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Found a new recipe, and it called for blending two (average sized) tomatoes, about a tablespoon of grated ginger (15 grams let's say), and four grated garlic cloves. Blended it all, everything fine.

When it was time to use the blended result, I expected it to come out of the blender jar like a (thick) liquid, but instead it just stayed in the jar. It actually acted liked beaten egg whites (clinging to the container), and structurally looked quite like a mousse. When I scooped out the "mousse", upon touching the heat of the pan, it dissolved immediately into liquid components again.

Is this a known property of blending tomato, ginger, garlic in a blender (or any "high speed" mixing device for that matter) together? Or a combination of those components?

[Edit]

If it helps, I used multiple smaller sized tomatoes to make up for one "average" tomato. So more tomato peel was involved, if that matters. Weights for the tomatoes were not given, but the replacements I used quite accurately match what I would consider "An Average Tomato".

Willem van Rumpt
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  • I'm not sure but I think it may be the tomato by itself... I feel like I've heard odd things about the structure of tomato water/juice. – Catija Mar 29 '17 at 18:19
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    Most vegetables or fruits, when blended without additional liquid, produce a puree that's too thick to flow out on its own. Is this somehow different from what happened to your tomatoes? How was the mousse different from other blended vegetables? – rumtscho Mar 29 '17 at 19:12
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    @rumtscho: Normally when I blend tomatoes, it produces a slightly thick liquid that you can just pour out of the container. The structure in this case was such that you could actually hold the container up side down without it falling out, or even drip. – Willem van Rumpt Mar 30 '17 at 05:02
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    Whatever you made displays a property known as "thixotropy". Usually ketchup is notorious for it, plain tomato sauce/puree much less so... – rackandboneman Mar 30 '17 at 10:17
  • @rackandboneman. does this explain 'tomato ketchup' (which personally I hate)? – dougal 5.0.0 Mar 30 '17 at 11:28
  • @rackandboneman: Interesting, and probably indeed what happened. The blender was set to its lowest setting, but was spinning for 5 minutes easily, while normally I finish much quicker. The wiki entry for "thixotropy" mentions that duration of the stress strengthens the property. If you write it up in an answer, I'll accept it. – Willem van Rumpt Mar 30 '17 at 11:56
  • @WillemvanRumpt That's just a name; it's a bit like saying "your honey is hard to pour because it's very viscous." I'm also not sure it's an accurate name; thixotropy specifically means that it has some strength that decreases when stressed (e.g. shaken). If your mousse turned runnier when shaken or stirred, then acted like a mousse again after you stopped, then it might apply. – Cascabel Mar 30 '17 at 17:13
  • @Jefromi: Aha! I interpreted the wrong way around then. – Willem van Rumpt Mar 31 '17 at 03:53

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I suspect the culprit is the tomato, which does a good job taking on air and looking 'foamy'. I've noticed this if I use my stick blender when making pasta sauce from a few jars of canned tomatoes as well as when I make gazpacho. Even a few short bursts in a blender can whip up the contents.

A food processor, which typically has a flat blade, won't incorporate as much air as the blender, rather it's going to chop vs. whip.

Also, love how you asked about 'why' vs. expressing disgust at the result. Probably makes no different in the final result as the heat of cooking will take care of the foam, as will time.

MG Walter
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