The Dream of the '90s Is Alive in Sun-Dried Tomatoes

如果你问19岁的我,her secondhand combat boots, ripped fishnet tights, and paint-streaked thrift store dress, what food sat firmly spiked on the apex of sophistication, she'd probably tell you — with a snotty art-school eye roll — that it was sun-dried tomatoes. It was the early 1990s, and perhaps you might be lenient with me for the outfit and the attitude. But I'm not gonna apologize for loving the now-passé pantry item. Their flavor stands the test of time.

In short, sun-dried tomatoes are — as advertised — dried tomatoes, but the "sun" part may often be a bit of a fib. In their consummate incarnation, sun-dried tomatoes are Roma, San Marzano, or wee grape or cherry varieties that have been dehydrated by exposure to the glowing orb in the sky and a sprinkling of salt to draw out their moisture. Shield them with cheesecloth and drag them in at night to protect them from predators and weirdos, and after a few days their flavor will be gloriously concentrated into sweet little umami bombs. This, of course, is a crapshoot in our climate-wonky times, so many manufacturers turn to dehydrators or ovens instead. Those solutions yield a more consistent result in a shorter amount of time, which is key when demand is high, but can result in a texture that's chewy, leathery, and feels like a lotta jaw work. This may speak to the decline of their popularity after the initial mega-burst, but when sun-dried tomatoes are in their ideal form, the pleasure is a singular one.

Plenty of sauce has been spilled by hella smart people in stories — like Evan Kleiman's "Sun-dried tomatoes, the Mickey Rourke of food, get their second act" in the《洛杉矶时报》and Priya Krishna's practically forensic "What Ever Happened to Sun-Dried Tomatoes?" exploration forTaste- 关于这种古老的地中海成分如何在80年代和90年代的美国餐厅菜单和“美食”杂货店的货架上几乎可笑地普遍存在。简而言之，正如传奇的杂货商史蒂文·詹金斯（Steven Jenkins）告诉当时的New York Timeswriter Mark Bittman, in 1979 he was walking through a market in Cannes, and noticed five-kilo tins of oil-preserved tomatoes from San Remo hanging from the ceiling. He called his boss, Giorgio DeLuca, and DeLuca's namesake New York shop became the first sun-dried tomato vendor in the United States. Within a couple years, the fooderati caught on.

The first mention I found in theNew York Timesarchive was in a 1981 holiday gift guide wherein writer Marian Burros called sun-dried Ligurian-oil-packed tomatoes an "unusual item" that was included as part of aDean & DeLucagift bowl, and she invoked a take-home "fettucine a la salmone, the artichoke pasta spaghettini with sun-dried tomatoes and smoked salmon" dish fromBalducci'sin April that following year. By 1983, George DeLuca told theWashington Postwriter Shelley Davis that he was suddenly selling 250 pounds of imported Italian dried tomatoes a week at a whopping $18 a pound, when 30 years prior, "Importers couldn't get them beyond being ethnic food."

在同一篇文章中,华盛顿店主uzanne Reifers chalked their popularity up to that sudden spate of media attention, telling Davis, "I've been selling them in my shop since it opened two and one-half years ago. Just recently people are coming in and saying, '我听到的关于晒干的西红柿的所有这些是什么？" They were getting an earful, and then took ravenous mouthfuls.

However, many people who are old enough to have been sentient diners in that era will now almost performatively enact disdain at the mere mention of sun-dried tomatoes, making some crack about goat cheese and pesto, espresso martinis (though—guess who's back!?), or molten lava cake. Those who were not, like Epicurious' Emily Johnson (also hella smart), might call a sun-dried tomato and pesto torta an "old weirdo" and "something their parents would have served at a fancy cocktail party when they were a kid." As early as 1993,Taste of Homemagazine launched with a pledge to readers that "It's down-home and practical — its recipes call for ingredients most cooks readily have on hand. You won't have to run to a specialty food store for goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes … and that's a promise!" And a quick Twitter search of "90s" and "sun-dried tomatoes" yields gems like "Thesun-dried tomato invasion在90年代，有一个疫病。”“ 90年代是如此陈旧，我们对此感到兴奋sun-dried tomatoas a flavoring." "Wow! When everyone's tastes sucks. Like the 90ssun-dried tomatocraze." Way harsh, Tai.

