Arabian and Aztec Foods we Love: (Pasta & Tomato Sauce)

Let’s quote Michael Jordan: “I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career, I've lost almost 300 games; 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

By Ricardo J. Fernandez / The Executive Chef Company.

6/22/20244 min read

potato fries on white ceramic plate
potato fries on white ceramic plate

I guarantee you that the approach to mastering pasta and tomato cookery will not require as many “misses” as Michael Jordan had to endure in becoming one of the greatest North American athletes of the 20th century. Incidentally, had the tomato not been taken to Europe from the Americas by the Spanish conquistadores I guarantee you the Italians would have not been regarded today as the masters of tomato “expressionism” and excellence in the simplicity of its preparation!

Origins and Brief History (sorry Marco Polo):

PASTA: The belief that pasta was brought to Italy from China by the 14th century explorer Marco Polo (AD 1254-1324) is a popularized anecdote that has erroneously taken hold as has the belief (also incorrect) that Dom Perignon invented Champagne). When Marco Polo returned from his China travels (Cathay), he joined the army to fight against the city-state of Genoa. He was captured in 1298 and imprisoned for a few months in Genoa. In prison, he dictated an account of his travels in the then-unknown parts of China to a fellow prisoner named Rustichello da Pisa. Thereafter; the Travels of Marco Polo was published in early French, which Marco Polo did not understand. Some scholars believe his book exaggerates places and cultures and believe he never went as far east as China as narrated, but only described places other travelers had been to.

The earliest known reference to pasta is traced to the Island of Sicily in the early Middle Ages (around AD 700) when Sicily was under Arab domination (Saracens). Although the history of pasta is an often debated scholarly subject, some sources date it back as far as the 4th Century Etruscans. Pasta (as is its North African couscous) is made of durum wheat (hard wheat) or semolina and water, sometimes egg is added, as in egg fettuccine for example. Pasta is loaded with carbohydrates, our body's main source of energy. Carbohydrates are converted into glucose. Glucose is then immediately used for energy or is stored in the muscles as glycogen which keeps you from getting tired when in physical activity. Pasta comes in scores of shapes and sizes to suit every preference and imaginable dish.

TOMATO: The tomato (a close relative of eggplants, potatoes and tobacco!) is native to southern North America, Central and South America, generally from Mexico to Argentina. It is believed to have been originated in Peru where it was known to exist several thousands years ago in the wild. Its modern name come from the Aztec word “xitomatl” meaning “plump thing with a navel”. Later it was called “tomatl” in the Nahuatl language. Tomatoes were taken to Europe by the Spanish and into Italy through Naples, a Spanish possession in the early 14th Century. Originally, tomatoes were yellow-orange in color, a color which is again becoming popular and seen in most supermarkets. The first written reference to the tomato in Europe is credited to Pietro Andrea Mattioli in 1544 (a doctor and botanist from Siena). He called the tomato “pomi d’oro” or golden apple, thus we have the modern Italian word for tomato: Pomodoro. Tomato is rich in the recently much-touted Lycopene – the powerful antioxidant credited with reduction/prevention of cancer, heart decease, macular degeneration and prostrate decease and destroyer of harmful “free radicals” in our bodies! (Note: tomato’s botanical name is Lycopersicon lycopersicum) Lycopene is also fat-soluble which means it is more readily released when cooked with fats such as olive oil in pasta sauces.

Processed tomatoes (canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, ketchup, etc.) contain more lycopene than fresh tom­atoes because cooking breaks down cell walls. In the rare event that you do not like tomatoes in any form, lycopene is also present in much lesser quantities in watermelon; papaya, pink grapefruit, and guava… while the tomato’s botanical cousins are vegetables, tomatoes are classified as a fruit, not a vegetable!

Now, to put theory into practice, here’s my favorite pasta tomato sauce, which I usually serve by itself, with sausages, meatballs or ground-meat. Feel free to innovate and invite your Italian friends for a pasta dinner! See tips at the end of the column.

Italian Style Spaghetti & Tomato (Pomodoro) Sauce (Serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

28 ounces plum tomato, whole, canned,

28 ounces crushed tomatoes, canned

2 tablespoons oregano

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

2 tablespoons basil leaves, thinly sliced

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 head garlic, pressed or minced

1 pound spaghetti (or linguine)

Preparation:

1. In a deep preparation bowl add all the ingredients except the oil and garlic, squeeze whole tomatoes with your hand and set aside.

2. In a heavy medium saucepan heat olive oil over medium heat, add the garlic and sauté until lightly golden. Immediately add the tomato sauce and stir and simmer for about twelve minutes. Do not bring to a boil.

3. While the sauce is simmering, bring salted water to a fast boil in a stock pot, add the pasta and cook al dente (read package suggestion) stirring and tasting occasionally for doneness.

4. Drain and serve immediately with the sauce over it. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese to taste.

Note: If you add Italian sausages (sweet or hot), boil the sausages separately to degrease them, remove casing and slice before adding to the sauce. You may add meatballs or meat sauce (always use two parts ground pork to one part ground lean beef)

Tips to modify and stretch the above sauce for other and future dishes?

  1. You may add heavy cream and strain to turn it into a beautiful silky pink sauce.

  2. Add capers and some on their vinegary liquid and sauté your favorite fish fillet in it.

  3. Add “picadillo”, canned red kidney beans and chili powder and you have great tasting Chili con carne!

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