Tomato technique

Bob Terwilliger said:

Not all that long ago, there was a small discussion about cutting up onions
lengthwise so that fewer cell walls would be ruptured. That technique was
attributed to Thomas Keller (though he might not have been the first to come
up with it). Apparently, there's a similarly fussy way to prepare tomatoes.

I'm currently reading _Tapas, a Taste of Spain in America_, by José Andrés.
In the book he mentioned removing "fillets" from tomatoes. As we all know, a
tomato is made up of chambers containing seeds and some jelly-like stuff
holding the seeds together. By judicious cutting and scooping, you can
remove each chamber's contents as one lump of seedy goo. That lump is what
is being called the "fillet."

Has anybody run across the term "tomato fillet" or that technique before?(I
suppose if we're talking about tomato fillets, we must be using BEEFSTEAK
tomatoes!)

Bob

I don't know why I have the impression that the reverse is the fillet
(the meat without the seed)????

On 10 Apr 2006 01:16:09 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

Has anybody run across the term "tomato fillet" or that technique before? (I
suppose if we're talking about tomato fillets, we must be using BEEFSTEAK
tomatoes!)

Bob

Yes, I think it is also called tomato concasse. I could be wrong
though. But I have seen this many places.

Christine

Dee said:

Quoted message said:

I'm currently reading _Tapas, a Taste of Spain in America_, by José
Andrés. In the book he mentioned removing "fillets" from tomatoes. As we
all know, a tomato is made up of chambers containing seeds and some
jelly-like stuff holding the seeds together. By judicious cutting and
scooping, you can remove each chamber's contents as one lump of seedy
goo. That lump is what is being called the "fillet."

Has anybody run across the term "tomato fillet" or that technique before?
(I suppose if we're talking about tomato fillets, we must be using
BEEFSTEAK tomatoes!)

I don't know why I have the impression that the reverse is the fillet (the
meat without the seed)????

The book clearly means the lump of seeds. It's got a picture of tomato
fillets draped over cubes of watermelon. I scanned the picture uploaded it
to tinypic so you can see for yourself: www.tinypic.com/v46j35.jpg

Bob

Christine said:

Yes, I think it is also called tomato concasse. I could be wrong
though. But I have seen this many places.

Tomato concasse is simply tomatoes coarsely chopped or ground. It may or
may not contain the seeds, but it DEFINITELY contains the tomato flesh.
These "fillets" don't contain the fleshy part of the tomato, it's just the
seeds and that jelly-like stuff.

Bob

On 10 Apr 2006 02:17:08 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

Christine said:

Yes, I think it is also called tomato concasse. I could be wrong
though. But I have seen this many places.

Tomato concasse is simply tomatoes coarsely chopped or ground. It may or
may not contain the seeds, but it DEFINITELY contains the tomato flesh.
These "fillets" don't contain the fleshy part of the tomato, it's just the
seeds and that jelly-like stuff.

Weird.

serene

On 10 Apr 2006 02:13:01 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

The book clearly means the lump of seeds. It's got a picture of tomato
fillets draped over cubes of watermelon. I scanned the picture uploaded it
to tinypic so you can see for yourself: www.tinypic.com/v46j35.jpg

Bob

Hmm..this is the reverse of what I have known. I have always heard of
that as the tomato "jelly"...not the filet. I have always heard of
the filet being the flesh of the tomato.

Christine

Bob Terwilliger said:

Dee said:

Quoted message said:

I'm currently reading _Tapas, a Taste of Spain in America_, by José
Andrés. In the book he mentioned removing "fillets" from tomatoes. As we
all know, a tomato is made up of chambers containing seeds and some
jelly-like stuff holding the seeds together. By judicious cutting and
scooping, you can remove each chamber's contents as one lump of seedy
goo. That lump is what is being called the "fillet."

Has anybody run across the term "tomato fillet" or that technique before?
(I suppose if we're talking about tomato fillets, we must be using
BEEFSTEAK tomatoes!)

I don't know why I have the impression that the reverse is the fillet (the
meat without the seed)????

The book clearly means the lump of seeds. It's got a picture of tomato
fillets draped over cubes of watermelon. I scanned the picture uploaded it
to tinypic so you can see for yourself: www.tinypic.com/v46j35.jpg

Bob

mmmm beautilicious!! Great for summer!

Christine said:

Quoted message said:

The book clearly means the lump of seeds. It's got a picture of tomato
fillets draped over cubes of watermelon. I scanned the picture uploaded
it to tinypic so you can see for yourself: www.tinypic.com/v46j35.jpg

Hmm..this is the reverse of what I have known. I have always heard of
that as the tomato "jelly"...not the filet. I have always heard of
the filet being the flesh of the tomato.

