The Complete Handbook of Tomato Paste

Chapter 1: Understanding Tomato Paste

Tomato paste is not simply tomato puree that has been cooked down, and it is not a concentrated form of the sauce you use in a pasta dish. It is a distinct product category with its own chemical and physical properties, defined by strict industry measurements that should matter to anyone who buys or cooks with it. At its core, tomato paste is the solids of the tomato fruit that remain after the water has been removed, processed under heat, and packed under controlled conditions. A typical tomato is about 94 to 95 percent water. The remaining 5 to 6 percent is the fiber, sugars, organic acids, minerals, and flavor compounds that give the fruit its color and taste. Paste is what happens when you take that 5 to 6 percent and concentrate it to a point where the solids represent anywhere from 24 percent to 32 percent of the total weight. The rest is still water, but the ratio has fundamentally changed the product's behavior and shelf life.

When you open a can of tomatoes, you have a watery, particulate liquid. When you open a can of tomato paste, you have a dense, unctuous brick that holds its shape on a spoon. That difference is not just cosmetic. It changes how the product thickens a sauce, how it survives acidic environments, how it reacts to high-heat cooking, and how long it can sit on a storage shelf. The critical unit of measurement that controls