cutting through acid in sauces?

thick cream or butter? maybe a bit more EVOO? Just thinking that if your trying to cut acidity encapsulating it in a bit of fat may help protect your stomach. Are you specifically talking tomato sauces? it's the most acidic I can think of off the top of my head. I can only guess that's what all the garlic bread or bread and butter is for, to help cut the acidity of a red sauce. Cheese would probably help in that aspect as well, it's full of fats and milk proteins.

 

If your goal is to lower the pH of the sauce, adding parmesan would be counter-productive since it is a fairly low pH item.
 

 

I think there is a difference between sour and acid.  You change the sourness with something sweet, you change acidity with an alkali (soda).  In the case of food, unless you need to decrease the actual acidity for some reason, the main concern is taste, so forget the acidity, and add something sweet.

First of all, check your tomatoes.  You don;t say where you live, but i think this is not good tomato season anywhere (maybe the equator?).  So if you're using fresh tomatoes, use canned.  Then experiment around and get good canned tomatoes.  You might try a very tiny amount of tomato paste or a couple of sun dried tomatoes soaked in water, added to the sauce then blend the sauce.  They tend to be sweeter, because picked ripe and the drying process sweetens them (like dried prunes).

Since most sauces begin with a sautee (soffritto) of garlic, onion, both, or more, I would add more onion, which is sweet, and more carrot, also sweet, to the soffritto.  If you don;t like all the pieces in the sauce you can blend it after. 

Hot pepper is also alkali, i believe, though I'm not sure if it would diminish the sourness.  I leave that to the chemists to determine.

In some regions of Italy they add a bit (pinch) of sugar too.  No reason not to. 

 

GG, many people have a higher sensibility toward acidity in their food, this time of the year, the changing of seasons. I have it too and it includes a very high sensibility toward drinks like white wines and champagnes. However, there's a simple trick our grandmothers already used, and I even see you use the product too, but maybe not in the right way. You call it baking powder, but many call it bicarbonate (of soda). Grandmothers trick was to put 1/4 of a teaspoon of that stuff in a small glass of water, stir and drink it. It just tastes a little salty. I do it too and I can guarantee you the burning feel in your stomach stops immediately. There are some natural sparkling waters that contain the stuff too. I guess Apollinaris is one of them. Very salty taste that one!

BTW, try cutting too much acidity by adding a little more salt!

I wouldn't try to change your good recipes by putting in bicarbonate. Over here in Europe, good chefs have always checked for p&s in their dishes, but more recently they put an emphasis on a nice acidity balance, which takes a dish to a higher level. Many times they will add lemonjuice, vinegar, verjus  etc. to correct the balance.

The same goes for wines, since ages. Any wine without the right amount of nice acids is just boring.

 

Chris,

What you are refering to is not baking powder but it is baking soda or sodium bicarbonate. Sometimes in baking baking powder and baking soda are used in same formulas. Baking powder is normally not put in a glass of water to drink, baking soda is, in fact it is the base of both Alka Seltzer and Bromo Seltzer.

 

Chris, one slight correction.

Bicarb, in the U.S. is known as baking soda. Baking powder is a mixture of several ingredients, and is used as a leavening agent in things like quick breads.

 

Ed & KY, you're right, I was referring to baking soda instead of baking powder. Sorry for that.

Still, GG, believe me, it's the most effective way to get rid of those acid attacs.

 

     Have you tried changing your tomatoes?  I'm not sure what canned tomatoes you're using, but San Marzano's are lower than some of the other types of canned tomatoes you find.  How are you adding the garlic?  Have you tried blanching the garlic before it's added?  

  dan
 

 

Prilosec, Pepcid-A/C, Tums, Bi-carb, the "Purple pill"
 

 

A little baking soda wont hurt the flavour of your sauce. I'm talking a pinch to a pint. Its a wee bit salty so you'd want to alter the seasoning.

Gunnars idea of adding dairy is the most obvious choice, as the calcium in cream etc will neutralise the acid. It's altering your sauce dramatically, but then perhaps some compromise is called for here

 

Curious to know how long you cook your sauce as that can contribute to it being more acidic.

Have you considered not just the tomato, but the source? Are they canned tomatoes or in glass jars? The BPA and phtalates in the lining of canned products and especially canned tomatoes can cause some health problems.

Do you buy organic non gmo? 

Just a couple ideas off of the top of my head. When I searched google for a an answer, the typical response I saw was to put small amounts of bicarbonate in the sauce up until the point you could taste it.

 

I thought it was for the sour taste, instead i see you meant for your stomach.  My question is, does the acidity of the food influence the acidity of the stomach???

I think, for instance, for some people dairy would increase stomach acidity.  I'm not sure the acid of the tomato increases it.  Maybe i'm wrong.  But that;s another thing to consider. 

 

If you check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastric_acid, you will see that stomach acid is between pH 2->3, so the acid from tomatoes is actually going to lessen the pH of your stomach!

There MUST be something else besides the acid which is affecting you.

Here's a link to the facts about gastric upset you might be interested in: http://www.ehow.com/about_5039184_ph-stomach-acid.html

 

what is gelling? 

I';ve never blanched garlic; i can;t imagine why that would be necessary.  Dried garlic has a different taste, and is not too appealing.  Try smashing real garlic and just putting it in a little olive oil for a minute or two, till it gets soft, then throw in the tomatoes.  Leave off all those herbs, which may be stimulating the gastric juices, and which are covering the flavor of the tomatoes and garlic.

I find that if you don't cook canned tomatoes very well, they won't taste good and will be more sour.  The cooking makes them taste smoother.  I would find a sauce with stuff right out of the can, just heated, to be indigestible.  I don't mean the hours of cooking you may read about, but just ten minutes simmering will make a big difference. 

Pete, that's what i suspected. 

 

You could try using yellow tomato. I haven't seen any in cans, but they have a lower acid level.  Maybe by blending some of them with the red could result in a good sauce.