So I have some food sensitivity issues and in particular I don’t like raw tomato. They’re gooey and seedy and they just make me feel kind of weird. Unfortunately there are a lot of things, especially sandwiches, which use tomato as a fairly critical part of the flavor of the dish. So just taking it out isn’t ideally because it sometimes just makes the dish bland. I feel like processed tomato things like ketchup and tomato sauce don’t really fulfill the same kind of role in these dishes.
Does anyone have any opinions/suggestions on what types of foods could plausibly be used as a substitute for raw tomato? It could be anywhere, but I’m thinking of things like sandwiches, salads, etc.
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Grilled slab of portabella adds a lot of juice and umami without being gooey.
Cucumbers. You can pickle it, eat it raw, semi-pickle it (google Polish 2 day dill pickles). Or try raddishes if you want stronger flavours.
Side note:
gooey and seedy
That’s not a tomato. A proper tomato is firm and sweet and not uniform in shape or colour. Source: am eating some right now, took me forever to find seeds.
The shit we are sold as tomatoes are bulldogs of tomato family. Crossbred damaged line created to maximise profit and decrease production cost, by sacrificing quality and taste.
If you want the umami rich sour sweet flavour, use peppers (paprika) it’s not the same, but it’s a good alternative.
If you only don’t like the gooey and seedy texture, try dry tomatoes in oil: they get rid of the seeds, of all the liquid part, and become a little harder, but they are stronger in taste.
Do you mean like semi-sundried tomatoes or regular whole tamatoes in oil?
Sundried and then put in oil
To get the sweet yet acidic flavor, I would try a small drizzle of something like red wine vinegar. It wouldn’t add much body to the sandwich, but it can really give a great flavor.
If you want more than meat and bread and don’t want tomato… Cucumber would add some body with a weak neutral flavor.
If it’s a texture thing, have you tried all the tomato varieties? Like Roma tomatoes have very little seed and pulp, cherry tomatoes are kind of like grapes, and I’ve even tried some obscure varieties that make me question what a tomato is.
If that doesn’t work, I’m honestly having a hard time thinking about a substitute for a tomato. They are pretty unique.
Any recollection of what the obscure ones you had were?
I don’t know how many varieties are really an option from the grocery store. Farmers markets are probably better but I didn’t realize how many options there were or how different they can be till I started growing them. Definitely recommend slicer varieties for sandwiches but honestly they have been my favorite for everything.
I recently bought some msg. Tasting it by itself reminds me of tomatoes - like a tomato with no sugar and no juice. Haven’t really used it at all yet but based on that I might try mixing it with mayo or even just sprinkling it on a sandwich (with or without tomato on it).
You can get romas at a decent grocery this time of year. They are used for making sauces, mainly.
If texture is your problem, try sun-dried tomatoes. Get good ones that aren’t dried into fruit leather and you can slice thinly and use as you would raw. Otherwise, they can reconstituted in warm water in a few minutes. Remember they’re dried and have very concentrated flavor so don’t use the same amount by volume as you would raw.
Sometimes they’re delicious and sometimes they taste like raisins, which are disgusting.
red bell pepper
Especially roasted
Poblano, you heathen.
for tomato?
You don’t like the texture or the taste? use cherry tomato, they’re much sweeter, more flavorful and have more flesh/water ratio so so theyre less wattery (or a plum tomato) An alternative is to incorporate as a spread make a fresh salsa, or a red pesto you’ll get tomato flavor without weird texture.
For salad, consider cherry tomatoes. For a sandwich, consider a tomato relish. Big, but similar flavour profile, but different texture.
Your substitute for tomatoes is different tomatoes? Bold choice
Yes, as it seems to be a texture rather than flavour issue and relish has a very different texture, while retaining the recipe taste.
Bold choice indeed
Sounds like the issue is texture rather than taste, so the obvious answer is cherry tomatoes because they don’t have anywhere near as much pith. However, thinking about the role the tomato plays, it’s kind of a juicy sweetener with some vegetative notes, so now I’m thinking maybe slices of certain green apple varieties, maybe with something very vegetal, like a leafy green, or maybe a kolrabi, or less so with some spinach or sprouts? Experiment if you have the time and money. Lots of flavors to play with.
Cucumbers or radishes?
Husband also hates mealy and watery tomatoes and my only solution so far was home grown paste tomatoes, like san marzano type tomatoes. Much less watery overall.
Persimmon.