在SDT Peak时代，我几乎没有幻想，而且几十年来，我仍然没有人参加鸡尾酒会的父母。但是，事实是，在互联网前一家附近咖啡馆的一个破产的巴尔的摩大学孩子以某种方式知道，一个带有番茄和番茄酱的砖头晒干的番茄百吉饼是奶油奶酪奶油奶酪说的关于食物的巨大吸引力。亚搏电竞他们无处不在：我在窗户上的菜单上仔细的schmancy餐厅，但甚至无法梦想用餐，以及当地报纸的页面 -Baltimore Sun— which ran an article titled "Make your own sun-dried tomatoes as gourmet treat." They even made it into my beloved间谍magazine's satirical Nouvelle-O-Matic chart (which I tore out and brought with me to school because I wasthatpretentious) that compiled culinary buzzwords into columns allowing the reader to mentally concoct dishes like "warm salad of monkfish grilled over mesquite with a sauce of raspberry vinegar and sun-dried tomatoes garnished with Cajun popcorn." They were pounded into pesto, ground into waxen sandwich wraps to be folded around even more tomatoes, baked into and smeared upon bagels, extruded into pasta noodles and chopped on top. As cookbook author大卫·勒博维茨（David Lebovitz）noted in a 2020 post about the throwback pleasures of sun-dried tomato pesto, "As a California restaurant cook in the '80s and '90s, I've seen more than my share of sun-dried tomatoes." Lucky him — I could never, ever,everget my fill.

That's not to say I haven't tried. Here's a smattering of recipes with "sun-dried tomato" or "dried tomato" or "pumate" (the Italian word for sun-dried tomato) in the title that I found on my cookbook shelves in a search, partially viaEat Your Books。(Hot tip: the indexing service lets you log a library of the cookbooks you own. You can query for ingredients and recipes so you don't have to pull every book off the shelf. Though I may have.) A few standouts include Sun-Dried Tomatoes En Papillote and Shrimp with Vermouth and Sun-Dried Tomatoes from the 1986 edition of最好的食物和葡萄酒亚搏电竞亚搏电竞，理查德·西蒙斯（Richard SimmonsFarewell to Fat Cookbooka decade later.The Clinton Presidential Center Cookbookcame bearing Patricia Morrow's Brie with Sun-Dried Tomatoes in 2003, Grant Achatz worked hisAlineaniçoise橄榄上的食谱巫术，2008年的芝麻菜，芝麻菜，Priya Krishna和她的母亲Ritu得到了Indian-ish在2019年，以晒干的番茄，智利和大蒜蘸酱的方式进行。（并向下滚动以获取35年跨度的完整食谱列表。它太有趣了，不包括。）

坦白说，我很高兴我的副本在厨房里有小猪小姐：来自我著名名人朋友的神话般的食谱（1996年）没有提及SDT，但我对Cheryl Tiegs的Borscht，Ivana Trump的牛肉Goulash和Barbara Bush的Bolologna提供鸡尾酒自助餐的食谱感到非常好奇。这就是这一点，也就是：晒干的西红柿非常美味，已经呆了很长时间了，因为几十年即使不是几个世纪以来，他们才开始出现在美国主流食谱，报纸，食品杂志或挑剔的“ gourmet”商店中。亚搏电竞。他们的积极属性并未与其具有影响力的状态一起过期，那么为什么它们是如此多的声音嘲笑的对象呢？您不会看到人们对橄榄油，肉桂，黑胡椒，黄油，蜂蜜或莳萝泡菜的全部努力。是因为他们一直是曲目玩家，而晒干的西红柿将其带到了侯爵夫人身上？不知道。作为那个时代的遗物，我个人认为这是一个奇怪的人。亚搏电竞食物时尚让我感到困扰，但这可能与服装时尚一​​样。穿一双“经典”李维斯和一件白色T恤，你是永恒的。添加一个独特的配件，稍微改变搭配，将袖口朝错误的方向滚动一英寸，突然间，您已经过时了，您已经过时，失去了触摸，甚至有些可悲 - 即使您知道自己看起来该死 good in the mirror.

