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Press Release
Tropical Traditions [1]
Springville, CA
Tropical Traditions announced this week that they are carrying the Middle Earth Organics award-winning line of organic Italian tomato sauces. This line of organic tomato sauces, packaged in glass jars, is Europe’s premier organic tomato sauce line, and one of the very few imported Italian brands in the United States marketplace. Their operations are located outside of Piacenza in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy.
Unlike other sauce-makers, Middle Earth Organics’ fields are located directly adjacent to their processing plant. This means that their vegetables go direct from vine to jar. They are never transported or refrigerated. Their policy is to process everything within 3 hours or less of being harvested, and this accounts for the distinctly fresher flavor of these premier organic tomato sauces. NO SUGAR OR SWEETENERS ARE ADDED!! These sauces are so fresh and delicious, that no sugar or sweeteners are needed, and no tomato concentrate is added either.
This is Italian food at its finest: simple, traditional recipes with no shortcuts. What they don’t grow themselves, they source from the best that the Italian peninsula has to offer, such as: pungent green olive oil from Puglia, porcini mushrooms from the Apennines, baby capers from the island of Lipari, Peranzana olives from Calabria, etc.
In a taste test of over forty types of tomato sauce, Organic Style Magazine rated the Tomato and Basil Sauce the BEST IN THE USA in its category. And Child Magazine rated the Tomato and Eggplant TOPS FOR KIDS because of its great flavor and healthy ingredients. The San Francisco Chronicle commended the line’s “clear, natural flavors” and listed Middle East Organics as one of only four gourmet quality sauces that use the best ingredients and no sugar.
“PASSATA RUSTICA” – EXTRA THICK COUNTRY-STYLE TOMATO Purée
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What is Passata Rustica? The best translation would be something like “Country Style Tomato Purée”, although “Tomato Ambrosia” or “Hearts of Tomato” does a better job in catching its essence. Basically, Passata Rustica is an exceptionally high quality purée, la crème de la crème of the tomato world, produced by only a small number of estates in Italy. It is unique in several respects:
Unlike regular Passata in which tomatoes are pulverized beyond recognition (and to which water is often added), Passata Rustica actually preserves the tomatoes in beautiful, velvety chunks. The strainer employed in the manufacturing process is much larger than usual, allowing the pulp to exit in pieces.
Since the holes in the strainer are larger, much more attention to detail has to be paid. No broken or dark tomatoes can be used.
Whereas a regular Passata (or “Strained Tomatoes” as they are sometimes known in the USA) uses tomatoes collected throughout the harvest, only the most perfect, ripest tomatoes are reserved for Passata Rustica. In fact, all Passata Rustica is actually manufactured during a short, two-week stretch generally between August 15 and August 30. This is when tomatoes are at the absolute peak of their freshness and sweetness.
Within three hours of being harvested, the tomatoes are first individually hand-selected and then processed. This insures the “direct from vine to jar” flavor that characterizes all of our products.