Last month Francis Lam, one of my favorite writers over at Gourmet.com, posted an article on how he made a simple spaghetti and tomato sauce with a very expensive ($8) box of pasta and an even more expensive ($15) can of tomatoes. The article, titled 'Yeah, It's Worth It', was inspiring but still left me unconvinced of it's title.
I was tempted when the importers of the tomatoes and pasta offered a 50% discount but it was only when I remembered my vow to have people over for dinner more often (even if I have to serve pasta and tomato sauce) that it all came together. I decided to have a dinner party where my friends would blind taste this 'worth it' pasta along side a few other, less expensive pasta and tomato combinations. Read on for the tasting details and our winning choice!
First, I ordered the very expensive pasta and tomatoes which also came with very expensive shipping ($15!). At the time,
gustimao.com was offering a 50% off special based on
Lam's article (read the comments section of the article for more information) which I admit helped a little. They arrived in the mail a week later.
Then, for the second entry, I went to the grocery store and purchased a can of whole tomatoes and a box of pasta, which ran about $3.50 total. This was from my local Whole Foods Market.
Finally I assembled the third option from a jar of home-canned, locally grown San Marzano tomatoes from Mariquita Farms and my favorite local pasta, Eduardo's.
I created score cards with a scale from one to five, and assigned letters to each of the entries. My challenge was to prepare three different pastas and three different sauces all at the same time on my tiny four burner stove. I did this by making all three of the sauces first and setting them aside. Then I boiled the water for the pasta in three separate pots, starting each of the pastas about two minutes a part so they wouldn't all be done at the same time. This worked rather well, except I fear that I may have overcooked "C" just a little.
I was struck by how different each of the tomatoes performed in the sauce pot. The home canned tomatoes seemed watery and light in color. They broke down pretty well into a sauce but it was thinner than the commercial tomatoes. The Whole Foods brand were firmer and packed in a puree. They did not dissolve very well and had to be chopped down with a wooden spoon. The Italian tomatoes were stunning: a deep deep shade of red, they still had their skins and were also packed with a puree. I've never had a tomato break down so perfectly into a sauce before--these tomatoes seemed to be made to become a sauce.
My friends showed up, armed with bottles of Chianti and sharpened pencils, and we dug in. No one but me knew which pasta/sauce was which. The score cards also had space for tasting notes and everyone participated with much enthusiasm. Here were some of the results:
Choice A: Everyone liked the pasta, which was described as having a "nice chewy texture". The sauce was also praised "mellow/low acid and fresh taste" and "subtle and elegant." One person noted that it was good both with and without a grating of fresh parmesan cheese. (This was the homegrown, local pasta choice)
Choice B: We weren't so happy with Choice B. We found the pasta to be "mealy" and "slippery and ordinary" while the sauce was "sharp, acidic but lacking in complexity" and "flat." (This was the supermarket choice.)
Choice C: Some of us liked the pasta, calling it "distinctly wheaty" and "springy in texture", while others said it was boring and undeveloped. We agreed that the sauce had a beautiful color but that the taste was off, less fresh, almost metallic. (This was the very expensive imported choice.)
The winner? Choice A with a total of 21 points out of a possible 25. Choice C came in second with 16.5 points and choice B was third with 15 points.
My conclusions? Well, it's kind of tough. I love the fact that my local pasta and tomatoes won big but at the same time it's hard to share that news with The Kitchn readers. I'm sad that I can't encourage everyone to run out and buy these brands and share in our pleasure. But maybe this is the way it's going to be, what with fossil fuels on the way out and the roller coaster economy. Maybe people will just find their own backyard tomatoes or local tomato farmer and start canning their own. Maybe there are other small pasta producers scattered around that folks can discover and support. Or maybe a few will spring up to fill the demand. It's hard to know.
But I'm sorry to say, Mr. Francis Lam, that despite the fact that I liked your imported pasta and sauce (I gave it 4) it actually wasn't worth it. Especially when I consider how many miles that can of tomatoes had to travel to get to my kitchen. I know living in New York means you probably won't be growing your own tomatoes but next time you spy some local tomatoes at the farmer's market this summer, I encourage you to buy a case and start canning. It's really, really worth it!
