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Who here doesn’t like tomatoes raw, but enjoys them cooked, in sauces, etc?

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    Who here doesn’t like tomatoes raw, but enjoys them cooked, in sauces, etc?

    I’m not here to judge; I understand. Fish (and most seafood) doesn’t taste like food to me, much to my unending dismay.

    Our daughter can’t stand raw tomatoes, but absolutely delights in just about anything made from them: Italian food, salsas, chili, soup, bbq sauce, whatever. I looked this up, and it’s actually reasonably common. Food scientists theorize that it’s because raw tomatoes have far higher levels of glutamate than other vegetables. Also, 9% of Europeans actually have an allergic reaction to tomatoes.

    On the other hand, in another survey tomatoes are overwhelmingly the favorite vegetable of 89% of the respondents, closely followed by carrots, onions, and green beans (it was a ranked and weighted survey). Tomatoes are certainly my favorite vegetable. In fact, there are very few vegetables that I don’t like. I don’t go out of my way for a lot of the root vegetables, even though I like them. I don’t like radishes. I used to like them, but the last few times I bought some I wondered why I did that.

    In mid summer, I usually eat five tomatoes a week. I do buy smaller ones, though, smaller than a tennis ball but larger than a golf ball, because my rule is that once you cut a tomato, you have to eat all of it. I take a couple-three-four slices out of the middle, and eat the heel and around the stem as a “chef’s treat” while making my omelet, sandwich, burger, salad, whatever else I’m making.

    By this time of year I start getting tired of them, which is fine. This is when the fresh tomato supply starts to wane, here in the Northeast and Mid Atlantic. We’ll continue to get vine ripened until the third week of the month, then the windowsill ripened through October, and then it’s cherry tomatoes until next May. My experience is that grape tomatoes (not cherry) suck. Winter heirloom tomatoes suck, usually. Grocery store Roma tomatoes suck. Grocery store tomatoes on the vine are generally marginal, but sometimes they are actually okay, and other times they suck. The best winter tomatoes are the cherry tomatoes with “sugar” and “flavor” on the packaging: sugar bombs, sugar rush, flavor bombs, etc. Oh, and Camparis are pretty reliable. And a big shout out for Kumato tomatoes, the small brown tomatoes that come in a cardboard sleeve. We don’t get those here any more. But they kick ass.
    Last edited by Mosca; September 8, 2025, 06:36 AM.

    #2
    I love raw tomatoes much more than cooked, when they're still recognizably tomatoes - warm raw tomatoes skeeve me out big time. Once things are pureed in a sauce, it ceases to matter, just part of the overall blend...

    Comment


    • Mosca
      Mosca commented
      Editing a comment
      I can see that. Stewed tomatoes are pretty dull and off putting. They need a lot of salt, plus maybe some onion and a little celery and parsley.

      I edited my title to specify that I meant cooked like in sauces and other dishes.

    • Murdy
      Murdy commented
      Editing a comment
      Agree 100% -- I love both raw and cooked tomatoes, but the cooked have to be cooked all the way down (and pureed if necessary), nothing worse than a big, old snotty hunk of tomato flesh in my chili or whatever.

    • DaveD
      DaveD commented
      Editing a comment
      Murdy Amen!!! Yeesh...

    #3
    I love both raw and cooked, but I don't like plain cooked tomatoes, (think sliced raw tomatoes on a pizza that is then cooked).

    Comment


    • Mosca
      Mosca commented
      Editing a comment
      I do, but I can see where others wouldn’t. Tomatoes like that need salt, otherwise they’re like unsalted beef with mild acid.

    • synodog
      synodog commented
      Editing a comment
      I like both too and sliced tomatoes cooked on a pizza is great!

    #4
    I don't like raw tomatoes. I can barely stomach them in pico de gallo and otherwise avoid them. But cook them and they go with just about any seasonings.

    Comment


    • mrteddyprincess
      mrteddyprincess commented
      Editing a comment
      I used to feel the exact same way and then my neighbor convinced me to try a sliced raw tomato with garlic salt sprinkled on it. Totally complimented the tomato, I loved it, and I've been eating raw tomato slices ever since. B

      (PS--I'm also a home grown garden tomato snob. I will not eat tomatoes from a grocery store. So unless they're growing in my backyard I won't touch the ones from a store.)

