I've been looking through some good pasta sauce recipes, and a couple
of them mention putting a pinch of baking soda into the sauce. They
say it makes the sauce sweeter and richer.

I've never heard of this -- is it true?

THanks!

"mdfloyd" > wrote in message
om...
> I've been looking through some good pasta sauce recipes, and a couple
> of them mention putting a pinch of baking soda into the sauce. They
> say it makes the sauce sweeter and richer.
>
> I've never heard of this -- is it true?
>
> THanks!

Yes, it neutralizes some of the acid found in the tomatoes. I am not saying
it better, that is a matter of taste.

Dimitri

(mdfloyd) wrote in
om:

> I've been looking through some good pasta sauce recipes, and a couple
> of them mention putting a pinch of baking soda into the sauce. They
> say it makes the sauce sweeter and richer.
>
> I've never heard of this -- is it true?
>
> THanks!

The Baking soda neutralizes some of the acidity of the tomatoes...A pinch
maybe 2 is all you need to remove the bitter taste of over acidic
tomato sauce. It doesn't necessarily make it sweet tasting...just less
acidic/bitter. I've rescued a few sauces this way. We're talking
about changing the PH not making sweeter. BTW too much will ruin a sauce
too, so use a light hand.

--
And the beet goes on! (or under)
-me just a while ago

>
>I've been looking through some good pasta sauce recipes, and a couple
>of them mention putting a pinch of baking soda into the sauce. They
>say it makes the sauce sweeter and richer.
>
>I've never heard of this -- is it true?
>
>THanks!

I've done it before and while it does reduces the acidity, to me it also seems
to remove a lot of the flavor and the sauce ends up tasting flat. Sautéed
onions or garlic will sweeten a tomato based pasta sauce, so will grated
carrots. If a sauce is still too acidic I'll just go ahead and add a pinch of
sugar to it.

"mdfloyd" > wrote in message
om...
> I've been looking through some good pasta sauce recipes, and a couple
> of them mention putting a pinch of baking soda into the sauce. They
> say it makes the sauce sweeter and richer.
>
> I've never heard of this -- is it true?

Do we remember what happens when you mix a base with an acid?

There ya go.

Not sure how it makes it "sweeter", but you might have less heartburn.

Personally, I'd not mess with my tomato sauce. I like it just fine the way
it is.

;-)

DJS0302 wrote:

>>I've been looking through some good pasta sauce recipes, and a couple
>>of them mention putting a pinch of baking soda into the sauce. They
>>say it makes the sauce sweeter and richer.
>>
>>I've never heard of this -- is it true?
>>
>>THanks!
>=20
>=20
> I've done it before and while it does reduces the acidity, to me it als=
o seems
> to remove a lot of the flavor and the sauce ends up tasting flat. Saut=
=E9ed
> onions or garlic will sweeten a tomato based pasta sauce, so will grate=
d
> carrots. If a sauce is still too acidic I'll just go ahead and add a p=
inch of
> sugar to it.=20

I've tried it and agree with the above posters opinion. I tried Anna=20
Maries method of adding a touch of milk or 1/2 and 1/2 and it works=20
much better IMO. YMMV

--=20
Steve

Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it.

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 16:04:17 GMT, Dimitri wrote:

>
> "mdfloyd" > wrote in message
> om...
>> I've been looking through some good pasta sauce recipes, and a couple
>> of them mention putting a pinch of baking soda into the sauce. They
>> say it makes the sauce sweeter and richer.
>>
>> I've never heard of this -- is it true?
>>
>> THanks!
>
> Yes, it neutralizes some of the acid found in the tomatoes. I am not saying
> it better, that is a matter of taste.
>
> Dimitri

Other ways to get rid of the acidic taste is to cook it longer and/or add
mushrooms.
--
JakeInHartsel

Steve Calvin wrote:

> DJS0302 wrote:
>
>>> I've been looking through some good pasta sauce recipes, and a couple
>>> of them mention putting a pinch of baking soda into the sauce. They
>>> say it makes the sauce sweeter and richer.
>>>
>>> I've never heard of this -- is it true?
>>>
>>> THanks!
>>
>>
>>
>> I've done it before and while it does reduces the acidity, to me it
>> also seems
>> to remove a lot of the flavor and the sauce ends up tasting flat.
>> Sautéed
>> onions or garlic will sweeten a tomato based pasta sauce, so will grated
>> carrots. If a sauce is still too acidic I'll just go ahead and add a
>> pinch of
>> sugar to it.
>
>
> I've tried it and agree with the above posters opinion. I tried Anna
> Maries method of adding a touch of milk or 1/2 and 1/2 and it works much
> better IMO. YMMV
>

i was going to post my trick and i see you did it for me thanks.... :-)

ciao, anna maria


www.annamariavolpi.com

anna maria wrote:
>>
>> I've tried it and agree with the above posters opinion. I tried Anna
>> Maries method of adding a touch of milk or 1/2 and 1/2 and it works
>> much better IMO. YMMV
>>
>
> i was going to post my trick and i see you did it for me thanks.... :-)
>
> ciao, anna maria
>
>
> www.annamariavolpi.com
>

Sorry about misspelling your name! Spelling was never a strong point
of mine. I always leaned more toward the sciences.

--
Steve

Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it.

In article >,
(mdfloyd) wrote:

> I've been looking through some good pasta sauce recipes, and a couple
> of them mention putting a pinch of baking soda into the sauce. They
> say it makes the sauce sweeter and richer.
>
> I've never heard of this -- is it true?
>
> THanks!

I don't know about sweeter and richer. It does lessen the acidity of
the tomato taste, though. I've posted the suggestion here a number of
times, having read about it here a long time ago. I do it. Mustn't use
much, though. A pinch into the simmering sauce, stir, and watch it
bubble up. I haven't tried the milk thing.
--
-Barb
<www.jamlady.eboard.com>
"If you're ever in a jam, here I am."

"hahabogus" > wrote in message
...
> (mdfloyd) wrote in
> om:
>
> > I've been looking through some good pasta sauce recipes, and a couple
> > of them mention putting a pinch of baking soda into the sauce. They
> > say it makes the sauce sweeter and richer.
> >
> > I've never heard of this -- is it true?
> >
> > THanks!
>
> The Baking soda neutralizes some of the acidity of the tomatoes...A pinch
> maybe 2 is all you need to remove the bitter taste of over acidic
> tomato sauce. It doesn't necessarily make it sweet tasting...just less
> acidic/bitter. I've rescued a few sauces this way. We're talking
> about changing the PH not making sweeter. BTW too much will ruin a sauce
> too, so use a light hand.
>
> --
> And the beet goes on! (or under)
> -me just a while ago


A better way would be to add some calcium carbonate better known as egg
shells or marble (as in statues). Both should be ground. The carbonate
reacts with the acid. When the acid is gone, the remaining material will
remain unreacted until it gets into your tummy. At that point it will be
available to strengthen your bones.

Dom Amato