What Exactly Are San Marzano Tomatoes? — Shopping

San Marzano is the name of a variety of roma tomato, one that's a bit meatier, with less seeds than the usual roma tomatoes. But most importantly, San Marzano also refers to that specific variety of tomato grown in a specific region of Italy: the Agro Sarnese Nocerino of the Sarno River valley near Mount Vesuvius, where volcanic soils are said to produce sweeter, less acidic tomatoes. These are "true" San Marzanos, and their unique combination of varietal and terroir is so special that they're given official status as a "protected designation of origin" or D.O.P. (Denominazione d'Origine Protteta).

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