Canned tomatoes

I use canned tomatoes when I want rich tomato flavor, in a tomato sauce for pasta for example, and flavorful fresh locally grown tomatoes are not available. The best imported Italian tomatoes come from a town near Naples called San Marzano, famous for its sweet, flavorful pear-shaped tomatoes. In any case, always buy whole peeled tomatoes because their flavor is closer to a perfect fresh tomato than chopped or crushed canned tomatoes.