I've always heard of the flesh being the "meat" of the tomato. I'd never
heard the term "fillet" applied to a tomato before, and this book's use of
the seed/jelly part of the tomato is new to me; that's why I brought it up.

Bob

dee said:

Bob Terwilliger said:

Dee said:

> I'm currently reading _Tapas, a Taste of Spain in America_, by José
> Andrés. In the book he mentioned removing "fillets" from tomatoes.
> As we all know, a tomato is made up of chambers containing seeds
> and some jelly-like stuff holding the seeds together. By
> judicious cutting and scooping, you can remove each chamber's
> contents as one lump of seedy goo. That lump is what is being
> called the "fillet."
>
> Has anybody run across the term "tomato fillet" or that technique
> before? (I suppose if we're talking about tomato fillets, we must
> be using BEEFSTEAK tomatoes!)

I don't know why I have the impression that the reverse is the
fillet (the meat without the seed)????

The book clearly means the lump of seeds. It's got a picture of
tomato fillets draped over cubes of watermelon. I scanned the
picture uploaded it to tinypic so you can see for yourself:
www.tinypic.com/v46j35.jpg

Bob

mmmm beautilicious!! Great for summer!

Looks disgusting to me. Tomato goo on watermelon? Ewwww!

On Mon 10 Apr 2006 03:42:51a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it jmcquown?

Quoted message said:

Looks disgusting to me. Tomato goo on watermelon? Ewwww!

Yep, disgusting!

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
_____________________

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bob Terwilliger' virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

The book clearly means the lump of seeds. It's got a picture of tomato
fillets draped over cubes of watermelon. I scanned the picture uploaded it
to tinypic so you can see for yourself: www.tinypic.com/v46j35.jpg

Bob

Skewered tomato glop with watermelon. Hmmm. As we say here, "That's
different." I'm trying to decide how you eat it. Or maybe its
skewered just for service from plate to plate. I'm thinking that if you
eat it like a popsicle, you'd have tomato snot running down the skewer
to your hand. It's an interesting combination to think about, though,
I guess.
--
-Barb
<http://jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 4-2-06, Church review #11

"If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all."

Melba's Jammin said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bob Terwilliger' virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

The book clearly means the lump of seeds. It's got a picture of
tomato fillets draped over cubes of watermelon. I scanned the
picture uploaded it to tinypic so you can see for yourself:
www.tinypic.com/v46j35.jpg

Bob

Skewered tomato glop with watermelon. Hmmm. As we say here, "That's
different." I'm trying to decide how you eat it. Or maybe its
skewered just for service from plate to plate. I'm thinking that if
you eat it like a popsicle, you'd have tomato snot running down the
skewer
to your hand. It's an interesting combination to think about,
though,
I guess.

Actually looks gross, if you ask me. Someone was complaining about salt on
melons. My dad used to put ketchup on watermelon. This seems to be a
'fancier' version of that. Doesn't make it right!

After the storms that ran through here over the weekend it's downright
chilly; in the 40's. I had a fire in the fireplace last night and watched a
couple of old movies. Today, I think I'll do some chicken stew with
dumplings. Hard to describe, other than to say it has boiled chicken and
from which stock is made; onions, carrots, potatoes, celery. Salt & pepper
of course, and herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme - singing!) and some
drop dumplings to thicken it all.

Jill

"jmcquown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

dee said:

Bob Terwilliger said:

Dee wrote:

>> I'm currently reading _Tapas, a Taste of Spain in America_, by José
>> Andrés. In the book he mentioned removing "fillets" from tomatoes.
>> As we all know, a tomato is made up of chambers containing seeds
>> and some jelly-like stuff holding the seeds together. By
>> judicious cutting and scooping, you can remove each chamber's
>> contents as one lump of seedy goo. That lump is what is being
>> called the "fillet."
>>
>> Has anybody run across the term "tomato fillet" or that technique
>> before? (I suppose if we're talking about tomato fillets, we must
>> be using BEEFSTEAK tomatoes!)
>
> I don't know why I have the impression that the reverse is the
> fillet (the meat without the seed)????

The book clearly means the lump of seeds. It's got a picture of
tomato fillets draped over cubes of watermelon. I scanned the
picture uploaded it to tinypic so you can see for yourself:
www.tinypic.com/v46j35.jpg

Bob

mmmm beautilicious!! Great for summer!

Looks disgusting to me. Tomato goo on watermelon? Ewwww!

