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Packed The Tomato Press FALL 2006 From Fresh Tomatoes! SAUCY SUCCESS STORIES Travels with Rob San Francisco’s North Beach hen Italian immigrants ventured San Fran’s most adventurous west from New York and the adventurer called North WGreat Lakes, many migrated to Beach home and of San Francisco because the hills, bay course, Joltin’ Joe Scoma’s and the area’s natural beauty DiMaggio grew up Steven Scarabosio, Executive Chef was reminiscent of Italy. In playing baseball in Rob DiNapoli 415-771-4376 many U.S. cities, ethnic groups Washington Scoma’s is a busy restaurant, so busy gathered in neighborhoods to Square and married Marilyn Monroe they make their red sauce in a 50-gallon share culture, foods and relax- at the famous Saints Peter and Paul kettle! Chef Steven’s challenge is to make ation. In San Francisco, Italians Church. sure that the procedure for “layering” each settled in North Several celebrations occur flavor is completed before beginning a new Beach, a bay each year to celebrate stage. No Short Cuts! Each batch takes 4 front community Italian culture, the hours to complete. Then to make sure each between Chinatown Columbus Day Parade, the batch of sauce retains the perfect flavor, 1- and Fisherman’s North Beach Festival and gallon cryovac bags are filled and immedi- Wharf. This location the annual Art in the Alley ately chilled. allowed event. All of these events many Italian immigrants harken back to San Though not much has changed over the from the coastal towns Francisco’s strong Italian years, customers sensitive about alcohol of Liguria and Genoa, to culture. But did we mention may appreciate that Chef Steven has continue making a living the food? The west coast’s exchanged wine with wine vinegars to bal- fishing, as they did in most famous seafood invention is of course ance the sweetness of the DiNapoli Ground Italy. North Beach is the Cioppino. Italian anglers invented this toma- Peeled Tomatoes. home of many of San to based seafood stew. Coming into port Francisco’s most popular from the cold fog, wind and surf of the San tourist spots including Francisco Bay, these proud but modest Washington Square fishermen used the leftovers from Park, Saints Peter and their catch, mixed with tomatoes Paul Church and the Coit Tower. and strong herbs to cook up this Pompei’s Grotto Dozens of ristorantes sporting marvelous dish, somewhere between bouillabaisse and seafood 340 Jefferson Street, San Francisco checkered tablecloths, cafés, coffee shops, bakeries and traditional Italian delis chili. Many restaurants serve Cioppino 415-776-9265 fill the neighborhood. It is the perfect place in a sourdough bread bowl, a true San This Fisherman’s Wharf with San Francisco’s mild weather to sit Francisco feast! institution since 1946 has a clientele outdoors and enjoy an espresso or cappucci- San Francisco’s North Beach is that demands traditional flavors and no. The grand dame of Italian restaurants an ongoing celebration of consistency and according to remains the Fior d’Italia, the nation’s oldest Italian culture in Vincenzo Stornaiuolo co-owner and buyer continuously operated Italian restaurant. America’s most at Pompei’s Grotto it starts with the basics! Dozens of other restaurants and pizzerias romantic city. Good simple ingredients. Vincenzo makes a delight visitors and locals alike. In a city known world wide for superior cuisine, San Francisco continues to keep ahead on basic tomato sauce using DiNapoli Peeled the culinary front. The Ferry Building, still Tomatoes Strips…olive oil, garlic, salt and North Beach stands out as one of the crown jewels of San Francisco food culture. active as a commuter hub, recently went pepper. Later, on his make line; his simple through a multi-million dollar renovation sauce will be converted to one of five unique Cultural revolutions like the 1950’s “Beat featuring many specialty food shops and family recipes. Keeping it simple keeps cus- Generation” enjoyed their headquarters in restaurants. The City by the Bay remains an tomers coming back! North Beach’s most famous bookshop, City epicurean magnet and North Beach, an Lights. Poetry thrived in North Beach with ongoing celebration of Italian culture in the likes of Allan Ginsberg. Jack Kerouac, America’s most romantic city. See Inside for a Recipe from the DiNapoli Family Kitchen! Family Recipe YouYou saysay PearPear II saysay Plum!Plum! The name used to describe the Italian Style Tomato with the unique shape does not mat- Ravioli ter because it is the tomato flesh, juice and seeds from within that will determine the fla- Dough: vor of the sauce. Delivering a consistent tomato to a discriminating restaurant chef is no 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour easy task; the flavor of the finished sauce starts with the tomato used. 4 eggs Round tomatoes, because of their shape, have a Filling: higher juice to flesh ratio than the elongated San 1 pound fresh spinach Marzano style. And because the primary purpose 1 tablespoon salt of the interior juice of the tomato is to surround 1 pound ricotta and nurture its seeds that juice carries the seeds 1 egg bitter taste. 