What Tomato Do I Use? | Fake food vs real San Marzano 

Tomato- Tomatoe

haha - thank you Bridgeman! I appreciated that comment. You know I didn't even realize I was saying it with an R, let alone mispronouncing it altogether.

You not only pronounced it with an R, you spelled it with an R. Clearly no R on the label.

let's chalk it up to a berenstain/berenstein bear situation. Couldn't explain why my brain and mouth kept wanting to put that R. haha.

@@AlexKojfman Not familiar with the bear situation, but the R situation is resolved. Good job on the video, keep it up. Cheers!

I tried that and it kept saying "error." Either the website was wonky or they probably are just lying lol.

@@mentvltrillness no it works I have done it multiple times with different can codes, you have to select the right can, I had 28 oz size and if I remember right you may have to type it in with no spaces. It works and the fields they show are in the correct area from what I can see, right at the base of versuvius

Vincenzo's Plate which one of these cans would you choose?

IKR? Centro?? It's pronounced "Chento" 😁

I know Kroger really surprised me but it's just a matter of checking our biases. It's like assuming Evian water tastes better. I remember blind taste testing evian and the store brand of Canada's Shoppers Drug Mart's Life water (Shopper's is like Walgreens/CVS but Canadian) and I ended up picking the generic brand over and over again. Hmmm... maybe I should do a video taste test on water! haha. Thanks for watching and so very true about people not really knowing the difference.

The last can of Hunts crushed tomatoes we bought had no solid tomatoes at all, only a thin sauce.

@@josepheaton3779 yowza! And it was crushed tomatoes you’d think it would have some solid pieces.

Mmm once I tried the real thing, I could never go back. Cant even stand store bought sauce anymore 🥹

@@AlexKojfman In terms of taste, flavour and quality;How is san marzano tomato is in comparison with saint Pierre tomato and brandy wine tomato.??

thanks for stopping by.

Exactly! I have a small garden of tomatoes myself and I just can't buy store bought anymore after growing my own. Can't wait to try to grow some other veggies next spring/summer! Thanks for commenting and watching

Woah that’s crazy. But so many companies are doing that for “cost savings” it’s heartbreaking. Thanks for letting me know. And watching!

exactly. I find people (including myself) think we have to have the best - but like you said once it's cooked down you can't tell the difference too much. And you got to use what you have that's available (and affordable).

ohhh! which show/segment - I used to watch his youtube on occasion it's been a while. I didn't know he did a whole thing about it on video! Glad you liked it. Means a lot to hear that.

Pastene “kitchen” ready tomatoes are an all around great tomato. So are Cento “all purpose”… and much cheaper than San Marzano

@@miked6288 absolutely

thanks for watching and I appreciate the "side quip" comment. I'll keep that in mind. I didn't know you could actually enjoy escolar at all... good to know!

Centro is good. What's a Sunday sauce? I'd love to know more.

thanks for the kind comment. Looking forward to getting my pesto video out!

@@AlexKojfman I'm italian if you want to make a video with me going on italian supermercato/supermaket

I haven’t but now that you mention it I’ll keep an eye out. There were a few suggestions made in the comments I’m trying to keep track. Thanks for commenting and watching!

thank you! I really appreciate your support. I'm working on an upcoming episode/video and looking forward to getting it out!

yeah me too. You should read the reviews on GoodBooks or whatever that book review site it. They didn't take too kindly to it. Which I see why, but I try not to get too insulted by what people write up when it comes to food.

interesting! - I did recently see a video on YT where a mech engineer was trying to determine how much sawdust me could put into food (rice krispies in his experiment) before people would notice the taste difference and he was able to replace 15% of the rice krispies treat with the byproduct sawdust. (Channel: What I've Learned - The $100 Billion dollar ingredient....)

I won't pay for sawdust, we buy 4C.

@@nunyabidnis5407 not a fan of 4c personally it has very little taste shredding your own is always the way to go price wise anyway but I do get the convenience aspect.

Flowers? Hm. I think I’ll stick with actual cheese. And FLOURS.

@magnus torque, you're right. San Marzano has the market in the US but there are other excellent tomatoes from Italy like Militello and Seccagno from Sicily.

that's a great question! in the latter portion at 5:16 I listed all the ingredients. They seem to all have salt - some sea salt some regular. Thanks for watching, it means a lot to me!