Awesome! I loved this post and am tempted to have my own taste-testing party!
view EmmaC's profile
What a fun experiment! But why did you choose fettucine for the local dish but spaghetti for the imported and supermarket dishes?
view OneWallKitchen's profile
i'd be interested in knowing how you made the sauce...not a recipe so much, but what you did. different tomatoes perform differently.
view matthewnormanwood's profile
Dear OneWallKitchen--Sharp eye there on the pasta choices! The truth is, I had the Eduardo's pasta already in my cupboard and didn't realize until it was too late that it was fettucine, not spaghetti. I decided to just go with it...does this skew the results, I wonder? Do I have to do the experiment over again!?!
maththewnormanwood--I followed Francis Lam's recipe as written in the Gourmet.com article that I linked to in the post. I think it's a great recipe for tomato sauce, especially when you're trying to feature the flavor of the tomatoes. It's basically olive oil, thin sliced garlic, the tomatoes and S&P. The key is to slowly infuse the garlic in the olive oil by keeping the temperature low at first and to not overcook it once the tomatoes are added. This isn't one of those long-simmered recipes. Give it a try and let us know what tomatoes you use!
Dana V
view Dana V's profile
we canned our own tomatoes this summer. our sauce is so, so delicious. i don't own a food mill so we ran the tomatoes, skin, seeds and all through the food processor. our sauce is full of seeds unlike most canned tomato sauces. however, the seeds give it the TASTY factor. tomato seeds have a ton of glutamate, which is the delicious, lip-smacking amino acid.
http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/thestew/2008/07/daily-bite-say.html
view pedalpowered's profile
I echo the canning your own produce! I have grown up with canning tomatoes, green beans, and this year we added peaches to the mix as well. My grandparents had a small farm, and a garage dedicated to canning and freezing produce. Now that they have passed away, my dad still continues the tradition in our garage with propane burners and pressure cookers - it's SO rewarding! I love making spaghetti sauce with tomatoes grown in my dad's garden.
view PAErin's profile
We grew a plethora of heirloom tomatoes this past summer. I cooked them with onions and nothing else (no seasoning whatsoever), pureed the sauce/soup base, and filled up about a dozen 2-serving containers. We've been enjoying this naturally sweet sauce as a soup and as a pasta sauce all winter. It's my favorite cold-night treat!
view kimg924's profile
Hi from Italy. Latini is the best pasta out there, it is not sold in supermarkets but only specialty stores, and is served in the best restaurants that don't make their own pasta. But for heathens like any non-italian, your local pasta should be the best choice, simply because it hasn't traveled thousands of miles polluting oceans, and because come on.
view Sol's profile
It seems like there's a middle-road here. Like San Marzano Tomatoes, maybe? Easily found at most grocery stores, for only a dollar or two more than the store-brand. It seems like that would be a no-brainer for anyone without access to homegrown tomatoes or who doesn't want to ship $15 ones directly from Italy.
view jarobinson1's profile
I don't think you'll have to repeat the experiment, but from my experiment, fettucine is meant to give more of a chew and give you more pasta to sauce. That's why I like it so much with creamy sauces. Now I really want some fettucine al fredo ... yom! =)
view OneWallKitchen's profile
"Its" -- the possessive of it, as in "the plant had its leaves" -- has no apostrophe. Can we try to remember that? It's just so terribly easy to remember, and it removes the giant ouches from the post to just use correct grammar. It's becoming just a leeeetle tedious, all the typos and errors here...
view stewystew's profile
My mother absolutely loves Latini, and feels that it's the best pasta she's ever had. And they are really nice people, too. She emailed them a NYT article about the company 2 years ago and they sent her an enormous box of pasta as a thank-you.
But to balance her love of expensive imported noodles, she'd certainly agree about local tomatoes. She cans her own and it's delicious.
The only bad year was the one when she failed to label the Fra Diavolo sauce and we spent the winter opening every jar with a sense of mystery. Would it be searingly hot, or just plain tomato? We never made that mistake again.
view Fiona2's profile
The reason why the home-canned tomatoes broke down easily and the canned ones needed to be chopped with a wooden spoon is calcium chloride. It's added by manufactures so tomatoes hold their shape in the can.
By the way...your friends are lucky! What a fun night.
view miabica's profile
Thanks for such an excellent analysis. But why be sad? Local is ALWAYS best. Eat the Italian stuff WHEN YOU TRAVEL TO ITALY! Then, it will be local.
view Andy M.'s profile
Sigh.
We might just drive to Torino on Saturday for a nice lunch, and to stock up on the Latini pasta (Torino has a fabulous Eataly store, which is part of the Slow Foods movement).
(Yes, I am gloating... Living in Geneva has a few perks ;-))
view mschatelaine's profile
http://www.gardeners.com/Organic-Tomato-Success-Kit/VegetableGardening_TerrificTomatoes,37-852RS,default,cp.html
Put this on your patio or in a window to grow them in the city.
view 007fan's profile
I love the idea of canning tomatoes since I could eat something with tomatoes in it seven days a week - but - I'm scared to death that if I try to canning this summer I will poison myself and someone else! Any thoughts for a "canning virgin"?
view trishinomaha's profile