Is sugar really necessary in a tomato based sauce?

[Deleted User]

Lots of recipes seem to have sugar in tomato based sauces. What would be the effect of omitting it?

My little book from The Works - Sauces, 100 Everyday Recipes £1.99 is my source for the question but I have seen sugar in other Tomato based recipes too.

[Deleted User]

PS - my spellchecker keeps trying to change tomato to Toyota!

BitterAndTwisted

Tomatoes are rather acidic, so the sugar tempers that. No-one ever died from not having a sprinkle on their sauce. Do what you want.

fiscalfreckles

I don't usually add it & it tastes OK to me. Usually has lots of garlic & black pepper in though.

savetosave

I've always added a little sugar and I think it's better. only about a teaspoonful though.
What not make a batch without, split it into 2, add sugar to half and taste.
Then you can decide for yourself and you can always still add it if you prefer.

Rainy-Days

Problem you have is that allot of purchased jar type tomato based pasta sauces have added sugar to them so you kind of aquire the 'taste' of the sugar through that.

There is no hard and fast rule about it, it just evens out the taste of the tomatoes and turns it from being slightly acidic to a sweeter taste. Tomatoes do well with a slight amount of sugar added but I would put no more in that a couple of teaspossons at the most (for a meal for four that is).

babyshoes

I add a bit of milk instead of sugar to counter the acidic taste - apparently it's quite a common additive in Italy. Try it and see if it works for you!

meritaten

I usually add a pinch of sugar too! otherwise the acidity of the sauce can be a bit overwhelming.

markdebby

I usually put in a little sweetner when making tomato soup

peachyprice

I never put sugar in, but I do cook my sauce for 3-4 hours, by then there's no acidity from the tomatoes left at all.

Steve059

I've never used sugar in either my basic "Napolitana" tomato pasta sauce/pizza topping or tomato soup and neither taste bitter or sharp.