I edit the audio when necessary. I'm still learning a lot but I want to respect my audience's time and sometimes I'll record a portion and edit some of it out if it doesn't seem necessary. Interesting thoughts around the canned tomatoes and knowing that more acidic tomatoes blend well with mozzarella - I wonder why? Thanks for commenting!

that's a great reason. I still have a few cans of those in my pantry when I make sauce and I agree... a solid choice.

That’s a good point. I looked into and couldn’t find anything but PAC Traceability was created by them. I tried it and was pretty neat. Entered the lot number on my can and it showed me on google map where the field was which according to the map is east of Naples and north of Nola by a pallet factory.

100%! Someone else commented saying they too liked Bianco de Napoli and that’s hilarious marketing using a very Italian name for a California tomato. And definitely choose what’s tastier. Thanks for watching the video and commenting!!

I think I mention that if it's real San Marzano they don't come diced, or mushed. It's funny you mention Adam "King" Regusea (I really enjoy his channel/videos) he's one of the main people that "inspired" me to make this video, bc his tomato sauce video mentioned how he uses San Marzanos bc they are the best. I watched a few other videos and they too mentioned it and I got all "bristly" / motivated to make this video. For better or worse this has become my most popular video and I only have 6. I get to chat with people like you and some have become subscribers which is all the more motivating. And trust me if I could go back and replace all my Centros with centos (chentos) and fix that graphic I would. Haha.

Of the ones I tested none. The sad part is brands will just write DOP, but you have to look for the logo. Just because I write IBM on my resume doesn't mean I worked there ;) I googled real dop san marzano and delallo had a brand that had the logo. But I don't know where that store is located. Thank you for the comment!

Screw the dop on label. That can be faked too. Go by taste or just don't buy it. There is no way all that Cento San Marzano on Walmart shelves all across the USA comes from a small area in Italy. They have to know this and are complicit right along with cooks that use it on tv because they are a sponsor. I was rather annoyed I bought expense cans of their tomatoes that tasted horrible.

@@ericgrablestock6266 actually the DOP can't be faked it's pretty strictly enforced and if a company tried they'd be sued into oblivion.

I grow my own cherry tomatoes in spring and summer. And I had a few bigger varieties but those never turned out well enough. Like they weren’t sweet and kind of soft.

Find local PYO farm. San Marz is the Madagascar vanilla of Romas. In cooking, you can't tell imitation from real. Same with regular good quality Romas versus San Marz. DOP San Marzanos are not like DOP cheese, where you can taste the difference.@@AlexKojfman

@@tomthalon8956 I'm going to definitely do that in the next tomato growing season. I tend to grow too many cherry tomato varieties (7 plants in my small backyard) and this March I'm going to only do 3, leaving me more room.

thank you for letting me know. The Mt Vesuvius note was directly from the can - I think they write that for marketing bc it sounds fancier. Anything to sell tomatoes I guess?! haha. Thanks for watching and commenting!

@@AlexKojfman the misunderstanding is about that the term "Region" in italy is a large administrative entity. Better "mount Vesuvius's area".

@@lucaschiantodipepe2015 ahh! thank you for the clarification! Good to know.

@@AlexKojfman by the way I can see Mount Vesuvius (that's an active volcano , you know, I think) from home. Some days ago it was covered by snow (it's not common). Temperature here 8/11°C. Greetings.

Well we meet again! Thanks for watching and coming out of witness protection to make a comment. 😂

that's so interesting and glad you found something you liked. It's always nice when you see through the marketing :)

Well I guess not. I'd probably have to get myself to an Italian grocer that specializes in imported goods from Italy... I need to do a follow up to this video then... thanks for watching! really appreciate the comment.

