Thread: spagettie sauce went south

On Dec 7, 9:07*am, Chet <c...@epix.net> wrote:
> I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting
> when I make something,

This is crucial. You need to taste every step of the way, otherwise
you
can't know what caused the problem.

> but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
> tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4
> cup of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held
> blender to a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about
> a teaspoon sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage,
> simmered for 1hr. and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti
> and it tasted bitter, this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a
> good home made sauce, maybe only one time was good, for some reason I
> cannot make a marinara sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce
> always was good. where am I going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.
>
> * * thanks
> * * * Chet

If it simmered for an hour and you used it later in the day, where was
it
all that time?

I've never made sauce from whole canned tomatoes, but is it possible
that blending
the tomatoes crushed the seeds and made your sauce bitter? Maybe
someone
else here can weigh in on that possibility.

Cindy Hamilton

Chet wrote:
> I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting
> when I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
> tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4
> cup of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held
> blender to a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about
> a teaspoon sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage,
> simmered for 1hr. and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti
> and it tasted bitter, this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a
> good home made sauce, maybe only one time was good, for some reason I
> cannot make a marinara sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce
> always was good. where am I going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.

Canned tomatoes can be bitter from the get go..... some brands more than
others. Canned plum or roma tomatoes tend to be less bitter.

The simple fix... add more sugar. A little at a time until the bitter
taste goes away. Depending on how bitter your original tomatoes were,
you might have to add quite a bit.

(The screaming you hear in the background is coming from Tomato Sauce
Purists who would just DIE if someone suggested adding more sugar. Try
it anyway.)

George L

On Dec 7, 9:07*am, Chet <c...@epix.net> wrote:
> I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting
> when I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
> tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4
> cup of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held
> blender to a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about
> a teaspoon sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage,
> simmered for 1hr. and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti
> and it tasted bitter, this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a
> good home made sauce, maybe only one time was good, for some reason I
> cannot make a marinara sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce
> always was good. where am I going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.
>
> * * thanks
> * * * Chet

Chet, if you sautee garlic too long it can get bitter. Just a
thought.
Ruth

On Dec 7, 9:07*am, Chet <c...@epix.net> wrote:
> I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting
> when I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
> tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4
> cup of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held
> blender to a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about
> a teaspoon sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage,
> simmered for 1hr. and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti
> and it tasted bitter, this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a
> good home made sauce, maybe only one time was good, for some reason I
> cannot make a marinara sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce
> always was good. where am I going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.
>
> * * thanks
> * * * Chet

Did you leave in the garlic? I remove mine from the oil JUST after
it's turned fragrant. You may have burned it and leaving it in might
have caused the unpleasant taste.

Chet wrote:
> I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting
> when I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
> tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4
> cup of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held
> blender to a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about
> a teaspoon sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage,
> simmered for 1hr. and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti
> and it tasted bitter, this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a
> good home made sauce, maybe only one time was good, for some reason I
> cannot make a marinara sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce
> always was good. where am I going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.
>
> thanks
> Chet


Did you burn the garlic? Too much garlic? I can';t think of
anything else that would taste bitter.

gloria p

Chet wrote:
> I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting
> when I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
> tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4
> cup of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held
> blender to a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about
> a teaspoon sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage,
> simmered for 1hr. and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti
> and it tasted bitter, this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a
> good home made sauce, maybe only one time was good, for some reason I
> cannot make a marinara sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce
> always was good. where am I going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.

If you want to avoid the bitterness, use tomato paste and puree (or
sauce, but my Italian mother always uses paste and puree), not tomatoes.
I actually like a little bitterness, so sometimes I do use tomatoes
(it's the seeds that make it bitter), but usually, I follow my mom's
recipe, which is roughly this:

Sautee garlic, tomato paste, chopped onion, and dried basil in good
olive oil on low until the oil starts to ooze a little blackness (I know
it sounds weird, but this caramelizes the tomatoes a tiny bit and gives
the sauce sweetness without any sugar.

