Basic but Wow Week 3
For the
third week of my “Basic but Wow Sunday” series, I will be talking about
Marinara Sauce.
Marinara sauce is a very basic sauce used as a basis for many Southern Italian dishes however we must first establish which Marinara we are going to be talking about. In America, the term Marinara Sauce is used indiscriminately to describe almost any type of seasoned tomato sauce destined to be used in Italian pasta dishes. To the rest of the world this actually called a Napoli or Neapolitan Sauce meaning came from Naples. A true Marinara sauce must contain seafood of some type this is where the Marin or marine part of the name comes from. How this confusion came about I have not been able to determine. There are several theories but nothing I can find conclusive on the subject. Regardless of how the confusion came about it is something to keep in mind when communicating across borders.
For the
third week of my “Basic but Wow Sunday” series, I will be talking about
Marinara Sauce.Marinara sauce is a very basic sauce used as a basis for many Southern Italian dishes however we must first establish which Marinara we are going to be talking about. In America, the term Marinara Sauce is used indiscriminately to describe almost any type of seasoned tomato sauce destined to be used in Italian pasta dishes. To the rest of the world this actually called a Napoli or Neapolitan Sauce meaning came from Naples. A true Marinara sauce must contain seafood of some type this is where the Marin or marine part of the name comes from. How this confusion came about I have not been able to determine. There are several theories but nothing I can find conclusive on the subject. Regardless of how the confusion came about it is something to keep in mind when communicating across borders.
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| Tomato sauce (Photo credit: Aelle) |
For our
purposes’ we will begin with a basic American style and then progress to the
more traditional. A basic American Marinara is made from Tomatoes, Garlic,
Onions and Basil. These four ingredients will yield you a simple sauce suitable
for a Pizza Sauce or simple Lasagna add a little Oregano and you have a basic
Spaghetti sauce. One of the things I like about Marinara is it is so adaptable.
At home, I rarely make it exactly the same way twice. There are so many
variations you could make a carrier just out of this one sauce.
 |
| tomato-sauce (Photo credit: She Paused 4 Thought) |
The Traditional
Marinara begins with the same basic ingredients but with addition of Olive Oil
and some type of Seafood. This could be almost any seafood from Abalone to
Zebra Mussels but the most common and popular would be Anchovies. I know most
Americans despise the idea of eating Anchovies but this is actually a very nice
fish when acquired fresh. The little
slimy fellows from a can bear little to resemblance to their unprocessed
brothers. If you can acquire them in your local market give them a try.
As always
with these Sunday post, you will find the basic recipes in the post below and
as always, I encourage you to experiment and find your own style and taste. My
purpose here is not to give you recipes to simple follow. You can, do this and
have very nice results but I am hoping to demonstrate the basics and empower
you with enough knowledge that you will grow as a chef. My wish is for everyone
who reads these posts to find the joy of developing their recipes and creating
their dishes. Until next time, Enjoy!
I also like to add a little burgundy wine in there as well. By the way this is Lucas from Facebook =)
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