opened them yesterday and…woohoo!...they were whole canned tomatoes. They aren’t diced, but I can do that myself. This is as exciting as the oatmeal find!
I even made chili yesterday (with seasoning I brought from home). Just in time for the cooler weather we are having in Maringá.
It seems crazy that I could miss such a simple ingredient, but I had no idea how much I used them until I had to do without them. I’m thinking I should probably go back to the store and buy up every can they have. You know how the grocery stores here can be. I’ll probably go back tomorrow and there will be none in sight!
4 comments:
I don't think it's at all weird to be excited about this! I haven't seen canned tomatoes here either, which is a pain, but even worse is that they don't sell pre-made chicken broth, which so many recipes call for. The options are either chicken bullion, which is super duper salty and really not the same, or making my own chicken stock, which requires remembering to do it after we eat chicken. Doesn't always happen. I've noticed that cooking is something very cultural, even in a big city in a globalized world ingredients just aren't the same. It's one of the things that I think will always frustrate me about living abroad.
Glad you understand! Ugh, the chicken bouillon here is awful. It is all greasy and coats the pan whenever I've tried to use it. The lack of broth was a big thing for me, too. I used it in all my soups.
I love that they're called Naked Tomatoes!
Yeah, it's funny. I think in this case it means skinned. They were skinless. I'll take them anyway I can get them, even naked. :)
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