I have always favoured glass over plastic -- or metal -- especially as regards dishes and enclosures for food products. When I chanced upon BIONATURAE TOMATO PASTE in glass jars, here on Amazon, I thought
.... "Hmmm...this might be something I'd like.... Glass jars, 7 ounces of tomato paste in each, (rather than the 6 ounces that's the usual capacity for small, metal cans of tomato paste)....organic....I might like this!" The fact that they spelt their brand name "BIONATURAE" made it seem good as well -- I've always been a fan of delightfully old-fashined "ae" spellings of words. So, I bought some!
WHAT'S INSIDE....AND OUTSIDE.. It's very convenient to be able to resear the glass jar, and this is mentioned on the label! It's organic, all right -- and from Italy, as well! And, (at least as far as the stereotype goes), Italians should know tomato paste, right?
Yes, they do. But, being from Italy, this is a slightly different type of tomato paste than that which I am used to buying and eating in the USA. Although the label says it contains "tomatos", and nothing else, I found the consistancy of the Bionaturae tomato sauce SLIGHTLY more watery than the soft-frosting-like consistanc I usually find in American tomato pastes. This very-slightly more watery consistency does have advantages, though: it's easier to take out of the can...er, glass jar...and easier to mix with milk or water, or with whatever else you want to mix it.
I use tomato paste as a hopefully-inexpensive way to make my own tomato soup, and tomato sauce -- and sometimes, (thought not very often), as a snack, all by itself! So, before I made either tomato sauce or tomato soup, I tasted a teaspoon or so, right from the jar, to judge the flavour. Again, there was a difference from American tomoato pastes: it was slightly less sweet. (I guess they use a different type of tomato, for "sugar" is NOT an ingredient in this, or any other tomato paste I have bought.) So, all by itself, being less sweet, it makes a far less satisfying snack. However, I realize not many people use tomato paste as a snack, so -- except for the very small part of the tomato-paste buying population, such as myself, who do like to snack on tomato paste -- this isn't too impotant a factor.
However, I was pleasantly surprised and delighted when I added ht water and milk to approximately half the jar (3 1/ 2 ounces), of this new tomato paste, added just three Splenda packets, warmed it up, and made myself about 20 ounces of tomato soup. It tasted far more like the Campbell's tomato soup I used to drink, than tomato soup made with other brands of tomato paste I have bought -- but without any additives, preservatives, or chemicals, of course! (I drank my nice warm tomato soup near bedtime, as I've read -- in The Green Pharamacy Guide to Foods, also available here on Amazon -- is a great way to get yourself to sleep on sleepless nights!)
It was the same when I used Bionaturae Tomato Paste as a base for my home-made tomato sauce, to use over pasta! It had, somehow, a more "tomato-sauce-like" flavour than the tomato sauce I have made with other tomato pastes. Plus, of course -- in making both the tomato soup, and tomato sauce -- the slighly more liquid consistency of this particular tomato paste made it easier to mix with milk and water. Less milk and water for the tomato sauce, more milk and water for the tomato soup.
So, in the end, this "extra-ounce, in a glass jar" organic tomato paste is not half-bad. I don't recommend it for those (few( others who, like me, may like to have a small can -- or glass jar -- of tomato paste as a a occasional snack. For cooking, however, it seems an ideal little concentrate. And concentrates -- which allow one to add one's own dilutantes, (usually water, milk, and/or seasonings), are usually a great way to save some money, not to mention eliminating chemical or other unwanted, extraneious ingredients! It's called BIONATURAE for good reasons! : ),