substituting for tomatoes

[devlin]

I've got a really nice braised chicken recipe that calls for a fair amount of crushed tomatoes. A friend expressed interest in the recipe, but her husband is allergic to tomatoes. Is there a suitable substitution?

[SuzySushi]

I've got a really nice braised chicken recipe that calls for a fair amount of crushed tomatoes. A friend expressed interest in the recipe, but her husband is allergic to tomatoes. Is there a suitable substitution?

←

There's no substitute without totally changing the dish. Leave them out, or choose a different recipe entirely.

[Pan]

Oddly enough -- and someone can correct me if I'm off-base on this -- I get the impression that in Iranian food, plums have a somewhat comparable function to tomatoes in Italian cuisine (acidic, sweet/sour, juicy). You can try your braised chicken recipe with plums and see if it works before deciding whether to pass the altered recipe on or not.

[jsolomon]

Depending on the spice, you could also use apricots like the plums.

But, alas, SuzySushi is correct. There ain't nothin' like a tomato. You'll notice their absence.

[Kevin72]

I wouldn't go so far as to say the dish is a wash without them, just that you'll have to play up other elements to compensate for their loss. What are the other ingredients?

[WolfChef]

No substitute. Dang what a horrible allergy to have. Knew a kid in my senior year class who was allergic to tomatoes, also eggplant if I remember right(this was 1979). He loved pizza though, and would occasionally eat it. The most noticable reaction he had was patches of his hair would fall out.

[devlin]

Yeah, I dunno. Although I agree the dish won't be precisely the same without the tomatoes, and I sat here for a long time thinking about it, I think there's got to be a way to still do the thing but with another ingredient. Yes, it'll change the flavors and textures, but I think it can be done. And the more I thought, the more interesting it seemed, to try something other than the standard tomatoes.

Pan, I thought of plums as well, and started thinking of fruit substitutions like plums or maybe a melon, added late. JS, apricot is actually an interesting notion, or maybe nectarines.

What I finally came up with and suggested was red, yellow and orange bell peppers, or some variety of melon. Maybe rhubarb?

The recipe is dark chicken, garlic, onion, fresh rosemary, fresh basil, black olives, a dry white wine, chicken stock, salt, pepper, olive oil. And of course the tomatoes, crushed.

I'm thinking some variety of plum or the like would work. I'm wondering now whether adding a small amount of dates might not be nice too. I mean in addition to the other substitution, like plums.

Thanks, folks.

[Carlovski]

I'd have to say if you are going to make that much of a change, why not go the whole hog - with the fruit substitutions you are halfway to a tagine, so why not do that?

If you want to stay with the Provencal feel then maybe you could use lots of red pepper - you might want a splash of vinegar to introduce some sharpness though.

I have a recipe for oxtail cooked with LOTS of grapes, don't know if it would work with chicken (And not with the olives I would think).

[Busboy]

One thig to remember is that tomatoes contribute acid and "spark" to a dish, particularly a rich, braised effort. Dashing it up with a little vinegar or lemon would probably replace the "technical" function of the tomato. Plum strikes me as an off choice for this particular dish (plum and rosemary?) -- my first thought would have been eggplant, perhaps browned and added towards theend of the braising so it holds its texture better.

[jsolomon]

I think a sweet pickled bell pepper might fit the bill, now that I think about it.

Hmm...

Best of luck!

[Andrew Fenton]

One thig to remember is that tomatoes contribute acid and "spark" to a dish, particularly a rich, braised effort.  Dashing it up with a little vinegar or lemon would probably replace the "technical" function of the tomato. 

That's a good point. I was thinking tamarind paste, which would accomplish the same goal.

[devlin]

Sweet, pickled bell peppers! That's a wonderful idea.

[Behemoth]

The recipe is dark chicken, garlic, onion, fresh rosemary, fresh basil, black olives, a dry white wine, chicken stock, salt, pepper, olive oil. And of course the tomatoes, crushed.

I would take out the basil and use either preserved lemon or pureed roasted red peppers.

[Kevin72]

The recipe looks like it would be good, as-is, without tomatoes. The wine will add a good acidic kick. Maybe take out the chicken broth and replace it with more white wine.

As you and others are thinking, peppers would be appropriate, too. Maybe roasted peppers?

[PassionateChefsDie]

Hi

What about basing the dish around Pommegrante Mollases it not quite Tomato but has the acidity and fruitiness similar to Tomato! Just not sure whether it would work with olives, be interested if someone knew whether it did guessing the cuisines that use it also use olives! I know it works really well with chicken livers it's the only way apart from Chicken Liver Parfait I would eat them.

Stef

Edited to add:

Maybe with the aubergines?

Edited May 17, 2005 by PassionateChefsDie (log)

[Pan]

I think pomegranate molasses is a great idea, and I do think it would probably go with olives (think Iran). I wonder about the basil in that combination, though - perhaps mint instead? The evergreen quality of the rosemary might well work in that combination, though.

[touaregsand]

Hi

What about basing the dish around Pommegrante Mollases it not quite Tomato but has the acidity and fruitiness similar to Tomato! Just not sure whether it would work with olives, be interested if someone knew whether it did guessing the cuisines that use it also use olives! I know it works really well with chicken livers it's the only way apart from Chicken Liver Parfait I would eat them.

Stef

Edited to add:

Maybe with the aubergines?

←

Pomegranate and olives work together. Think of North African cuisine. As for the herb, I find rosemary to quite strong. Zaatar (the herb not the spice mix) would work, it's sort of a cross between thyme and marjoram. If zaatar is unavailable I'd go for thyme.

[Werdna]

My wife's also allergic to tomatoes, my most sucessfull substitute has been roasted/peeled/purreed red bell pepper + acid (lemon juice or vinegar) + sugar. Quite good in it's own respect, and in the right proportions and blended works great as pizza/marinara sauce. The sugar really fills in the gap too.

I used to do this when making BBQ sauces, now I just consider tomato a cheap filler in said sauces which are fine with just molasses/spices/vinegar.