Like Yogi Berra, the late great Dick Brennan was eminently quotable, and for a lot of the same reasons. His observances of life were almost too simple and too obvious. Tom was always quoting his dear friend Dick Brennan. One of his favorites was a question and answer. Question: “Why do kids like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?” Answer: “Because they’re good!”
I feel like the same can be said about meatballs and spaghetti, and it’s not just kids. Everyone loves meatballs and spaghetti, though Tom has always dissed the dish as “kid food.”
The spaghetti is just the vessel. It’s really about the sauce. Yes, Bolognese is the best, and meatballs are great, but pasta and sauce are the essentials. In Italy, meatballs and spaghetti is just for tourists, and sauce is not ladled generously on top as we do it in America. It is tossed with the pasta until all the sauce is incorporated. This combo is called pomodoro, and Americans just love it.
I do too, but I don’t spend too much time thinking about it. At least not until recently, when a large crock with a handle was placed before me at Two Tony’s Restaurant in Lakeview. There was a deep moat of red sauce around a cheesy island of lasagna. The sauce was exciting to look at, and even better to eat. When Tony came out to say hi, we talked about his sauce and he mentioned selling it in supermarkets.
And then I started thinking about delicious sauces in jars. I love Tony Mandina’s Red Gravy, and Sal & Judy’s marinara filled in quite nicely once in a pinch. Then I bought Rao’s to find out what it was about it that had a Brooklyn product sweeping the nation. It is indeed yummy.
I had already decided to try all of the local sauces against that interloper Rao’s. Who knows when I’d have gotten around to it, but Saturday turned out to be national Tomato Sauce Day, so I did it. When I mentioned this contest on the Food Show (airs 2-4 pm weekdays on WGSO 990AM) someone called and mentioned that a statewide survey had already been done, and the caller named quite a few I had never heard of. I had already decided to limit it to Two Tony’s, Tony Mandina’s Red Gravy, Sal & Judy’s, and Rao’s. Another caller added Emeril’s to the list, and I had forgotten that Emeril had a sauce. The caller also mentioned D’Agostino’s, the 100-year-old company from Baton Rouge recently purchased by Camellia Beans.
That one turned out to be as elusive as I suspected. I got Rao’s, Emeril’s, and Sal & Judy’s at Rouse’s and added Ragu at someone’s suggestion. I had already decided to include that one just to see the difference between it and the more expensive brands. I went to Acquistapace’s and found Two Tony’s and Tony Mandina’s Red Gravy there.
I tasted each one of the sauces cold out of the jar. It was this way that the differences in each of them were, the most pronounced. I really liked Rao’s this way, and Emeril’s was second.
I heated a saucepan and poured a little sauce into the pan, then added spaghetti, wishing I had the technique the Italians display in Stanley Tucci’s travels around his heritage country. It seems to be an innate skill everywhere he goes that they know just how to take a fork and incorporate whatever the sauce completely into the pasta. They make it look easy. It isn’t.
After it became pomodoro, I put some in a dish and tried it immediately after taking a photo. I loved the Rao’s hot as well as right out of the jar. Emeril’s was also delicious. Tony Mandina’s Red Gravy looked different in the pan. It is really dark and smooth. This Red Gravy is luscious, though next to the previous two I didn’t like it as well. It’s great, but it came in third. So far.
Sal & Judy’s Original Marinara was darker than the others and had a much stronger oregano flavor than all of them. It also had bits of ingredients that were discernable. Though Sal & Judy’s had more of this than any of them, the others did as well. Only Tony Mandina’s Red Gravy was completely smooth.
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The sauce that got me thinking of red sauce, Two Tony’s was a standout here as well. It was brighter than the others and had copious bits of things in it, though I would hardly call it chunky.
I’m glad that I included the basic value brand, Ragu. It held its own with all of these. I have had good experiences with each of these sauces. Ragu was a favorite for my children. Naturally, each of them had their own favorite, so there was never a consensus about Ragu and Prego. Both are good. Not just good, fine. But actually good. So good I see no need to spend a lot more money on a more expensive brand.
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If you are inclined to do that, the interloper Rao’s is just delicious. I see why it is nationwide from a little local Brooklyn brand.
Emerils’ basic Tomato Basil is very good too. Sal & Judy’s was my least favorite in this bunch, but it too was very good. I wouldn’t kick any of these out of the pantry.
Which brings me back to the original sauce that started me thinking about sauces. Two Tony’s sauce has heart, if that makes sense. I love it. Rao’s would be next, followed by Emeril’s, then Tony Mandina’s Red Gravy, then Sal & Judy’s. And Ragu could step in for any of these quite nicely at any time.
In other words, there is very little difference between any of these. You can see that just by looking. All of these are great, so good I don’t know why anyone would bother to make their own.
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I disagree with Tom. Pomodoro is not kid food. It is soul-satisfying food made with wholesome ingredients. And it tastes really good, no matter whose name is on the jar.