But much like my beloved boots and fishnets, I have a feeling that sun-dried tomatoes will be stomping back into favor. It'll be fueled by the '90s nostalgia of those of us who lived it, as well as my peers' children, devoid of cultural baggage, who have dug into their parents' closets to haul out clunky Steve Madden sandals, plaid flannel, and grunge CDs. Perhaps the two generations may find accord on the couch together watchingPump Up the Volume(available streaming for the first time since its 1990 release and I'm here you to tell you: it holds up) or黄夹克在试图解释海盗收音机，混合录像带以及朱丽叶·刘易斯眼线笔风格的持久吸引力时。长老套装可能正在用山羊奶酪和晒干的番茄香蒜酱和琼斯（Jones）挖一碗奥尔佐（Orzo），而琼斯（Jones）则是震撼的可乐，而年轻的gnaws则是“番茄生意生意”（Tomato Jerky） - 不，不，真的，这就是贝拉·桑德（Bella Sun Sun）的销售方式露西亚（Lucia）是原始的晒干西红柿的国内生产商之一或储蓄素食绿色where sun-dried tomatoes and smoked paprika stand in for the traditional turkey neck or ham hock. But they can both agree on one thing: Christian Slater remains a stone-cold fox. OK, that and the fact that trends may come and go, but sooner or later, this 'mater will once again find its place in the sun.

通过让他们坐在热水中约半小时，然后用橄榄油（理想情况下是利古里亚人）覆盖它们，以帮助减少咀嚼，从而重新建立了非油包装的西红柿。亚搏电竞

让石油注入丰富的橙色的场地se of a few days, and use it (or the oil from packed tomatoes) to add flavor to dressings, marinades, pesto, spreads, pasta, and more. For safety, heat the mixture to 165°F in a saucepan, let it cool, and keep it in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Simmer sun-dried tomatoes in water to form the base of a savory broth for soups, stews, risotto, or rice.

在食品加工机中搅拌盐的番茄，撒上盐，直到剩下很大的块，然后用亚搏电竞它调味。

Make some goshdarned pesto with it and live the dream of the '90s.Here's a recipe。

最好的食物和葡萄酒亚搏电竞亚搏电竞(1986) by The Editors of Food & Wine: Grilled Veal with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Olives, and Sage; Potatoes and Sun-Dried Tomatoes En Papillote; Shrimp with Vermouth and Sun-Dried Tomatoes; Stir-Fry of Pork, Fennel, Spinach, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

最好的食物和葡萄酒亚搏电竞亚搏电竞(1988) by The Editors of Food & Wine: Chicken Breast Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes; Pumate Spread with Ricotta Cheese; Veal Steaks with Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce

最好的食物和葡萄酒亚搏电竞亚搏电竞(1990) (exclusive gift edition from Benson & Hedges) by The Editors of Food & Wine: Zucchini and Sun-Dried Tomato Pizza

最好的食物和葡萄酒亚搏电竞亚搏电竞(1991) by The Editors of Food & Wine: Orzo with Roasted Peppers and Dried Tomatoes; Pasta with Shrimp, Arugula and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

最好的食物和葡萄酒亚搏电竞亚搏电竞（1993）食品和葡萄酒的编辑：晒干的番茄黄油亚搏电竞亚搏电竞

美国最好的食谱 - 1994年的家乡系列(1994) by Oxmoor House: Sun-Dried Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Dip; Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

最好的食物和葡萄酒亚搏电竞亚搏电竞(1995) by The Editors of Food & Wine: Fettuccine with Radicchio and Sun-Dried Tomatoes; Fried Rice with Pork and Sun-Dried Tomatoes; Goat Cheese, Walnut, and Sun-Dried Tomato Spread

Richard Simmons Farewell to Fat Cookbook(1996) by Richard Simmons: Windy City Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto and Ricotta Torta

