There is no comparison between the intensely tart-sweet, juicy flavor of an in-season tomato and its bland, meek counterpart from the cold weather. A single ingredient can greatly improve even the best tomatoes. Salt is the key ingredient. It does more than season your food.
To be more precise, salting facilitates Osmosis. This is the process that, paraphrasing Kenji, draws liquids (in this case, tomato juice) from an area with low-solute content (the inside of the tomato’s cell) through a membrane and then into an area with high-solute concentrate (outside of the cells). Simply put, tomatoes will release their juices in a matter of minutes. This results in fruit that is less watery and has a stronger flavor.
Tomato Sauce From Fresh Tomatoes
But that’s not all. Salt stimulates salivary glands to produce saliva, which distributes flavor to your tastebuds. Salt also reduces bitterness perception, which makes tomatoes taste sweeter.
These unique characteristics are what make us tomato-salting zealots. As with most zealots salting practices are governed by a few key principles:
It would help if you drained tomatoes for tossing salads. If tomatoes have ever been added to a salad, you are probably familiar with the pool at the bowl’s bottom. This liquid soaks up the leaves and reduces the flavor. What’s the answer? The answer is: This will intensify the tomatoes’ flavor and ensure that your dressing is the only liquid in the bowl. You can test it with this mixed herb salad or our modernized iceberg wedge dish.
Do not drain the tomatoes for later: This principle applies to any dish you prepare that takes more than 15 minutes.
You must not reserve the juices. The liquid you will extract is well-worth saving. You can use it in your Bloody Mary or make a salad dressing with it (at your discretion and not the tomatoes). Salting, draining, and then recombining the juices with the tomatoes is essential in making our Andalusian Gazpacho. It also makes our Tomato Coulis faster and easier and our Tuscan Panzanella.
Do not drain tomatoes for immediate use: Are you going to get in on the action right away? Take advantage of the tomatoes’ natural juiciness and season the tomato with salt at the end. This is a great way of enhancing BLTs, Caprese salads and Caprese sandwiches, as well as bruschetta and pan con tomato.
You must choose the right type and amount of salt for your tomato preparations. We recommend using kosher salt if you are salting tomatoes to drain them. A heaping teaspoon should suffice for each pound of tomatoes. For tomato preparations that you will eat right away, make sure to grab the finishing salt. Flaky sea salt will bring out bright flavors and add a crunchy texture that table and kosher salts can’t match.
