A San Marzano tomato is a variety of

plum tomato A plum tomato, also known as a processing tomato or paste tomato, is a type of tomato bred for sauce and packing purposes. It is generally oval or cylindrical in shape, with significantly fewer locules (seed compartments, usually only two) than ...

Description

Compared to the Roma tomato, San Marzano tomatoes are thinner and more pointed. The flesh is much thicker with fewer seeds, and the taste is stronger, sweeter, and less acidic. The San Marzano vines are an indeterminate type vine, and have a somewhat longer season than other paste tomato varieties, making them particularly suitable for warmer climates. As is typical of

heirloom plants An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, heritage fruit (Australia and New Zealand), or heirloom vegetable (especially in Ireland and the UK) is an old cultivar of a plant used for food that is grown and maintained by gardeners and farmers, particula ...

, San Marzano is an open-pollinated variety that breeds true from generation to generation, making

seed saving A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm pl ...

practical for the home gardener or farmer.

Commercial production and use

Heirloom plant conservationist Amy P. Goldman calls the San Marzano "the most important industrial tomato of the 20th century"; its commercial introduction in 1926 provided canneries with a "sturdy, flawless subject, and breeders with genes they'd be raiding for decades." Though commercial production of the San Marzano variety is most closely associated with Italy, seeds for the variety are available worldwide.It is an

heirloom variety An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, heritage fruit (Australia and New Zealand), or heirloom vegetable (especially in Ireland and the UK) is an old cultivar of a plant used for food that is grown and maintained by gardeners and farmers, particular ...

. Canned San Marzanos, when grown in the Valle del Sarno (valley of the

Sarno Sarno is a town and '' comune'' and former Latin Catholic bishopric of Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno, 20 km northeast from the city of Salerno and 60 km east of Naples by the main railway. Overview It lies at the f ...

) in Italy in compliance with Italian law, can be classified as ''Pomodoro San Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese-Nocerino'' and have the EU " DOP" emblem on the label. Most San Marzano tomatoes sold commercially are grown in Italy, though they are produced commercially in smaller quantities in other countries. Because of San Marzano's premium pricing, there is an ongoing battle against fraudulent product. On November 22, 2010, the Italian

carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

confiscated of improperly labelled canned tomatoes worth

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

1.2 million. San Marzano tomatoes, along with Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio, have been designated as the only tomatoes that can be used for Vera Pizza Napoletana (True Neapolitan Pizza).

Origins

San Marzano tomatoes originate from the small town of San Marzano sul Sarno, near Naples,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and were first grown in volcanic soil in the shadow of

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of ...

. One story goes that the first seed of this tomato came to

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

in 1770, as a gift from the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed fro ...

to the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

, and that it was planted in the area of San Marzano sul Sarno. In the United States, San Marzano tomatoes are the genetic base for another popular paste tomato, the Roma tomato. The Roma is a cross between a San Marzano and two other varieties (one of which was also a San Marzano hybrid) and was introduced by the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

in 1955.

References

External links

How to grow San Marzano tomatoes in your garden
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Marzano Tomato Heirloom tomato cultivars Italian cuisine Italian products with protected designation of origin Food and drink introduced in 1926 Ark of Taste foods

Description

Commercial production and use

Origins

See also

References

External links