smoked tomato seasoning

This blend started with cold-smoking fresh tomatoes at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont — the flavor stuck, and the question became how to build it into a seasoning that could deliver the same depth on a shelf. The concept took shape under a classically Escoffier-trained mentor at a spice shop, and the blend was refined at Terra Spice around organic domestic tomato powder, garlic, chiles, onion, and a short list of spices, balanced with acid, hand-harvested sea salt, and hickory smoke. The flavor lands between a slow-roasted tomato and a wood-fired sauce — savory and sweet up front, smoke through the middle, mild heat at the finish. Dissolves cleanly into liquids and fats, so it works anywhere you want that depth.

Tomato Soup — Stir 2 teaspoons into a quart of tomato soup in the last five minutes of cooking. The smoke and acid give the bowl a slow-roasted depth.

Pasta Sauce — Add 1 tablespoon to a 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes once your onions and garlic are sweated down. Let it simmer at least 15 minutes so the hickory smoke integrates into the sauce rather than sitting on top.

Scrambled Eggs — Whisk 1/2 teaspoon into three beaten eggs before they hit the pan. The tomato and smoke come through cleanly against the fat without burying the egg.

Smoky Tomato Vinaigrette — Whisk 1 teaspoon into a 3:1 ratio of olive oil to red wine vinegar with a small spoonful of honey. Works with bitter greens and grain salads, or doubles as a marinade for grilled vegetables.

Hollandaise — Add 1/2 teaspoon to a standard hollandaise just before service. The smoke and tomato push it toward a choron-style sauce without the work of making a separate tomato reduction.

Hummus — Blend 2 teaspoons into a standard batch — one 15-ounce can of chickpeas, tahini, lemon, and garlic. The smoke plays well against the tahini and gives you a dip that doesn't need a garnish to be interesting.

Polenta — Stir 1 tablespoon into a quart of creamy polenta just before plating. The tomato and smoke bloom in the residual heat, giving you a side that stands on its own under braised meats or roasted vegetables.

Ingredients: domestic tomato powder organic, domestic garlic, chiles, domestic onion, spices, hand-harvested sea salt, hickory smoke flavor oil-soluble organic (organic sunflower oil, natural flavors), organic cane sugar