2 tablespoons heavy cream 8 tablespoons grated In addition to a natural taste difference, using a Parmigiano Reggiano plum tomato reduces cooking time. Tomato 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg flesh is thicker in consistency than tomato juice and therefore reduces the time to Pinch black pepper reach your desired thickness. That is why the DiNapoli family recommends you con- sider starting your sauce with San Marzano Style Plum Tomatoes for a rich, and fla- Procedure: vorful sauce. To make the ravioli dough, make a crater with the flour on a tabletop. Add the egg to the center of the flour crater. Partially incorporate the flour into the eggs with a fork. Then knead the flour and eggs together to form dough. Knead until the dough is thoroughly worked together, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Reserve until the raviolis are ready to be assembled. In a pot of boiling water, cook the spinach with half of the salt until ten- der. Remove the spinach from the boil- ing water and let cool for 2 to 3 min- utes. Squeeze out the water from the spinach and chop it up roughly. In a mixing bowl, combine chopped spinach, ricotta, egg, heavy cream, and 4 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano. Season with the nutmeg, remaining salt, and black pepper. To make the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepot. Simmer the nutmeg and sage In Tribute – in the butter for 1 minute. Reserve until the raviolis are cooked. Walter Guerra, Italfoods mainstay of Italian food distribution passed away in August. To assemble the raviolis, cut the dough Walter Guerra began Italfoods in 1978 and grew to be the into 4 pieces. Roll out each piece to A West Coast’s largest supplier of specialty Italian foods. form a thin layer (about 1/8 inch) of dough. Place 1 spoonful of filling onto Walter was born in Urbania, Italy in 1938 and moved with his 1 sheet of dough 1/2 inch from the wife, Georgette to San Francisco in 1963. He worked for Simi Fine edge. Continue to place spoonfuls of Foods while going to school at night to learn English. When anoth- filling along the dough 1-inch from er importer purchased Simi, Walter began Italfoods in a 1,000 square foot rented ware- each other. house. Over the years, through hard work and a focus on authentic Italian food and old world service, Italfoods grew to a 75-person company distributing 3,400 items. Place 1 of the other pieces of rolled out dough on top of the piece with the Walter was a firm believer in passing on the fruits of his labor. He supported the commu- filling on it. Pinch the dough around nity and was highly active in charitable causes. Walter was the first recipient of the the filling to form the ravioli. Use a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work with the San Francisco Food Bank. He was Premium Italian awarded the Boys Town of Italy, “Man of the Year” for 2003. Walter was active in the cookie cutter or Stylea knife Tomatoes to cut out the raviolis. Pinch the edges of each ravioli International Olive Oil Association, the Museo Italo-Americano, the Marche Club, the San with the tines of a fork. Set aside each Francisco Italian Athletic Club, the Lucchesi Nel Mondo Club and the Peninsula Italian ravioli on a plate lightly dusted with American Club of San Mateo. flour. Do not stack the raviolis, as they Walter Guerra pioneered Italian food distribution on the West Coast. His energy, spirit and will stick together. love of all things Italian will surely be missed. In My Opinion... Italian Questions & Answers Cooking Questions or comments, email me at [email protected] I keep reading that tomato prices will be going up this Q: season, what are the reasons and how much will they be going up? Traditions George McNally , Omaha, NB. Curious: Several factors are contributing to a rise in Ravioli A: tomato products. First, the very wet spring weather in tuffed pasta has a long history in Italy and almost every region California meant that the tomato plants did not get in the has its own varieties, with characteristic forms and stuffings. ground until late. Most tomato processors begin running in early SRavioli, a pasta whose name derives from the verb “to wrap” July. This year, because of the late start, most are running three (ravvolgere), is a Ligurian specialty. We honor some of our favorite weeks behind.

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