St. Rita Tomatoes As A Market Leader
St. Rita Tomatoes As A Market Leader ~ By Ingram Osigwe It is a well known fact that tomato paste has become a major staple of Nigerian cuisine today. What originally arrived on the world scene from farms in Southern Italy and Malta in ancient Europe, Tomato paste was originally made by boiling tomato fruits, draining out the juice and spreading out the semi-liquid remnant on wooden slabs where it is left to reduce the water content and congeal into a thick red paste. In this form, known as pasata di pomodoro it is preserved with olive oil and is a great condiment for cooking Italian dishes. With the advent of modern technology, heavy agriculture led to the production of tomatoes in vast quantities; thus the need for a means of preservation that will utilize the heavy production. Scientific research led to the invention of the pasteurization process. Thus tomatoes were industrially peeled, sliced and the seed removed. Then the flesh is boiled to reduce the water content, put in cans, ...