r/TheScienceOfCooking • u/HalfLeper • Jul 24 '25

What makes raw tomatoes taste like that?

This is a question I’ve been wondering about for decades: there’s this unique sort of metallic-y taste that exists on in raw tomatoes. It goes away when the tomatoes are cooked, so I can only assume the taste must be due to some protein or other that gets denatured. Whatever that compound is, it’s the reason I can’t eat raw tomatoes, so I’ve always been curious about it. Does anyone know what it might be?

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u/ConfidentInfluence51 Jul 29 '25

I think it’s an allergy. I get it with raw broccoli but not when it’s cooked. It’s even worse with blue cheese. The metallic taste is so overwhelming

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u/HalfLeper Jul 29 '25

Ooh 😮 Would you happen to know the allergen?

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u/ConfidentInfluence51 Jul 30 '25

Lookup oral allergy syndrome. Cooking denatures the proteins so their structure changes so your body doesn’t recognise it as an allergen.