As a family restaurant serving up family favorites we still carry on many of the food traditions that began back in the bel paese. One such tradition is that of making and preserving our own tomato sauce.
The process begins late in the month of August, sourcing out the best pricing on bushels of Roma tomatoes from our local markets. Once all the market research is complete we purchase 4 bushels which will yield approximately 64 litres of tomato sauce (bear in mind that this is what we make for home use, we actually produce about 40 litres daily at the restaurant).
Many hands make light work so we gather as a family to make and jar the sauce. We give the bright red Romas a bath to wash off any soil then slice and blanche them in boiling water. We then puree the parboiled tomatoes and bottle them with fresh and aromatic leaves of basil. Once the jars have all been filled and tightly sealed we proceed to boil the jars in a giant vat. Once the jars have been boiled they are pulled out to cool and we lovingly listen for the pop, pop, pop that signals the perfect seal (this can also be tested by pressing on the lid of the jar, it should not flex up and down when sealed).
While this act of preservation may seem a bit laborious, that labour is one of pure love; love for the family that comes together; love for the traditions that have been passed down to us; and love for the delicious end result. We just love getting saucy at the end of summer.