San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes?

[Ljubitca]

Where can I find them in Carroll Gardens?

[BklnChicken]

Union Market on Court might have them.

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Union Market
754 Union St, Brooklyn, NY 11215

[BMartin]

It has always seemed to be that this thing about San Marzano tomatoes came from Marcella Hazen and her cookbooks, which in my opinion are excessively dictatorial and suffer from her lack of taste buds due to her tobacco use.

[boccalupo]

They come from nowhere near her region and they are top quality tomatoes. I don't think she is the only one to appreciate their high quality.

But some brands are far better than others. If it tastes good to you, stick with it. San Marzano or no.

[dietndesire]

Overall, DOP San Marzanos are much better than the usual store bought tomato brands in the USA, unfortunately. You can even see the difference.
Instead of hating against DOP because of shipping and expense(I agree with you that it sucks but the quality is better), you should hate against poor American produce.
If the product were just as good here(I am speaking, in general), I would surely buy it.
Honestly, the best overall tomatoes are bought in jars. The can is inferior for storage whatever the starting point of the quality. Now you want to talk about expense. Well, you will be taken aback.
I never read M Hazan and I do not care where a tomato or anything else comes from. Whatever is best. Then one can assign your own monetary value for improved quality. Not to say that everything that is more expensive is better. Certainly not, take each case individually.

[missmasala]

But from what I understand, it is actually the volanic soil that the san marzanos are grown in (near naples) that make the tomatoes better--the terroir, so to speak. which is why the san marzanos grown here are not as good. so while it is true that much american mass market produce is poor, growing san marzano tomatoes here is apparently not the solution.
And i don't think the san marzano thing comes from marcella. when i lived in rome many years ago all the market vendors that had them touted their "vero san marzano" tomatoes and charged more for them and my italian friends preferred them.
personally, i use the pomi strained tomatoes the most, but if i want canned whole ones i look for ones without citric acid or salt in them if i can find them. just bought the fairway brand for the first time last week and they were pretty good. I'm sure the DOP san marzanos are better, but they're just not worth the price to me.

[dietndesire]

Yes, it is the terroir but not all DOP San Marzanos are equal for a variety of reasons.
There are awesome tomatoes from other locations with volcanic soil.
My point was more that better tomatoes should be available from the US, not specifically San M, and thus better canned tomatoes. Be nice if they let them ripen for one.
I apologize for poor writing that muddied my points.
I never claimed it came from Hazan. Was clarifying that I was not someone who thought that.
Pomis are very good for the price with the added bonus of no toxins.
Surely a plus. BPA or whatever, if you can taste the metal in the product(which you usually can)then it has obviously seeped in. Not cool. Even though they are not whole, I find them quite nice. Again, jarred are the best. But the price, oh, mama.
And the average non DOP Italian fresh tomato is superior to the complete disgrace of the everyday American tomato they put out for consumption.
Eating out is a far bigger "waste" of money than buying DOP tomatoes.
Not speaking about anyone in particular but considering that most people on these boards have seemingly plenty of money to spend or waste eating out,without a care, I wonder why a couple of dollars on DOP tomatoes is an issue. Eating out once in awhile is one thing but with all the people shelling out $15-20+ for pasta dishes,so often, why is that not spoken of with more value outrage?

[erica]

Interesting point above.

FYI:
Teitel in the Bronx sells DOP San Marzanos for $2.69 a can of 28 oz. The brand is Francesconi.

[BMartin]

Back when Hazen wrote her cookbook, American canned tomatoes were inedible. There seemed to have been some improved options since then.

[bob96]

And they're excellent. Look, it's not just about the sanctity of the san marzano varietal or the san marzano terroir near Nola. It's that, for many who love their (at best) thick flesh, thin skin, and amazingly fresh acid-sweet balance, they are the real taste of Neapolitan pommarola, or the ur-tomato sauce that defines much of Italian cooking. At the same time, Italians use other pelati (or canned tomatoes) from Puglia, say, or as a strained passata for a long-simmered ragu. Or their own home-bottled fruit of who knows what pedigree. If you like Muir Glens, use them and enjoy. I'll enjoy the $1.99 Fairway imports, too, but will never regret the few extra dollars for the best DOP san marzanos and their incomparable character.

