In article >,
"john east" > wrote:

> Novice is experimenting making soups mainly from tomatoes and tomato puree.
>
> They need to be sweetened somewhat. What would be a *healthy* item added to
> give more sweetness in such a soup, other than using sugar ? Thanks.

I'll bet most folks will tell you to include carrots or onions, sauteed
and caramelized and all that fol de rol. I'm going to suggest that you
can adjust the taste to make it *seem* sweeter by reducing the acidity
of the tomatoes. I do this with spaghetti sauce all the time. I think
it's the acidity that's bugging you and sweetening it will cover the
acid taste but will also make it taste, well, sweet.

After you've got things going and are about done with it, sprinkle a
*very* small amount of baking soda on the soup in the kettle. A light
dusting. Stir it and watch it bubble. That's the acid neutralizing.
Do not over do it. You can repeat a little but you can't go back. Cook
it until the bubbling stops (not very long) and serve.

JAT.
--
Barb,
http://web.me.com/barbschaller September 5, 2011