Hi El Bee, re: Comparison you make a great point, but that's inherently one of the hard parts about shopping and making a comparison. First off when eating a whole tomato I didn't really think the basil would impact my experience of the texture of the tomato or how juicy it was. And secondly, my general philosophy with this channel or at least with some of my videos now, is to make it as accessible as possible. This is to say that I shop at Trader Joes, Ralph's, Vons, Sprouts, and Whole Foods (in that order of more to less) and I wanted to compare what was available at say a typical store like Ralph's and Vons since I go there frequently and their prices can range from really affordable to a little more expensive (compared to say whole foods who hold higher premium brands and their price points, to begin with, are a little higher to start.) I, right now, wouldn't want to do a comparison video that had me shopping around for brands that are in specialty shops, that aren't readily available, because I don't think it's relevant to the majority of people. However, that being said, maybe my audience is very into food and don't mind making a trip to a specialty import spot for a can of tomatoes. This brings me to my second point, I still want to remain grounded in my approach to making videos and as I develop a bigger audience I will see how grand I can go (for example in my Pavlova video I use my stand mixer which not everyone has), and I just got a vitamix as a gift (I just because a dad again) and haven't used it in a video since it's an expensive tool in the kitchen and not everyone has that. Are those tomatoes at Trader Joes fresh? I will have to keep my eye on that. I typically get heirloom cherry tomatoes, but things are getting so expensive. Not to mention, during the spring/summer I'm so blessed to have a garden where I grow my own cherry tomatoes. I love going to Farmer's markets - the one in Hollywood is especially grand, and I keep trying to find the mushroom stand to get my hand on some chantrelles, so I'm always distracted and never bother with tomatoes there. My family are fruit fiends so we typically go hogwild for pluots and apriums of all sorts. Thanks for watching and for the comment. Stick around, I appreciate your insight! edit: Oh one more point, this Tomato video was like my third video ever and it got a lot of attention which surprised me nicely. And I'll readily admit my approach to the scientific method for comparisons will have to get better over time.

that's amazing and super informative! It's one reason I was happy the way the taste test ended with a local brand that wasn't San Marzano (my preference of course.) But nice to hear local is better in competitions and in general. I also heard like 2/3 of the world's eggplant production comes out of NJ... you hear that too? (thanks for watching and commenting on the video, I really appreciate it!)

I can buy a #10 can of California San Marzano style tomatoes for $4.99 at Smart and Final.

@@AlexKojfman Jersey tomatoes, blueberries and eggplants even peaches are PREMIO 🙌

Couldn't agree more on the growing part! I had one raised garden last year and managed to grow my first cherry tomato variety (for salads). I test recorded footage of me building it and maybe I'll get around to posting a video on building the raised garden and growing your own veggies. Total newbie at it and it was really amazing to do it and reap the rewards of a tomato harvest. I just built 2 more in my garden and in the middle of building my drip irrigation. I'm planning on quadrupling my tomato plants and seeing how it goes. (Since I'm new to it I tend to stick to smaller varieties but we'll see what I find at the nurseries/Lowe's/HD). Thanks for the awesome comment and I really appreciate you watching the video and commenting!

I thought the reason San Marzanos are so special is because of the volcanic soil found only in a small region of Italy, so they can’t be grown elsewhere.

Exactly. Awesome and impressive that you grow your own... I'm setting up my garden now and plan to grow cherry tomatoes and other smaller ones like those golden yellow ones. It's my second year as I'm new to gardening, perhaps down the road I'll make a video on how well I do. Thanks for watching and commenting!

@@AlexKojfman If you’re new to gardening and are looking for tomatoes, try Mountain Magic. It’s a really solid hybrid. Easy to grow, great at resisting disease and a very good flavor. I think Burpee has them? As well I think you can get the plants from them if you don’t want to grow from seed. Happy Gardening! 👍😎

I need to check that one out!!

I'll have to check that out. Someone else commented that they too get it from Costco and I have to see if my Costco has it. It's good to know and Kirkland brand is very good.

I like that idea. I have been watching a bunch of simple pizza dough recipes. Trying to get more comfortable w dough and learning the ropes. My garden tomatoes are coming in the next few months so I think maybe I should use those since the flavor of fresh grown is just unparalleled/outstanding.

Prolly got to much ingredients to even notice

Cento not Centro.

@@AlexKojfman You kept on saying "Centro"

@@AlexKojfman - - pronounced "chento", not "sentro".

i know. And the amount of times I said it. (shaking my head). I appreciate you watching the video and commenting!

very interesting. I know something similar could be said about the potato which from what I recall vaguely mostly came from its cultivation from Peru.

that's great! I am not familiar with Publix (I mean I've heard it just not their pricing model) but Costo isn't a good comparison since they usually sell it in larger quantities per can or how many cans you have to buy. How many come together in Costco? I've never seen it but I'll be sure to look for it next time (however, in fairness I try not to buy that much canned tomato) Thanks for checking out the video, really appreciate it!