[missmasala]

Sorry, i was not clear. I know you didn't claim that about Hazan, was just also answering BMartin who did.

And I agree completely about your comparison of eating out vs. buying expensive groceries. Americans pay less for food (as a percentage of income) than any other population in the world and yet we freak out at high food costs. I don't eat out in the kind of restaurants you cite very much, but for me the cost benefit analysis doesn't work, mainly b/c i don't think my kids--whom i am usually cooking the tomato sauce for--would appreciate the difference enough to make it worth spending more. (on the other hand, they do notice the quality of the parmesan, so I buy expensive parm) if i was making tomato sauce for adult friends or a dinner party, i wouldn't think twice about springing for the DOP if i was making the kind of sauce in which they would shine.

[scarlet starlet]

Um, everywhere? Every Italian store on Court, Sahadi's, the Met on Smith, Los Paisanos on Smith, etc, etc.

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Sahadi's
187 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Paisanos Meat Market
162 Smith St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

[Ljubitca]

Well the reason I asked, is I looked yesterday - even caputos didnt have but thanks!

The Met on Smith? Is that for people?

[JonL]

I can confirm that Sahadi's has them--specifically saw them this morning. Key Food, Atlantic has the Muir Glen tomatoes. I don't know if they are actually SanMarz but they are good..

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Sahadi's
187 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11201

[missmasala]

Sahadi's has those white cans, which i believe are san marzano variety tomatoes grown in the USA. for actual san marzano tomatoes grown in the san marzano region of italy, perhaps try fairwayor some upscale place. tho i'm surprised caputo's doesn't have them.

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Sahadi's
187 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11201

[dietndesire]

Those white can "San Marzano Brand" are terrible.
And a blatant attempt to fool people into thinking they are DOP.

[bolletje]

Which place do you think has them cheapest?

[Joe MacBu]

Costco for sure. They have the Nina brand - huge 3kg can for ~$4. I use it often for making pizza and it tastes very good.

[bolletje]

thanks! coincidentally I just saw the costco can at my friend's place and was shocked when they told me it was $4.

[bob96]

The Costco Nina brand is amazingly well priced, and decent. If you're looking for DOP San Marzano, watch for the blue certification label on the can and expect to pay for it--often as much as $4/28 oz. Fairway had loads of brands at varying prices, and you can also find them, more aggressively priced, at the new Union Market on Court/Degraw. Esposito's Pork Store on Court/President should have them, too.

[Olive123]

Last time I went to Esposito's for them they were out and told me that they were "not in season." I went down the street and bought some at Caputo. I usually get them at Fairway or Caputo.

[JohnAM]

What you are getting at Costco are "Italian peeled tomatoes from the San Marzano region". Read the label. Real San Marzano tomatoes will say "San Marzano plum peeled tomatoes and are certified as bob96 has indicated below. The Nina is a very good tomato and a great buy.

[BMartin]

The Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes at Fairway are also quite good. San Marzano tomatoes are OK, but there are alternatives grown in the USA so you are not buying a product shipped across the ocean just to make a marinara sauce.

[BklnChicken]

I'm a big fan of the Muir Glen crushed tomatoes, too. You can also buy them at Met Food on Smith (yes, there's food in there -- who knew?) and Fresh Direct.

[2slices]

Just a note.

Imported canned or bottled goods are sent by overseas freight while something in the US is almost always trucked and often from California. The environmental impact of the latter is far more severe. Not an argument against the quality of domestic tomatoes, price of imports or the good old buy American sentiment, I'm all for that. Just thought it's worth noting. European wine gets to the east coast with less carbon emissions than Cali wine, and the reasons behind it are purely financial.