Dried tomatoes, also called sun-dried tomatoes, were possibly the most trendy vegetable on the American markets in the 1980s and they still somehow survived into the 1990s though they lost their tarnish. I also think that they are the most overrated vegetable. Their appeal is their appearance.

Dried tomatoes dress up a plate or a dish with their pleasing shape, texture and color. It is the flavor that is somewhat overrated and often does not come up to expectations.

The idea of drying tomatoes to preserve the m is not a new one. This alternative to canning is easy, but it requires warm sunny weather during and after the tomato harvesting season. Any rain or periods of cloudy, cool weather, and the sun-dried tomatoes turn mold-covered and semi-dried. This means that climate limits making truly sun-dried tomatoes to very few tomato-growing areas in the world: the Mediterranean regions of Italy and France and California.

Italians have produced sun-dried tomatoes for at least a century. In the early 1980s importers introduced them to North American markets and they were accepted instantly, even though the imported products were quite costly. Sun-dried tomatoes made a hit with the nouvelle cuisine chefs of the West Coast who constantly search out innovative new products.

They were particularly popular in the winter when red-colored produce was rare. (Red peppers were still not common and outrageously expensive back then, because they were airfreighted from Holland.)

High price or not, dried tomatoes have a long shelflife and are available when needed. They solve the problem of providing a desirable eye-catching red color on the plate during the colorless winter months. That is why the red pepper has been such a smash hit, too.

Home cooks picked up the idea and sun-dried tomatoes were on their way, helped by a generous dose of intense marketing. It didn’t take long before several California dried fruit producers noticed this very profitable opportunity to compete with the pricey Italian imports.

Since they had both the know-how and equipment to dry fruits, it was but a short step to add tomatoes to their line of dried produce. Dried tomatoes, they discovered, bring in much more revenue than prunes and apricots.

To dry tomatoes in the traditional Italian way by sun is slow and labor intensive. It takes 8 to 10 days under the weakening late summer sun. Leaving the tomatoes exposed that long to insects is somewhat questionable, too.

Italians use their sun-dried tomatoes in pasta sauce, so they are always cooked before eating. Americans, on the other hand, eat their sun-dried tomatoes raw or blanched quickly to reconstitute the moisture content.

Drying does not destroy the bacterial contamination so for export, they add sulfur and salt to eliminate bacteria. The California processors also tried heat treatment to solve the problem.

There are three major ways for American processors to dry tomatoes:

1. Like the Italians do, under the sun for 8 to 10 days, then pasteurize to produce a safe and acceptable product. This process retains the original color and some of the flavor.

2. Dried like other fruits, in hot dehydrating ovens at about 190°F (88°C) with fans to draw the moisture off, a process that takes only a few hours. The process is quick and eliminates the need for sulfur or pasteurization because of the heat that kills microorganisms. But the tomato turns rather dark, losing its attractive color, because the heat partially caramelizes sugar. The heat also alters the flavor a great deal, more than pasteurization does.

3. Dehydrated without heat by blowing fans. In warm weather this process takes about 36

hours and results in a product similar to sun-dried tomatoes with good red color and moderate change in flavor. To kill all larvae, processors freeze the dried tomatoes for two days.

It takes 17 pounds (17 kg) of fresh tomatoes to make 1 pound (1 kg) of dehydrated product after about 95 percent of the moisture evaporates. Processors’ favorite is Roma tomatoes, which have less moisture to begin with, but some small specialty producers use other, more flavorful varieties and sell them for premium prices.

While firm and low in moisture, commercial Romas are not very flavorful tomatoes even when fully ripe. None of the dehydrated tomatoes have anywhere

near the flavor of vine-ripened tomatoes. But they do have their own distinctive flavor and special place in our kitchens.