Add 2 cans of water for each can of tomato paste. Then add tomato puree
and 1 can of water for each can of puree. If you like, you can now add
meat (my mom uses either meatballs, or crumbled ground beef and italian
sausage mixed together, or crumbled ground beef and whole italian sausages).

Bring to a simmer and cook on low, partially covered, for a long time.
If there's no meat in there, "a long time" is a few hours. If there's
meat, it's overnight. Stir when you think of it, and if you're my mom,
let your daughter have a slice of bread with sauce on it for breakfast
the next day. MMmmmmmm, yum.

This is the standard sauce my mom uses for her lasagne, as well, and she
says to say that the trick to the lasagne is to use just enough to moisten.

Serene

--
42 Magazine, celebrating life with meaning. Issue 2 is here!
http://42magazine.com

"I tend to come down on the side of autonomy. Once people are grown up,
I believe they have the right to go to hell in the handbasket of their
choosing." -- Pat Kight, on alt.polyamory

"Chet" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:z_7Tm.66763$[email protected]..
>I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting when
>I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
>tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4 cup
>of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held blender to
>a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about a teaspoon
>sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage, simmered for 1hr.
>and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti and it tasted bitter,
>this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a good home made sauce,
>maybe only one time was good, for some reason I cannot make a marinara
>sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce always was good. where am I
>going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.


Two possibilities, burned garlic and overcooking. I never cook marinara for
an hour, 20 minutes tops. Taste the tomatoes first. Try a different brand.
Also I never whiz the sauce, I just crush the tomatoes with my fingers. Try
some fresh parsely added at the end of cooking.

Paul

On Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:41:48 -0600, George Leppla
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Chet wrote:
>> I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting
>> when I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
>> tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4
>> cup of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held
>> blender to a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about
>> a teaspoon sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage,
>> simmered for 1hr. and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti
>> and it tasted bitter, this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a
>> good home made sauce, maybe only one time was good, for some reason I
>> cannot make a marinara sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce
>> always was good. where am I going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.
>
>Canned tomatoes can be bitter from the get go..... some brands more than
>others. Canned plum or roma tomatoes tend to be less bitter.
>
>The simple fix... add more sugar. A little at a time until the bitter
>taste goes away. Depending on how bitter your original tomatoes were,
>you might have to add quite a bit.
>
>(The screaming you hear in the background is coming from Tomato Sauce
>Purists who would just DIE if someone suggested adding more sugar. Try
>it anyway.)
>
It's best to taste first. I have the opposite problem where certain
brands are too sweet from the git go.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:57:41 -0800, sf <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:41:48 -0600, George Leppla
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Chet wrote:
>>> I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting
>>> when I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
>>> tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4
>>> cup of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held
>>> blender to a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about
>>> a teaspoon sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage,
>>> simmered for 1hr. and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti
>>> and it tasted bitter, this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a
>>> good home made sauce, maybe only one time was good, for some reason I
>>> cannot make a marinara sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce
>>> always was good. where am I going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.
>>
>>Canned tomatoes can be bitter from the get go..... some brands more than
>>others. Canned plum or roma tomatoes tend to be less bitter.
>>
>>The simple fix... add more sugar. A little at a time until the bitter
>>taste goes away. Depending on how bitter your original tomatoes were,
>>you might have to add quite a bit.
>>
>>(The screaming you hear in the background is coming from Tomato Sauce
>>Purists who would just DIE if someone suggested adding more sugar. Try
>>it anyway.)
>>
>It's best to taste first. I have the opposite problem where certain
>brands are too sweet from the git go.

I forgot to add this... some (all?) Italians use carrot instead of
sugar, but you have to be careful with carrot also because it can over
sweeten if you use too much of it.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

sf <[email protected]> wrote:

><[email protected]> wrote:

>>Canned tomatoes can be bitter from the get go..... some brands more than
>>others. Canned plum or roma tomatoes tend to be less bitter.

