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What can I use in Italian food if I can’t eat tomatoes? - The Guardian
Many chefs agree that tomatoes aren’t everything – and there are plenty of other ways to achieve that tangy-savoury hit, anyway
According to a study by the Technical University of Munich last year, about 1.5% of the population in northern Europe and up to 16% in Italy are affected by tomato allergies. While this number is relatively small, a life without lasagne and caponata is no life at all. For Joe Trivelli, head chef at the River Cafe, the answer is simple: “Just don’t put them in.” But I won’t clock off early just yet.
Tomatoes were a relatively late addition to Italian cuisine, with pasta sauces and braises coloured red in only the late 16th and 17th century. As the Guardian’s food writer in Rome Rachel Roddy – whose use of the fruit has decreased since moving to Italy – puts it, we need to move away from tomato domination. “So many Italian dishes, such as hunter’s chicken, braised rabbit or oxtail stew, have a pre-tomato version,” she says, “and eight times out of 10, I prefer them.”
Seek out the original versions, then focus on your use of olive oil, garlic, chilli and, if you’re making pasta sauce, the starchy pasta cooking water. Roddy has a few tricks, though, for achieving that umami flavour when tomatoes aren’t in play: “Anchovies, parmesan, porcini and herbs, such as rosemary and sage, can give that meatiness you might otherwise miss.”
Many chefs agree that tomatoes aren’t everything – and there are plenty of other ways to achieve that tangy-savoury hit, anyway
According to a study by the Technical University of Munich last year, about 1.5% of the population in northern Europe and up to 16% in Italy are affected by tomato allergies. While this number is relatively small, a life without lasagne and caponata is no life at all. For Joe Trivelli, head chef at the River Cafe, the answer is simple: “Just don’t put them in.” But I won’t clock off early just yet.
Tomatoes were a relatively late addition to Italian cuisine, with pasta sauces and braises coloured red in only the late 16th and 17th century. As the Guardian’s food writer in Rome Rachel Roddy – whose use of the fruit has decreased since moving to Italy – puts it, we need to move away from tomato domination. “So many Italian dishes, such as hunter’s chicken, braised rabbit or oxtail stew, have a pre-tomato version,” she says, “and eight times out of 10, I prefer them.”
Seek out the original versions, then focus on your use of olive oil, garlic, chilli and, if you’re making pasta sauce, the starchy pasta cooking water. Roddy has a few tricks, though, for achieving that umami flavour when tomatoes aren’t in play: “Anchovies, parmesan, porcini and herbs, such as rosemary and sage, can give that meatiness you might otherwise miss.”