@@AlexKojfman Costco is usually a 3 pk…and they are the same 28 oz cans that you showed.

@@ronlinfonte2651 @Ron Linfonte I'll keep an eye out. Love getting a good price for a good product.

I will have to check them out. Nice to see someone has a passion for pomodoros thanks for the reco!

you can get them at Whole Foods that’s all I usi

@XxMerc050xX Now I have to see. I mean as I said in the video.... a tomato is a tomato ;)

Totally. This came out three years ago. Spent a lot of time apologizing in other comments. Felt bad. It was my third video. Nervous. But if you want a laugh in my recent video on cheesecake fundamentals I tried too hard to pronounce mascarpone cheese and either got it right or made it waaayy toooo Italian. 😎😂 thanks for watching!

Just putting in two new raised gardens for that reason!

@@AlexKojfman Nothin’ like having your own garden.

Couldn’t agree more Al.

Thanks for your comment. It was my third video and to be honest didn’t even realize I was saying Centro instead of Cento (chento) and my graphic has Centro too (which bugged me as well) but I definitely will be more careful moving forward. As for saying San Marzano are bad that’s not what I was implying at all - I was just bringing attention that people seem obsessed w certain types and brands of tomatoes especially those videos and recipes that mention using san marzano only bc they’re “the best.” But in the end you can find great tomatoes that aren’t from Italy and aren’t San Marzano. Not sure if you watched until the end (not many people do watch YT videos until the end) but my conclusion is “a tomato is a tomato. Get what tastes good and what’s available”. So we do agree that getting local is definitely better than thinking you should or must get imported. Thanks for watching and commenting. Hope you check out my other videos. I appreciate the time you took to watch it :)

Grazie! Thanks for watching the video. Funny timing too, just today a friend was asking about my YT channel and how it was going and another friend didn't know I had one so I was telling them about a few videos and that in my third video, I mispronounced the name of the tomato brand. Caused a minor stir. I wasn't working from a teleprompter and it was nerves probably. So I had to go to the comments and apologize for that faux-pas. It's been almost 2 years and nice to know it's still causing some ire.

I know right! I saw that I typed in my graphic Centro ( in my haste) and I mispronounced Cento which is also pronounced Chento) as Centro :S Thanks for commenting, keeping me on my toes!

They have multiple different kinds. They do have certified Italian San marzano tomatoes but not all cento canned San marzano tomatoes have that certification. The price will reflect that if you see them in the store.

haha I really appreciate this comment, bc not only am I hoping to grow this channel and well become one of those YT "chef" but yeah they can be guilty of it. I hope I can be a little more pragmatic without being annoying about the types of ingredients I have on hand. I think that's what inspired this video - I was just getting annoyed with everyone telling me these tomatoes were DA BEST! Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching! Hope you pop in and comment again on another one of my videos.

Not a scientist. And yes the graphic is misspelled I will be more careful moving forward. And a few others have mentioned chento. So embarrassing I know. Had you been more thorough in reviewing the comments you might not have repeated something already said. But to err is human.

interesting comment. I saw a documentary years ago that talked about literal fake food from china - they made eggs out of chemicals and were making people sick. It was how the companies of luxury good were trying to stop the counterfeits of their goods and trying to get governments and people to care about it as well - and their point was if they start counterfeiting our stuff, they'll move on to counterfeiting other things... I think even baby formula was tampered with additions that made babies sick :( Really dangerous stuff. Thanks for commenting!

The jury is still out but I’ve ordered a slew of tests to determine that and other potential issues. One test does involve reading other comments and not making redundant statements already made. I’ll update you on my results once I get them.

Yeah it was my third video. Fairly new to it all. And people already mentioned that I put it in the description. Sorry you couldn’t make it through this one. My other videos I don’t mispronounce anything. Or at least I think? ;)

I should make a RU-vid apology video. 😅 that’s already been said in previous comments. I have definitely improved my pronunciation

@@AlexKojfmanSorry. Didn't read all the previous comments.

No worries. They skewered me back when I released it hahah 😂. It was my third video ever. I was super nervous filming. I appreciate you watching 😊

Many of the comments on the book I referenced were very much in line with your comment. It’s not champagne if it’s not from France is a very 1st world problem. Haha. Thanks for commenting and watching!

Woah thank you for the update on this. I figure it would come around. And thank you for watching the video!