Ripe tomatoes and the fridge
Below about 12°C (55°F), tomatoes lose the aroma compounds that make them taste like tomatoes. The cold also turns the flesh mealy, and rewarming only partly fixes it. Keep ripe whole ones on the counter and eat them within 3 to 5 days.
Salt just before serving
Salt sliced tomatoes 5 to 10 minutes before serving. The salt draws out juice that carries the tomato flavor and makes its own dressing. After an hour the slices turn watery and limp.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
You bought ripe tomatoes for Saturday's salad, and it's only Wednesday. Where do they wait?
On the counter, out of direct sun. Room temperature keeps aroma and texture for 3 to 5 days.
True or false: Sealing an unripe tomato in a paper bag with a banana can speed up ripening.
True. Bananas give off ethylene, the ripening gas, and the bag keeps it near the tomato.
What went wrong? You keep tomatoes in the fridge all week. They come out mealy and bland.
Chilling dulled the aroma and made the flesh mealy. Below 12°C (55°F), flavor compounds fade and the texture breaks down.
Fill the blank: The ripening gas that bananas give off is called ___.
The ripening gas that bananas give off is called ethylene. Ethylene signals nearby fruit to ripen too.
You sliced a tomato for lunch and have half left. Where does the half go?
Wrapped in the fridge. Cut surfaces spoil faster. Chill it and let it warm up before eating.
