Peeling

A tomato’s peel is a veil which obscures the wonders of its flesh. If you leave it on, the tomatoes will eventually shed their peel as they cook, and later you will either have to pick it out or, since it is not pleasant to chew on, swallow it. And whether you pick it out or swallow it, it will have faintly tainted the dish with that slight touch of bitterness which, like all vegetable and fruit peels, it possesses. Like many Italians, I even peel tomatoes for salad so that they will taste sweeter. The only tomatoes I don’t peel are the tiny cherries because their size makes it impractical and their skin is so thin as to be negligible.