Tomates Concassées • Chopped/Crushed Tomatoes
Throughout my culinary journey, I’ve received knowledge from my parents, both were very good in the kitchen, plus more on a professional level from chefs 👩🍳👨🍳 I met over the last 4 decades – there are a few that were/are on Food Network.
Learning to become a chef is complex and comes with responsibilities. There are fundamentals to know like knife skills 🔪, cooking terms, making basic sauces, broths/stocks, kneading dough, handling meat & vegetables, menu planning, business skills, safety at work, and much more.
When it comes to culinary terms and methods, there’s a pretty long list… over 100. Without going crazy about it -although I’ve been working on a complete glossary and will post it in the near future -, there’s one I would like to highlight and it’s Tomates Concassées which is Chopped/Crushed Tomatoes!🍅
It sounds intimidating but in fact, it’s super easy to accomplish plus it’s a term that will make you look “smart” in front of your guests! It basically means chopped, crushed or diced tomatoes after doing the blanching process. If you don’t know how, here’s the link for it… Blanching Tomatoes for Cooking & Canning – How to
As mentioned, the first step is to quickly blanch the fruits (yes, botanically speaking, they’re fruit not vegetables). Then they go into an ice water bath for a few minutes ⏰ before peeling off their skins. The whole “blanching” process takes about 5 minutes… pretty quick, right!
From here, there are two options. They can be crushed by hand in a large bowl like in my Moroccan Kefta Tajine, Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, Lamb Ragù, Pisto Manchego, Pastitsio, and many others.
The second to make Tomates Concassées • Chopped/Crushed Tomatoes is to cut them in half, remove the seeds and discard them. They’re then chopped or diced. I use it in many of my dishes and sauce recipes such as Arroz con Gambas, Bruschetta, Pork Vindaloo, New Orleans Gumbo, Lamb Keema, etc.
Why do it by hand when they can be bought in a can from the store? Simple answers…
If you’re a gardener, you want to use them up and here’s a nice way to do it. Another reason is about freshness. Nothing beats fresh tomatoes! Additionally, cans contain high amounts of sodium 🧂 and I’m sure you know that too much is not healthy.
As you’ve read, Tomates Concassées • Chopped/Crushed Tomatoes is easy to do. This basic cooking technique is useful to have when making many dishes. Although the term “concassée” usually refers to tomatoes, it can also be applied to other vegetables 🌶.
Bon Appétit! 🍽
Check out these other useful tips & tricks… 😀
– How to Poach & Shred Chicken the Easy Way
– Secret to Better Freezer Meat Storage
– Leftover Gravy Solution
– Perfect Whipped Cream Every Time – How to
– Beurre Manié
– Poaching Prawns/Shrimp – How To
– Seed a Pomegranate without the Mess
and for more handy kitchen tips and tricks 💡, click on this link… Recipe Category • Tips & Tricks
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