Why are cherry tomatoes sweet raw and slightly bitter when boiled while larger tomatoes taste sweeter boiled?!
Why are cherry tomatoes sweet raw and slightly bitter when boiled while larger tomatoes taste sweeter boiled?
Answers:
Dude above has one thing right, it definitely depends on the tomato. In my farmer's market (I'm blessed and live in California) one guy sells over 120 different sub-species of heirloom tomatoes, and they are each as different as the people on this earth.
Some are sweet and bland, others tart and crisp. Some taste like a traditional beefsteak tomato, while others taste almost exactly like pineapples. You can never tell until you sample one and know what you're dealing with. Also, you do NOT necessarily need to add sugar to tomatoes when you cook them. As I've mentioned, there are some tomatoes that come off the vine so sweet, if you added sugar they would taste like preserves. You wouldn't want to do that, because it'll taste terrible.
In general, it also depends on what you are doing with the tomatoes. If you are making a sauce, you will certainly have to boil your tomatoes to remove the skin, and then boil them down until they have the right taste and consistency. Again, though, taste a sample of your tomatoes before you start. Most sauce tomatoes will require you to add a bit of sugar, as well as any of your favorite spices and salt, etc. In general, you never want to try to make sauce from cherry tomatoes; you have to blanch and skin them, and with small cherry tomatoes this process would take forever. Use them in salads, or just serve them on a plate with some sliced cucumbers and balsamic, and perhaps a bit a fresh mozeralla....yumm....