Cento San Marzano DOP peeled tomatoes with basil leaf

[JimBob]

I just opened my 2nd can of Cento San Marzano DOP peeled tomatoes with basil leaf and was highly disappointed.  The first can had a unique taste that blew away any other tomato I've ever had but this second can tasted like regular American grown tomatoes???  I can say that at 4.80 per can I'm not about to buy any more of these if there is no consistency in the taste.  It looks like I'll have to buy on-line.  I don't mind buying by the case, does anyone have any recommendations for sites that they buy their DOP San Mariano's?

[ebpizza]

Call Pace & Sons and see if they will ship you a case of DOP.
They carry LaRegina San Marzano DOP.

Pace J & Sons Inc
325 Main Street, Saugus, MA 01906
(781) 231-9599

[Pete-zza]

JimBob,

I have personally ordered San Marzanos from vendaravioli.com, salumeriaitaliana.com and pennmac.com. My favorites happen to be the LaRegina DOP San Marzanos, which I have only been able to find at Venda and Salumeria. The best prices are clearly at Venda. Venda also sells a lower priced DOP San Marzano called Famoso, which, at a little over $2 a can (the price I paid), is about a dollar a can less than the LaRegina DOP San Marzanos. They are more watery than the La Reginas (which has a thick puree), but the fruits are of nice color and taste. I would order them again. I have posted more than once about Venda, so you might find it useful to do a search on the forum using the search term "venda" (as an example, you should find this one:http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,1095.msg9756.html#msg9756). The best approach with Venda is to call them and to ask them which DOPs they have in stock and at what price.

PennMac is a good source for pizza ingredients in general, and among their DOP San Marzanos (I think maybe the only one) are the LaValles, in the 35-oz. can. I have had them, but I don't think they are as good as the LaReginas or even the Famosos. But that is just my personal opinion. If you choose to call PennMac, ask for Rose. Rose is a member of this forum and knows what our interests are. You should tell her that you are a member. PennMac's prices are better than most.

Both PennMac and Salumeria sell the LaBella tomatoes, but until we get clarity on what they really are, I would avoid them for now.

scott r is our resident expert on San Marzanos. He knows more about San Marzanos than anyone I know and has tried more brands than anyone I know. He is known for his many "San Marzano shootouts". Fortunately for him, but not for the rest of us, he lives in the Northeast and has access to some of the best brands of pizza ingredients around. My recollection is that he is not a big fan of the Cento San Marzanos (or the LaBellas for that matter) but is a huge fan of one of the other Cento tomato products (that may not even be San Marzanos). I suspect he will step forward in due course and give you some sound advice.

As a final thought for the moment, you might also want to check local Italian specialty food stores in your area. There are a lot more brands of San Marzanos around today than when I first started researching them, so you might get lucky and find some to sample.

Peter

[Pete-zza]

Pace is one of my regular stops when I am up in Massachusetts. The last time I was there, they had no DOP San Marzanos in the store at all. They had the non-DOP LaReginas (in the blue can) and the non-DOP LaValles. On prior visits, they had both DOPs in the store. This doesn't mean that they can't get them (Accardi, the food service company and importer of the LaReginas isn't all that far away from Pace), so it is perhaps worth a call to Pace see what they might be able to do for you.

Peter

[ebpizza]

Pace has a good selection, but their prices can be high.

Try New Deal Fruit in Revere (RT 60 and Broadway)

Lower prices and at times carries LaRegina DOP

[JimBob]

Thanks guys!!!

[ebpizza]

where do u live

[scott r]

I just wanted to clarify that I have not tasted the cento san marzano's yet.  Someone else did post something about them not being that great. 

If you want san marzanos I highly suggest spending more money on the La Reginas.  I have a case of them right now, and I did open one can that had a decent amount of white stuff but that seems to be very unusual.  These tomatoes have such a strong (and not bitter or acidic) san marzano flavor that you can use less of them.  Also, I have found that I can use all of the puree that the product is shipped in as it is quite thick and tasty. The texture of them is not stringy like I have found in some others.  Another plus is that the taste seems very consistent from can to can.

As far as the La Bellas go, I do like the quality of the tomato texture. They are also one of the few brands that also offer a crushed (really diced) san marzano style tomato. The crushed version does give you the most usable product that I have found in any san marzano can.  They do have a really strong san marzano flavor.  Unfortunately I have found them to have a slightly bitter and acidic taste when compared to almost every other brand.  The flavor just seems a little off to me, and they are not really that cheap.   I must admit that I did buy a can recently that seemed to have a better flavor than some of my previous cans, but at these prices we do want these tomatoes to taste good every time, right?

Pastene, Vantia (non DOP), Collucio, Famoso, Cento Italian whole peeled tomatoes (not even san marzanos) are all products that I can highly recommend if you can find them at a good price.  They all have a milder flavor than the two mentioned above, and do not come in a thick puree.  They all taste very similar to me.   If I had to pick a favorite it would probably be the Cento Italian whole peeled just because they have the most fruit in each can (by far).  Again these don't even claim to be san marzanos, but they sure taste like it.

I have still not tried the DOP Vantia, the Scalifini, or the Cento San marzanos, but I plan to do so as soon as I can find them here in the Boston area.

[JimBob]

where do u live

NE Ohio - Akron area.

[JimBob]

If you want san marzanos I highly suggest spending more money on the La Reginas.

Thanks Scott, do you buy the La Reginas on-line?

By the way, I noticed that you did not comment on the La Valle DOP, have you tried them?

[scott r]

jim bob, I am very lucky to live in boston where there are many places to buy san marzanos of various types.  So far I have even tried about 25 brands of mozzarella cheese, and there are still many more to try!  Still can't figure out why the pizza sucks here.

[pizzaqueen]

pa mac rose

[giotto]

JimBob:

Looks like you're by the Hall of Fame, Buckeye territory... Not sure if you have a Whole Foods there.  But if you do, the texture and taste of the ITALBRAND DOP San Marzano tomatoes have been quite good.  You might want to try Escalon 6-in-1 as well; the taste tests on this site blew away the Marzano.  We had one serious member in Germany have them shipped by another member and boy was he pissed when he couldn't get his hands on them locally after that.  They are thicker in texture than the DOP, so we still have a place for the Marzano. You can see reviews on them many months ago.

[pizzaqueen]

Hi Peter,
Was on the site today, noticed a lot of people are still asking different questions about availability of some products...
Labella are a San Marzano italian style pear tomato, very good quality and tasty!  Don't be afraid to try LaBella....they are a excellent tomato! Of course the only authentic San Marzano is the D.O.P'S which is licensed by the government. I am going to have to put Semolina on the web site too, I saw some inquiries about large quantities, YES we have Semolina in a 50# bag.

[pizzaqueen]

Buon Giorno,
Why don't you  try Lavalle San Marzano D.O.P's?

Rose...at Pennmac.com

[Wallman]

I used a can of Cento San Marzano DOP tomatoes last night and I thought they were pretty good. The tomatoes had a nice ripe flavor right out of the can, looked nice and were a very bright red.  There seemed to be a good ratio of tomato to juice in the can.  I made a sauce with Penzy's pizza spice mix, olive oil, salt (I think I put a little too much in), pepper, and raw sugar.  I don't remember what I paid, but it was less the $4 at the local Giant grocery store.