>>The simple fix... add more sugar. A little at a time until the bitter
>>taste goes away. Depending on how bitter your original tomatoes were,
>>you might have to add quite a bit.

>>(The screaming you hear in the background is coming from Tomato Sauce
>>Purists who would just DIE if someone suggested adding more sugar. Try
>>it anyway.)

>It's best to taste first. I have the opposite problem where certain
>brands are too sweet from the git go.

I have never found any canned tomatoes to be either too sweet
or too bitter. The main problem with them is they are sometimes
too flavorless.

Still, they're the most economical choice for sauce. If you
want to spend a little more, buy boxed or jarred Italian tomatoes;
you then have more of an assurance of good tomato flavor.

If your tomato sauce is truly flawed it is likely one of the
other ingredients, or overcooking that did it.

Steve

In article <z_7Tm.66763$[email protected]>, Chet <[email protected]>
wrote:

> I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting
> when I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
> tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4
> cup of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held
> blender to a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about
> a teaspoon sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage,
> simmered for 1hr. and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti
> and it tasted bitter, this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a
> good home made sauce, maybe only one time was good, for some reason I
> cannot make a marinara sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce
> always was good. where am I going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.
>
> thanks
> Chet

Are you using aluminum or stainless steel?

Any tomato item cooked in aluminum is going to come out bitter.
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people until they put their foot down."
--Steve Rothstein

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
[email protected]
Subscribe: [email protected]

In article <[email protected]>,
sf <[email protected]> wrote:

> I forgot to add this... some (all?) Italians use carrot instead of
> sugar, but you have to be careful with carrot also because it can over
> sweeten if you use too much of it.

I'm going to have to try that idea just for grins. I've never put
carrot in a tomato sauce!
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people until they put their foot down."
--Steve Rothstein

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
[email protected]
Subscribe: [email protected]

"Chet" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:z_7Tm.66763$[email protected]..
>I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting when
>I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
>tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4 cup
>of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held blender to
>a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about a teaspoon
>sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage, simmered for 1hr.
>and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti and it tasted bitter,
>this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a good home made sauce,
>maybe only one time was good, for some reason I cannot make a marinara
>sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce always was good. where am I
>going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.
>
> thanks
> Chet

It could be several things could make a tomato sauce bitter tasting. My
guess though being the tomatoes. I use whole tomatoes in mine but only use
San Marzano imported if I can find them though it not there is a brand out
of California called San Marzano that are very close to the real thing. I
also use the liquid in the can as well. I generally make up sauce every
other week using onions, bell pepper, 3 cans of whole tomatoes, 1 small can
of tomato paste. I use the can to measure that amount of red wine such as a
Cabernet Sauvignon. I also use fresh basil, garlic, flat leaf parsley, and
dried oregano. I simmer this on the stove for at least 4 hours or more.
There are as many red sauce recipes as their are Italian cooks in the world.
But the tomatoes are key in my opinion.

> "Chet" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:z_7Tm.66763$[email protected]..
>>I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting
>>when I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
>>tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4
>>cup of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held
>>blender to a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about a
>>teaspoon sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage, simmered
>>for 1hr. and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti and it tasted
>>bitter, this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a good home made
>>sauce, maybe only one time was good, for some reason I cannot make a
>>marinara sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce always was good.
>>where am I going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.
>>
>> thanks
>> Chet

My money is on overdone garlic.

Felice

Felice wrote:
>> "Chet" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:z_7Tm.66763$[email protected]..
>>> I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at
>>> tasting when I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta
>>> Cucina whole tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of
>>> garlic in about 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, added the
>>> tomatoes, used a hand held blender to a sauce and added some salt,
>>> pepper oregano,basil, and about a teaspoon sugar, and put in a few
>>> pcs of partially cooked sausage, simmered for 1hr. and later in the
>>> day we used the sauce for spagetti and it tasted bitter, this is
>>> about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a good home made sauce,
>>> maybe only one time was good, for some reason I cannot make a
>>> marinara sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce always was
>>> good. where am I going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect. thanks
>>> Chet
>
> My money is on overdone garlic.
>
> Felice

Or the garlic was burnt in the cooking, which will really get bitter
tasting.