I love both watermelon and tomato, but this picture made my stomach jump!
(not for joy)
Dee Dee

Bob Terwilliger said:

The book clearly means the lump of seeds. It's got a picture of tomato
fillets draped over cubes of watermelon. I scanned the picture uploaded it
to tinypic so you can see for yourself: www.tinypic.com/v46j35.jpg

Bob

That doesn't appeal to me. Funny - I'm happy to get rid of the glop when
I'm getting ready to chop tomatoes. Just me, I suppose.

Dora

"limey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bob Terwilliger said:

The book clearly means the lump of seeds. It's got a picture of tomato
fillets draped over cubes of watermelon. I scanned the picture uploaded
it to tinypic so you can see for yourself: www.tinypic.com/v46j35.jpg

Bob

That doesn't appeal to me. Funny - I'm happy to get rid of the glop when
I'm getting ready to chop tomatoes. Just me, I suppose.

Dora

I've tried pushing it thru a little strainer, but it doesn't add anything to
make it worth the trouble -- just my frugal nature and hoping that I'll get
a better flavor. I suppose if this were true, they would've written about
it.
Dee Dee

"Dee Randall" wrote in message >

Quoted message said:

"limey" wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Bob Terwilliger said:

The book clearly means the lump of seeds. It's got a picture of tomato
fillets draped over cubes of watermelon. I scanned the picture uploaded
it to tinypic so you can see for yourself: www.tinypic.com/v46j35.jpg

Bob

That doesn't appeal to me. Funny - I'm happy to get rid of the glop when
I'm getting ready to chop tomatoes. Just me, I suppose.

Dora

I've tried pushing it thru a little strainer, but it doesn't add anything
to make it worth the trouble -- just my frugal nature and hoping that I'll
get a better flavor. I suppose if this were true, they would've written
about it.
Dee Dee

LOL - How true!

Dora

Wayne Boatwright said:

On Mon 10 Apr 2006 03:42:51a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it jmcquown?

Quoted message said:

Looks disgusting to me. Tomato goo on watermelon? Ewwww!

Yep, disgusting!

Yep, my thoughts 'zackly. Tomato and watermelon? For some reason that
just seems a no go.

Bob Terwilliger said:

Not all that long ago, there was a small discussion about cutting up onions
lengthwise so that fewer cell walls would be ruptured. That technique was
attributed to Thomas Keller (though he might not have been the first to come
up with it). Apparently, there's a similarly fussy way to prepare tomatoes.

I'm currently reading _Tapas, a Taste of Spain in America_, by José Andrés.
In the book he mentioned removing "fillets" from tomatoes. As we all know, a
tomato is made up of chambers containing seeds and some jelly-like stuff
holding the seeds together. By judicious cutting and scooping, you can
remove each chamber's contents as one lump of seedy goo. That lump is what
is being called the "fillet."

Has anybody run across the term "tomato fillet" or that technique before? (I
suppose if we're talking about tomato fillets, we must be using BEEFSTEAK
tomatoes!)

Bob

Interesting! After many years of canning, I can attest that other
varieties have just as much tomato fillet as the beefsteak. If you cut
the tomato just the right way, and again that is from many years of
canning and making salsa, the fillet will just pop out. I've used some
of these to provide seeds for the next growing year. The only other
source that I've seen use the seeds etc is Michael Smith. He did this
thing where the tomatoes were coursely chopped then put into a cheese
cloth bag then allowed to drip out the juices.

I kind of think the fillet with watermelon is rather interesting and
being adventurous would try it at least once. What the heck, I love
tomatoes and watermelon so what do I have to lose?

PS. A lot of tomato dishes are nicer is you remove the fillet or choose
a tomato variety that is meaty meaning smaller fillet.

Dee Randall said:

"limey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bob Terwilliger said:

The book clearly means the lump of seeds. It's got a picture of tomato
fillets draped over cubes of watermelon. I scanned the picture uploaded
it to tinypic so you can see for yourself: www.tinypic.com/v46j35.jpg

Bob

That doesn't appeal to me. Funny - I'm happy to get rid of the glop when
I'm getting ready to chop tomatoes. Just me, I suppose.

Dora

I've tried pushing it thru a little strainer, but it doesn't add anything to
make it worth the trouble -- just my frugal nature and hoping that I'll get
a better flavor. I suppose if this were true, they would've written about
it.
Dee Dee

Try using a food mill. It will get rid of the skins and seeds leaving
everything else behind. I recommend it even though I don't like using
it. Mine anchors to the counter and I'm counter space challenged. It
takes time to set the thing up properly but once working it is fine.