Chickpea to Cook

Let me get this out of the way. I don’t like Tuna in a Can. I really don’t like any sort of meat product that comes in a can–it just seems wrong and counter-intuitive. Although don’t ask me why meat wrapped in cellophane is any better.

But I thought I would give this Trader Joe’s Albacore Solid White Tuna in Olive Oil a try. I know now that I fell victim to a clever marketing ploy.

The sign by the shelf suggested pairing the Lemon Pappardelle pasta (yum) with capers (yum) and…albacore tuna from a can? I should have known. But I bought it. Boy, did I ever.

This photo is the closest this tuna got to my kitchen table. The smell alone was enough to let me know this was really just human-grade cat food. But I thought it would make for a good blog story. So I tried it.

And promptly threw it away.

Does anyone actually like this stuff? I want to hear from some tuna-in-a-can eaters so I can find out the appeal. It doesn’t have to be fancy tuna…even StarKist Tuna would be fine. Whatever it is, I want to hear from you.

Chickpea says: Shenasty

They suck. I try a new one every time I go grocery shopping and no matter whether I buy Chef Boyardee or something a little more upscale like Dave’s Gourmet, I’m just never satisfied.

Can somebody please tell me when Spaghetti-Oh’s sauce started to taste bad? I used to love the stuff as a kid.

Anyway, I had high hopes for Dave’s Gourmet Red Heirloom Tomato Pasta Sauce. I bought it at Whole Foods for around $6.  It was fine, don’t get me wrong, but nothing to write home about (although here I find myself blogging about it….odd.)

It was much more runny than normal tomato sauce and I hoped that meant that it was going to be naturally flavorful without all the preservatives. Sadly, it lacked the garden freshness I was looking for. No zip, no nothing.

I will say it was much better than the next jar I bought, which was Delallo Sundried Tomato Pasta Sauce–imported from Italy and made form San Marzano tomatoes nonetheless.

I have half a jar left in my fridge and I am tempted to just throw it away. It tastes like chunky tomato paste. I could have saved myself the $6 or however much it cost and just bought a tin can of Hunt’s.

Could it be that I am being too picky? Will I be relegated to making my own tomato sauce from scratch or eating my pasta with olive oil and parmesan cheese forever?

If anyone has an exceptional canned tomato sauce, please send me your suggestions.

Until then, my quest for the best tomato sauce continues….