Do they try to stop birds shitting on them or just get rid of the ones that do get shat on?
Yeah… You may want to sit down…
I realize this may be a centuries old tradition thing, but holy hell that is unsanitary.
You would be surprised under which conditions many of the basic food items you are eating daily are produced…
This is not that bad, actually.
The tomatoes are prepared with salt, as it seems (you can still see some salt crystals between them) and will dry relatively fast in the sun and hot wind of southern Italy.
Salt and water removal will quickly make the tomatoes a hostile environment for any kind of microbiological life.
Extra ash flavor. Yum!
Honestly I don’t get why sun dried tomatoes don’t get used more in lieu of the fresh kind, they’re way more flavorful on their own.
Why is it not rotting or attracting insects?