Now this is old school tomato sauce...

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That's a big operation for a pot of sauce..I guess that's the retired procedure..thanks to immersion blenders I just carve some of the stem, then grind the whole tomatoes before adding them to the pot. Nice to see other methods, though..can always learn a thing or two..
 
I do the ' in the kitchen' version of this.
Although, it would be kinda cool to set up a fire pit on the driveway.

I dont strain the liquid out because Sometimes I used the finished product for sauces and other times for soups ( which id have to add water anyway).
 
This reminds me of a YouTube channel I found recently called Pasta Grannies. A British food writer makes videos of Italian nonnas making pasta by hand - not just the ones most of us are familiar with, but shapes and fillings that are specific to a place. Here's an article about it: https://www.foodandwine.com/news/pasta-grannies-youtube

The shaping tools and the rolling board are pretty cool. The boards seem to be a built-in part of the kitchen.

And here is the video on making passata (basic tomato sauce): https://youtu.be/bJCKetu94XY
 
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That's a big operation for a pot of sauce..I guess that's the retired procedure..thanks to immersion blenders I just carve some of the stem, then grind the whole tomatoes before adding them to the pot. Nice to see other methods, though..can always learn a thing or two..

I just thought it was really cool to watch someone who is obviously quite old do this sauce in a way that very few people would do it today. It is actually something I'd like to do once... probably only once. It is way too much work, but might be fun to do that one time.

CD
 
I have an old Italian acquaintance who described to me ( in great detail ) how he cures his green olives. Sure, I can go online and find hundreds of ways to do it that are probably easier, more efficient and less time consuming , but it is so cool to hear how he did it back in the day. Its great listening to him give the instructions , because he is so specific and adamant about the way to do it. This video so reminds me of him.

I see hime once or twice a year , and the only thing we talk about is the olives and if Im following his directions precisely.
 
I make ketchup and thick tomato sauce, about how he does it with some changes.


First it takes about 7 gallon buckets of tomatoes to fill a 4 gallon electric roaster. The first 5 buckets go in, cleaned, cored, get hot, give off water, then I put a strainer in it and then by the cup measure, remove quarts of water (sometimes we drink it, can it, or throw it out).

Then add the remaining 2 gallons of tomatoes. I get all that hot and remove a few more quarts of tomato water.


Sometimes I run it all through a food mill (by oxo) and sometimes I don't and use a hand blender to chop all the peels and seeds. I cook it down to 2-3 inches below the top edge, that makes about 9-11 quarts of thick tomato sauce. Then for the sauce, I can them in a water bath, with 2 T lemon juice and 1 t. salt per quart.


I've done at least 9 batches so far this year, tomato sauce or ketchup. It takes pretty much all day for the sauce, and it takes 2-3 days to cook down the ketchup to a thickness we like.
 
Reminds me of many of my neighbors when I was a kid.

I did that every year as well when I had a garden, up until we moved.
Although, not quite 100 lbs., and I did mine indoors.

Every year I'd plant 4 to 6 Roma tomato bushes, and when I was able to collect enough to fill almost 2 stock pots, it was a time-a to make-a the gravy.

You needed 2 stock pots worth of fresh tomatoes to make about 1/2 to 3/4 of one stock pot of sauce after it was reduced.

The makeshift cinderblock firepit by the driveway cracks me up. My fil had one in our old backyard, as well did many of the neighbors.

After he passed, my wife wanted it gone, so I busted it up and repurposed the bricks and blocks into a compost pile.

I miss gardening so much. Can't grow anything here or it'll just be eaten up by one of the many critters with whom we share our woods. From chipmunks, squirrels, and groundhogs, to turkey, deer, and bear.

Damn squirrels ate all of the flower buds off my twisted hibiscus that I put out after keeping alive over the winter in my TV room. I got 1 flower all year.
 
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I just thought it was really cool to watch someone who is obviously quite old do this sauce in a way that very few people would do it today. It is actually something I'd like to do once... probably only once. It is way too much work, but might be fun to do that one time.

CD
A lost art, for sure..thanks for sharing:)
 
I make from scratch with tomatoes from our garden. About 30 litres a year. I bottle that amount and also make pasta sauce for the freezer. About 10 litres per year. Herbs are all grown here as well.:chef::chef::cool:

Russ
 
OhMyGAWD!!!

That man looks, sounds and even his yard and "outdoor kitchen"
is JUST like my DH's youngest Uncle (my Father-in-law had 12 siblings :huh:)!

I'm watching that video and DH comes in the room
DH: HEH! Where'd ya get a video of my Uncle Jun?
Moi: It's from You Tube and no it's not Uncle Jun

That's how they made sauce,
I'll stick to my version though :LOL:

Oh OH!!
AND that man has on a WHITE SHIRT!!!
SPOTLESS!
I'd be covered!
 
It looks like the man's name is Pasquale Sciarappa, from Long Branch, NJ. Doesn't some of your DH's family live in NJ, K-Girl? :huh:

His shirt might be spotless, but how many wardrobe changes did he go through? :LOL:
 
does cooking it on an open wood burning fire add anything to the flavor of the final product ?

Just curious

I doubt it. It seems like that is how it was done when he was a kid in Italy, when the whole town got together to make sauce. I assume he is just following tradition -- and sharing a bit of history with us.


CD
 
I doubt it. It seems like that is how it was done when he was a kid in Italy, when the whole town got together to make sauce. I assume he is just following tradition -- and sharing a bit of history with us.


CD
The video I posted above shows three families in Italy doing the same thing.
 
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