Tomato sauce
sauce made primarily from tomatoes
Tomato sauce can refer to many different sauces made primarily from tomatoes. In some countries the term refers to a sauce to be served as part of a dish; in others, it is a condiment. Tomatoes have a rich flavor, high water content, soft flesh which breaks down easily, and the right composition to thicken into a sauce when stewed, without the need for thickeners such as roux or masa. All of these qualities make them ideal for simple and appealing sauces. Tomato sauce typically has a thinner consistency than tomato paste and tomato purée; however, tomato sauces may use either as an ingredient.
In dishes tomato sauces are common for meat and vegetables such as in stews, but they are perhaps best known as bases for Italian pasta or pizza dishes, or in Mexican salsas.
History
Tomato sauces, along with similarly related and prepared tomatillo sauces, are presumed to have been in use since antiquity by the peoples of Central and South America as bases for many dishes. However, much of Pre-Columbian cuisine history in Mexico, along with other culturally significant information, had been purged during the periods of conquest by Europeans, chiefly the Spanish. Bernardino de Sahagún, a Franciscan friar from the Kingdom of Spain, is believed to be the first European to write about tomato sauce after encountering it for sale in the markets of Tenochtitlan (today Mexico City).
The first Italian recipe of tomato sauce was published under the name "Spanish tomato sauce" in Lo Scalco alla Moderna ('The Modern Steward'), written by Italian chef Antonio Latini and published in two volumes in 1692 and 1694.
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