The reason for sprinkling a pinch of sugar into a simmering saucepan of tomatoes is simple: sugar cuts the acidity of the tomatoes and creates an overall more balanced sauce. The exact acid levels in tomatoes can vary quite a bit depending on whether they're fresh or canned, the tomato variety, and the time of year.
The purpose of adding a pinch of sugar to tomato sauce is to balance the acidity of the tomatoes (per The Guardian). Every good cook knows to taste the sauce before adding any potentially unnecessary ingredients, and sugar is no exception.
"A pinch of sugar is a Southern Italian trick that was used when the sauce was made with end-of-season tomatoes that did not get ripe, or the tomatoes were so tart they needed to be balanced," Chiarello explained to Epicurious.
Sugar won't necessarily cut the acidity, but it will help you achieve a more balanced sauce with a slightly sweet flavour. I always add sugar and salt when making tomato sauce.
For any marinara purists, adding a bit of sugar to the sauce may seem sacrilegious. But the truth is, sometimes tomato sauce needs a bit of sugar. Because great sauce relies on a tomato's inherent sweetness, which is released when they're cooked down and concentrated.
Salt. Through its magic (note: it's actually not magic at all, but rather the chemical reaction osmosis), salt can cure a tomato's juice problem. Osmosis never tasted so good. When you simply salt a tomato, you not only draw out the juices, but you also concentrate the fruit's flavor.
If the sauce isn't sweet enough, add sugar 1 teaspoon at a time. Stir and taste after each addition, I find that 1 teaspoon is usually enough for me. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired. That's the end of the super basic recipe, but you can enhance from there.
To balance flavor and enhance complexity, we will continue to reach for sugar (add ¼ teaspoon at a time until the desired flavor is reached) when we need to make tomato sauce less acidic. Some recipes call for adding baking soda to make a sauce less acidic.
Add Some Baking Soda
If your tomato sauce is too acidic and verging on bitter, turn to baking soda, not sugar. Yes, sugar might make the sauce taste better, but good old baking soda is an alkaline that will help balance the excess acid. A little pinch should do the trick.
That secret pinch of sugar is one of the last steps I take before letting the sauce simmer away on the stovetop to thicken up. You can use either white or brown sugar. Personally, I prefer packed brown sugar, but experiment to see which gives you the best results.
The flavour comes from a quick simmer which caramelises the sugars in the tomatoes giving the sauce the most delicious flavour in a short amount of time. High-quality tomatoes are a MUST for this and are the only way to achieve a delicious tasting sauce.
But turns out a humble squirt of tomato sauce may be doing more damage to your waistline than you might think, with a single tablespoon containing higher sugar content than a biscuit or a chocolate.
It might have something to do with the chemistry, and how it changes when tomatoes are cooked. Oh, yes, cooking can change a foodstuff's chemistry. For instance, there is an antioxidant called lycopene, found not just in tomatoes, but also watermelon, pink guava, red bell peppers, and papaya.
Think of cooking as simulating a ripening process - when you cook a fresh tomato it intensifies it and sweetens it. Canned tomatoes are already cooked so that process is halfway there. Fruit and carrots are a very natural way to add mild sweetness, and carrots are my personal favorite for this.
If the sugar-salt combo doesn't do the trick for your sad tomatoes, Bon Appetit suggests getting tropical and adding pineapple juice. Really! They claim that when paired with raw tomatoes, pineapple juice mimics the acidity and sweetness you would typically find in a ripe tomato making sub-par tomatoes much tastier.
The reason for sprinkling a pinch of sugar into a simmering saucepan of tomatoes is simple: sugar cuts the acidity of the tomatoes and creates an overall more balanced sauce. The exact acid levels in tomatoes can vary quite a bit depending on whether they're fresh or canned, the tomato variety, and the time of year.
Essentially, the less ripe your tomatoes, the more likely they'll be to need a little something to help them along. Not only that, Roddy adds, but “plenty of tomatoes are really quite acidic, so will only benefit from a bit of added sugar”.
Pungent fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and marjoram can liven up tomato sauce with their bold, distinctive flavors. Add 1 to 2 sprigs of one or more of them to your favorite sauce, cover, and simmer at least 5 minutes to allow them to infuse in the sauce. Remove the sprigs before serving.
Tomatoes become more acidic as they cook longer, so reducing the cook time to the least amount possible can help keep the acid level lower. Sauces and other dishes that require long simmering may make this difficult, but it is recommended that you don't cook tomatoes for longer than 1 ½ hours.
Don't skip the brown sugar.
Adding a bit of sugar to your homemade spaghetti sauce helps to cut the natural acidity of the tomatoes and helps to balance the sauce. For an extra kick, add a sprinkling of red pepper flakes to your sauce.
Add butter
Yes, that's right. Toss in a few tablespoons of butter, and let it melt into the sauce. If you've never tried it before, it might seem strange, but a little butter makes tomato sauce rich and smooth, and also balances out too much acidity, which is common in jarred sauces.
Or else, you can also take a thick slice of tomato, pour some sugar over it and use it as a cotton pad to gently massage your face. Do this for about 5-7 minutes and wash off with lukewarm water.