    #5
    I like raw tomatoes in sandwiches and burgers.

    Comment


      #6
      We use raw tomatoes in salads and on sandwiches and eat them raw if they are home grown. We don’t often cook with them.

      Comment


      • Duanessmokedmeats
        Duanessmokedmeats commented
        Editing a comment
        What is a salad?

      #7
      Can generally take or leave raw tomatoes. Don't particularly crave them but have had plenty of good ones I've enjoyed (and more than a few that tasted like nothing). After having been in Spain this summer, you'd be amazing at how something as simple as bread and raw tomato (pan con tomate) can be so delicious.

      One thing that I feel strongly about is that I hate hate hate raw tomatoes in a burger.

      Comment


      • Mosca
        Mosca commented
        Editing a comment
        That’s interesting; burgers without tomatoes seem incomplete to me.

      #8
      I love tomatoes no matter how you use them. I like them on burgers and sandwiches. I love a few slices of a truly vine ripened one on an omelet, it’s one of my favorite breakfasts. Soups, sauces, ketchup, pastes, or fried green tomatoes are wonderful.

      Comment


      • JCBBQ
        JCBBQ commented
        Editing a comment
        Ditto

      • texastweeter
        texastweeter commented
        Editing a comment
        Fried green maters should be their own food group.

      • CaptainMike
        CaptainMike commented
        Editing a comment
        I'm with deez guys ↑

      #9
      Me. No problem with them in anything cooked, but can't stand them uncooked. It is a texture thing for me. I admit they look really inviting, but the gelatinous goo inside them makes me gag.

      Comment


        #10
        Raw tomato lover here. I shy away from any dish that relies heavily on a tomato based sauce. A touch is fine but beyond that it is a big nope.

        Comment


          #11
          At the top of my favorite seasons is fresh tomato season, because that means delicious tomato sandwiches! White bread, Duke's mayo, sliced tomato and salt/pepper.

          Comment


          • Mosca
            Mosca commented
            Editing a comment
            I’ll sometimes add cucumber and dill to that!

          • Lynn Dollar
            Lynn Dollar commented
            Editing a comment
            This.

            They have to be in season. Tomatoes the rest of the year, from the grocery store, they have no flavor.

            Cept my sandwich is a BLT, Wright's thick sliced bacon, Dukes mayo, lettuce on Texas toast.
            Last edited by Lynn Dollar; September 10, 2025, 06:12 AM.

          #12
          I don’t care for raw tomatoes. I’ll eat them here and there but if I have a choice, I’ll leave them off whatever it is being served. Hamburgers…no way - keep that sucker off! Salads, I’ll pick them out. I think the only dish I enjoy a fresh tomato is caprese salad, but then there’s something with it at least. I couldn’t eat just the tomato on its own. But, break them down for salsa or cook them, and all good.

          Comment


            #13
            Love them any way you can serve them.
            Raw is especially good with a little salt and pepper. Then drizzled lightly with olive oil. Yum.

            Comment


            • JCBBQ
              JCBBQ commented
              Editing a comment
              100%

            #14
            Wow! I can’t imagine not eating ripe tomatoes. They are definitely my favorite vegetable (fruit technically?) I love love LOVE late August/early September in NJ bc the tomatoes are spectacular. I will eat tomatoes any way - cooked, in sauce, on sammies, blacked,etc but I think it’s really hard to beat a beautiful vine ripened tomato-particularly heirloom varieties- w a little S&P, good olive oil, w or w/o mutz. Mmmmm sublime.
            I searched “tomato” in my pictures and it’s insane how often we eat them.

            Click image for larger version  Name:	IMG_6249.png Views:	3 Size:	10.38 MB ID:	1767925
            Last edited by JCBBQ; September 8, 2025, 10:03 AM.

            Comment


            • Mosca
              Mosca commented
              Editing a comment
              Same.

            #15
            I remember eating lunch at a family’s home in Brazil and they had a “salad” with sliced green tomatoes in a 9 x 13 glass container with olive oil, lemon juice and salt on it. It was one of the most surprisingly delicious things I’ve ever eaten.

            Comment

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