Last week I prepared a recipe for an Italian dish that calls for fresh-peeled tomatoes. I have a vegetable peeler… nice and sharp with a rubber grip. I’ve used it for carrots, potatoes, zucchini, squash…

However, have you ever tried to peel a tomato?

No matter how careful and patient you are, the peeler hacks up the tomato.

Luckily I remembered my “how to peel tomatoes” lesson Chef Dad taught me: Blanching and Shocking.

If you put whole fresh tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for 15 to 30 seconds (blanching) followed by a pot of iced cold water for 15 to 30 seconds (shocking), the skins slip off with ease and leave the tomato perfectly whole.

This is how chefs do it. Blanching releases the skin, and shocking stops them from cooking.

Peeling tomatoes by hand can be done. It isn’t easy. It isn’t pretty. It takes a while. But, why would you? Blanching is a miracle compared to hand-peeling.

The marketing segue?

It is amazing how much better you can get the job done when you use the proper process and tools.