Tomato

Don’t get me wrong, oj and apple juice and grapefruit juice and all that stuff is lovely. But ever since I was a tiny kid I’d ask for tomato juice at restaurants and loved it, even though I had the option for all those other kinds of juices. It just has such a satisfying flavor that’s hard to find elsewhere.

I’m not sure if any other people do this, maybe the brown sugar part they do, but adding these two ingredients make your sauce so AMAZING. I just made some marinara sauce and put a dash of soy sauce and a pinch of brown sugar in it(just enough not too much) to give it a bit of an umami flavor.

It has that kind of umaminess to it that makes you think “what the hell is in that, it’s so good?!” I really think this is what makes any kind of tomato sauce amazing.

edit: The point of adding it is literally to just add a tad bit of complexity to it. I barely add any, you add just enough to give it a slight touch. A lot of people I think are mistaken and think I’m adding enough to make a severe change in flavor, no. I’m adding just the ever si slightest amount.

I've had a few coffees that ended up with a tomato note in the cup, and I think I just realized why I perceive it. The coffee has a fruity and acidic aroma, but when extracted with more roasty notes, it gains a caramel note that mixes with the acidic notes and turns into tomato in my brain.