烹饪的喜悦(1997) by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker: Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts Baked in Foil with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Olives; Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce; Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing; Rice Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes; Chicken, Black Olive, and Sun-Dried Tomato Calzone; Grilled Eggplant, Mushrooms, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes Pizza; Olive and Sun-Dried Tomato Pan Sauce

Staff Meals from Chanterelle(2000) by David Waltuck and Andrew Friedman: Cheese Tortellini with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream

The Clinton Presidential Center Cookbook（2003年）：帕特里夏·莫罗（Patricia Morrow）的布里与晒干的西红柿

Preserved(2004) by Nick Sandler and Johnny Acton: Sun-Dried蕃茄汤with Tapenade; Sun-Dried Tomato Paste

烹饪的喜悦(2006) by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker: Pizza with Grilled Eggplant, Mushrooms, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes; Miniature Turnovers with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Pesto

如何烹饪火鸡：还有其他所有修剪(2007) by Fine Cooking Magazine: Goat Cheese, Pesto, and Sun-Dried Tomato Terrine; Baked Rotini with Turkey, Asparagus, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Skinny Bitch in the Kitch': Kick-Ass Recipes for Hungry Girls Who Want to Stop Cooking Crap (and Start Looking Hot!)(2008) by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin: Linguini with Pesto, Pine Nuts, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Chanterelle：餐厅经典的故事和食谱(2008) by David Waltuck and Andrew Friedman:: Beef Rib-Eye with Sun-Dried Tomato Coulis, Chiles & a Drizzle of Goat Cheese Cream

The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life(2008) by Ellie Krieger: Portobello Panini with Gorgonzola and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Alinea(2008) by Grant Achatz: Sardine, Niçoise Olive, Dried Tomato, Arugula

Olives and Oranges: Recipes and Flavor Secrets from Spain, Italy, Cyprus, & Beyond（2008）萨拉·詹金斯（Sara Jenkins）和明迪狐狸（Mindy Fox）：橄榄，土豆和晒干的西红柿

Food & Wine Annual Cookbook 2009: An Entire Year of Recipes(2009) by Food & Wine Magazine:Sun-Dried Tomato Flans with Arugula Salad; Broiled Ricotta with Olives and Sun-Dried-Tomato Relish;

Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals(2009) by Jamie Oliver: Black Olive, Sun-Dried Tomato, and Celery Dip

How to Cook Everything, Completely Revised 10th Anniversary Edition: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food(2009) by Mark Bittman: Chicken Cutlets with Broccoli and Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Packages

New American Table(2009) by Marcus Samuelsson: Sun-Dried Tomato Bread

Gourmet Today: More than 1,000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen(2009) by Ruth Reichl: Sun-Dried Tomato Dip

The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook: A New, Healthier Way to Cook Everything from America's Most Trusted Test Kitchen(2010): by America's Test Kitchen Editors: Pizza with Garlicky Broccoli, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes; Healthy Scrambled Eggs with Goat Cheese, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Oregano; Breakfast Strata with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese; Pasta Salad with Arugula and Sun-Dried Tomatoes; Sun-Dried Tomato Relish; Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto; Whole-Wheat Dinner Rolls with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Parmesan; Lowfat Cheese Bread with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Garlic

烹饪方式烹饪方式：日常烹饪的完整视觉指南(2010) by Cooking Light Magazine: Little Italy Chicken Pitas with Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette

厨房里的心灵(2015) by Jacques Pepin: Corn and Shallots with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

The Family Table: Recipes and Moments from a Nomadic Life(2018) by Jazz Smollett-Warwell, Jake Smollett, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, and Jussie Smollett: Sun-Dried Tomato-Shallot Butter

Indian-ish: Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family(2019) by Priya Krishna and Ritu Krishna: Sun-Dried Tomato, Chile, and Garlic Dip

烹饪的喜悦, Revised and Updated厄玛(2019)的s . Rombauer马里昂Rombauer贝克尔, Ethan Becker, Megan Scott, and John Becker: Millet Cakes with Parmesan and Sun-Dried Tomatoes; Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes(2020) by Bryant Terry: Sun-Dried Tomato Broth

Cheryl Day's Treasury of Southern Baking(2021) by Cheryl Day: Sun-Dried Tomato-Parmesan Scones