--

Joe Cilinceon

The message <[email protected]>
from Omelet <[email protected]> contains these words:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> sf <[email protected]> wrote:

> > I forgot to add this... some (all?) Italians use carrot instead of
> > sugar, but you have to be careful with carrot also because it can over
> > sweeten if you use too much of it.

> I'm going to have to try that idea just for grins. I've never put
> carrot in a tomato sauce!

I use it (finely grated); you won't detect it when the sauce is
cooked and you won't need any sugar.

For picky kids, you can hide a lot of grated or finely chopped
vegetables in spaghetti sauce..onions, carrots, celery

Janet

Joe Cilinceon wrote:

>
> It could be several things could make a tomato sauce bitter tasting. My
> guess though being the tomatoes. I use whole tomatoes in mine but only use
> San Marzano imported if I can find them though it not there is a brand out
> of California called San Marzano that are very close to the real thing. I
> also use the liquid in the can as well. I generally make up sauce every
> other week using onions, bell pepper, 3 cans of whole tomatoes, 1 small can
> of tomato paste. I use the can to measure that amount of red wine such as a
> Cabernet Sauvignon. I also use fresh basil, garlic, flat leaf parsley, and
> dried oregano. I simmer this on the stove for at least 4 hours or more.
> There are as many red sauce recipes as their are Italian cooks in the world.
> But the tomatoes are key in my opinion.
>
>

I agree with your long cooking. Restaurant sauces taste raw and
harsh to me. I'm not as fussy about tomatoes, perhaps because
there's not a large Italian population nearby so I can't always
get "good" canned tomatoes. I CAN get good Italian sausage,
however, either Carmine Lonardo's or Polidori's (good Italian
families, eh?)

gloria p

On Dec 7, 2:43*pm, Omelet <ompome...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In article <z_7Tm.66763$Zu5.46...@newsfe24.iad>, Chet <c...@epix.net>
> wrote:
>
> > I started to make a marinara spagettie sauce, I am not good at tasting
> > when I make something, but I started with a #10 can of Alta Cucina whole
> > tomatoes, drained the liquid, sauteed 7-8 cloves of garlic in about 1/4
> > cup of extra virgin olive oil, added the tomatoes, used a hand held
> > blender to a sauce and added some salt, pepper oregano,basil, and about
> > a teaspoon sugar, and put in a few pcs of partially cooked sausage,
> > simmered for 1hr. and later in the day we used the sauce for spagetti
> > and it tasted bitter, this is about the 7-8 time i attempted to make a
> > good home made sauce, maybe only one time was good, for some reason I
> > cannot make a marinara sauce, my mother has passed on, but her sauce
> > always was good. where am I going wrong, am I using the wrong tomatoes ect.
>
> > * * thanks
> > * * * Chet
>
> Are you using aluminum or stainless steel?
>
> Any tomato item cooked in aluminum is going to come out bitter.
> --
> Peace! Om
>
> "Human nature seems to be to control other people until they put their foot down." *
> --Steve Rothstein
>
> Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
> recfoodreci...@yahoogroups.com
> Subscribe: recfoodrecipes-subscr...@yahoogroups.com

ding ding ding i bet we have a winner !!! I'm curious to know if it
was an aluminum pan or not.
I wonder if cast iron would also give off a bitter taste when exposed
to acidy tomato sauce?
Another thought: for those who don't care to add sugar, i've read that
adding a pinch of baking soda will reduce the acid in tomato sauce.
(just a pinch though).

gloria.p <[email protected]> wrote:

>I'm not as fussy about tomatoes, perhaps because
>there's not a large Italian population nearby so I can't always
>get "good" canned tomatoes.

Trader Joe's are not too bad.

Italian brands that I have found to be very good are Bionature
and Pomi.

Steve