Concassé
Concassé is tomato that has been peeled, seeded and cut into small, even dice, ready for sauces, salsas and garnishes with no skin or watery seeds.
Also called Concasse, Tomato concassé, Tomates concassées.
Concassé is tomato flesh that has been peeled, seeded and diced. The word comes from the French concasser, "to crush" or "to pound". Without the skin and the watery seeds, the tomato gives clean, sweet pieces that do not curl up in a sauce or make a salad wet.
How to do it
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and set a bowl of ice water next to it.
- Cut out the stem core with the tip of a paring knife.
- Score a shallow X in the base of each tomato.
- Blanch the tomatoes for 15 to 30 seconds, until the skin at the X starts to curl back. Very ripe tomatoes need less time.
- Lift them out and shock them in the ice water for a minute so they stop cooking.
- Pull off the skin with your fingers or the back of the knife.
- Cut the tomatoes into quarters and scoop out the seeds and jelly.
- Cut the flesh into even pieces, usually 6 mm (1/4 inch) or the size the recipe asks for.
Why it works
The short dip in boiling water heats the thin layer just under the skin. The skin loosens and slips off, while the flesh below stays raw. The ice water stops the heat before the flesh softens. Taking out the seeds removes most of the liquid, so the dice keep their shape.
How to use it
- Spoon raw concassé over fish, bruschetta or soup as a garnish.
- Warm it through in butter or olive oil as a quick sauce for pasta.
- Mix it with herbs, onion and vinegar for a fresh relish.
Common mistakes
- Leaving the tomatoes in the boiling water too long. They turn soft and mealy.
- Skipping the ice water, so the tomatoes keep cooking from their own heat.
- Using hard, pale tomatoes. Concassé only tastes as good as the tomatoes it is made from.
- Throwing away the seeds and juice. Strain them and use the liquid in sauces or soups.
In recipes
"Concassé", "peeled, seeded and diced tomatoes" and "tomates concassées" all mean the same thing. Some recipes use the word for any roughly chopped mixture, but for tomatoes it nearly always means skinless and seedless.
Related terms
- BlanchBlanching is cooking food for a short time in boiling water, then stopping the cooking in ice water. It sets color and loosens skins.
- ShockTo shock is to plunge just-cooked food into ice water so it stops cooking at once. It keeps vegetables bright and crisp and makes eggs easier to peel.
- ScoreTo score is to make shallow cuts in the surface of food, such as duck skin, fish, pork rind or bread dough, to help it cook evenly, crisp and look neat.
- SeedTo seed is to remove the seeds and pith from fruit and vegetables such as chilies, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and pomegranates.
- DiceTo dice is to cut food into small, even cubes. Large, medium and small dice have set sizes, so everything in the pan cooks at the same rate.
- PeelTo peel is to remove the skin or rind from fruit and vegetables with a peeler, a knife, your fingers or a quick blanch, keeping as much flesh as you can.