Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–so glad you’re here!
Today, I’m continuing my series on the foundational sauces of California Cuisine. In posts over the last few months, we have explored the first four of the seven sauces that I consider to the be “mother” sauces of California, which are: mayonnaise, vinaigrette, pesto, salsa, tomato, soy sauce and Hollandaise.
Yesterday, kicked off our exploration of tomato sauce by sharing my recipe for Keri’s basic tomato sauce:
Today, we’re taking a deeper dive into tomatoes, California’s connection to this ubiquitous fruit and why it is one of my picks for a foundational sauce of California Cuisine.
First, let’s talk about why tomato sauce at all? Tomato sauce, or “sauce tomat” is one of the five mother sauces of French cooking, and I had to put a lot of thought into whether or not to include it as one of my choices for the seven mother sauces of California Cuisine. Why? well, because even though there are countless sauces derived from a good basic tomato sauce that are used in California Cuisine, it felt a little like cheating–like I was copying the French list.
But after a little research, I have decided it’s not cheating, and here’s why:
Historians seem to mostly agree that tomatoes came to California during the gold rush–although historians also speculate that the Spanish may have introduced tomato seeds to the the US, and given that Spanish explorers came to California in the 1500’s, I’m not so sure tomatoes weren’t already here. But in any case, tomatoes most certainly arrived along with Italian immigrants who profoundly influenced the economy and the food scene in California back in the 1850’s. With the Italian immigrants, came the roots of the wine industry, farming and food. Naturally, Italian immigrants used tomatoes in their food and would have put down a righteous sauce.
But no one could have imagined the impact farming tomatoes in the San Joaquin and Central Valley Deltas would have on the US and world economy. With the long growing season and mediterranean climate, California proved to be the ideal location to farm tomatoes and they thrived–and I mean thrived. Today, California grows between 90 and 95% of the United States’ processing tomatoes–those are the ones that get used for canned and processed tomato products like sauces, pastes, diced and puréed tomato products. And California grows about 1/3 of the entire world’s processing tomatoes.
Mic drop.
Thus, given the importance of California’s tomato crops to the United States and to the world, and also the influence Italian immigrants had on some of our fundamental economic engines in California, a good tomato sauce clearly does belong on the list of foundational sauces of California Cuisine. Furthermore, while California Cuisine emphasizes fresh, minimally processed ingredients, I’m going to make an exception for tomato sauce. Given the importance of tomatoes and the processing thereof to the California economic landscape, I will be providing recipes that include fresh, as well as processed tomatoes. Trust me–there are lots of good options for canned or boxed tomatoes out there that are shelf stable and will provide convenient alternatives for easy, everyday meal ideas.
As mentioned above, yesterday I shared my recipe for my quick, basic tomato sauce that can be put together using either fresh or canned tomatoes.
Today, I’m sharing another terrific, basic tomato sauce that requires a good deal more time, but is well worth the effort:
It uses both fresh and canned tomatoes and makes a ton of sauce. I usually make this sauce 2-3 times a year and freeze it in quart bags for use on a night when I don’t feel like cooking, but want a lovely, comforting pasta for dinner.
In future posts, I’ll be sharing ways to use both of these basic sauces as bases for new sauces or for use on pizzas, pastas or casseroles. So stay tuned!
Until then–
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
