San Marzano tomatoes

Anyone know where i can find real DOP certified canned San Marzanos in Montreal...thanks

[Venusia]

I suppose it's unrealistic to ask if any organic San Marzano are available in Montreal?

Funny you should mention this. I've been looking for San Marzano tomatoes for years and never found any in Montreal, not even in Little Italy. But last Sunday at Exofruits, the excellent green grocer on Côte-des-Neiges a half block north of Queen Mary (or, going the other way, one block south of the CDN metro station), I stumbled across the genuine article: Pastene San Marzano Italian Tomatoes. They're D.O.P., vintage dated (2003) and come with three seals of authenticity. What's more, my can is stamped as number 20,922 of 30,000! Since Pastene products are widely available in Montreal, these tomatoes may be too. You could always give the company a call (514 353-7997) and ask who's stocking them. Or visit their website (clickable link below), which features online shopping and lists the tomatoes at $2.49 a 28-oz. can.

Link: http://www.pastene.com

[CroqueMadame]

I am rehashing and old thread, but who can tell me where's the best (read: least expensive) place I can buy the San Marzano canned whole tomatos? This year, I'm only seeing them around 3.99/can at the grocery stores. Can't recall the prices at Milano's and Capitole though, but it was similar. Would love to save a few dollars or cents here, because they definately are a budget buster at the rate we go through them.

[thelonious777]

Milano carries 4 brands as I recall and usually at least one is on sale. I believe I bought some at $3.39 earlier in the year but I tend to avoid Milano during peak hours on Saturdays so have been buying them at Capitol lately. Capitol usually only has one brand and I believe the ones I bought on Saturday were $3.99

[Campofiorin]

Isn't everything on sale at Milano? We go there every weekend and it seems everything we buy has the sale tag on it. Is it just a way to make us believe we're having a bargain? But I digress...

[maisonbistro]

You can get them for the same price at IGA and Loblaws. I wouldn't trek down to Milano just for those - I would though, for them, giardinera, pasta, olives, pomi (although also now available in certain grocery stores), baking chocolate... Oooh, don't get me started. I WANNA GOT TO MILANO NOW waaahhhhh

[lagatta]

Milano is actually the grocery closest to me, if I exclude a dépanneur, slightly closer than JTM. I'm going there now, but just for a couple of items.

Are the DOC San Martino tomatoes actually worth the price, as compared with other quality Italian tomatoes?

[maisonbistro]

Well, I think so. They are a little sweeter, and a little "tomatoier"- if that's possible than regular canned tomatoes. I can see a difference. Honestly, I wouldn't spend the extra $2 a can if I didn't.

[lagatta]

No, I never thought you were afflicted with snobismus affluenza!

I'll try them the next time I'm doing a dish where the tomatoes are front and centre. Though I doubt most guests will notice. It isn't as if $2.79 (the cheapest price at Milano today) is a major outlay in terms of food.

[CroqueMadame]

Oooh, they are at 2.79 at Milano today? I think I'll have to stock up this weekend. I probably wouldn't use the Marzano's to make a huge heaping tray of meaty lasagna, for instance, but for simpler dishes, they are definately well worth the extra 2 or 3 bucks. Sweeter, yet a little tangier, good texture, does not require a lot of doctoring in sauces.

[lagatta]

I'll try them in a very simple, "summery" sauce with fresh basil, or look up Hazan's.

But as been said, Milano's "sale" practices are very strange. The sales can either go on for weeks or disappear after a couple of days, so who knows if there will still be $2.79 San Marzanos tomorrow? I remember a young guy marking prices up as I was shopping for the very item I had just picked up, and the cashier wanting to charge me the higher price (this is about 10 or 20 cents difference, not a big amount). But I guess that is just one of their quirks, and I have been shopping there for perhaps 25 years...

Their greengrocery section is much improved since their last expansion, by the way, and the prices can definitely be competitive with JTM and nearby supermarkets during the winter season, and the quality is good.

I have never seen organic DOP San Marzano tomatoes in Montréal. The last time I was in Italy was in the late summer, so I was buying fresh local tomatoes, which were organic. I did not check out tinned ones.

[carswell]

I value them above all for the simplest of sauces -- Hazan's tomato sauce with onion and butter, for example, or a tomato sauce with vodka and cream. Add competing ingredients and it quickly becomes a case of diminishing returns.

They often have them at Boucherie Capitale at the Jean Talon market

[Campofiorin]

You probably mean Capitol. They also carry them at Milano a few blocks away on St-Laurent. Ant italian grocery store is likely to have them. But they don't come cheap.