Getting saucy in Piemonte making real Italian tomato sauce
August = Delicious Tomatoes
Each August in Italy, most businesses close for at least a couple of weeks, and there’s good reason: it is hot! Most head to the enticing freshness of the seaside, some retreat to the cooler climate of the mountains, and others escape Italy all together. Although this heat is challenging for sleeping easily at night and for those who like to eat ice cream slowly, it is great for fruit and veg. In fact, it is the month when the superstar of Italian fruit/veg the succulent tomato (cue debate), hits optimal maturity and maximum flavour level.
Italian cuisine is full of tomatoes, they adore cooking with them. From Lasagna, to Caprese salad, to bruschetta, tomatoes are found everywhere. In particular there are a number of tomato-based dishes, which are built on the solid foundations of the Italian tomato sauce, or Sugo as it is known in Italy.

If you are Italian however, you can’t simply use any old sauce, and don’t even dare mention Dolmio! Italian families, especially those with roots in the south, make sauce in bulk, usually making around a years’ worth (I’m talking 350kgs of tomatoes!).
I was to discover all of this, after my wife one day, quite nonchalantly, asked if I would like to go with her mum to make Sugo! It happily turned out to be the most Italian thing I’ve done to date.
Making Sugo
I had no idea what to expect but was told we would have to be at Enza’s house (the matriarch of the Sugo making process) at 6am. My dreariness was soon obliterated by a strong espresso and we were ushered outside where the production line awaited.
The tomatoes, which were waiting patiently in the garage, appeared 10 crates at a time. These tomatoes, bought direct from the source at farmers markets, were of the plum variety. Plum tomatoes are relatively small, slightly oblong and slightly sweet to taste as well as very fragrant. Enza told me the quality of the tomato largely depends on the amount of rain. Too little, and tomatoes may not be as juicy and plump as is ideal, while too much during ripening time and tomatoes can crack and split.
In the courtyard there was a pair of huge sinks to wash the tomatoes, they were then moved to a long table and cut in half. Then its straight into the large cooking pots, awaiting their occupants on a couple of gas burners. Once filled and cooking, the pot is tended too and stirred occasionally using a large wooden paddle.
The whole thing is a family affair, the girls chop while they enjoy a good chat, the guys wash the tomatoes and tend to the cooking pots and even the grand-kids get involved preparing empty beer bottles for the Sugo, by placing a couple of fresh leaves of basil in each. This cycle of wash, chop, cook, continues over and over, like a finely tuned production line, there are after all a lot of tomatoes to get through.

Enza acts as the executive chef, she is the one who checks the tomatoes in the cooking pots, and she is the one who says when the tomatoes are cooked to her satisfaction!
Once given the nod, Enza’s son, a mountain of a man, lifts the large pot and strains the tomatoes to remove excess liquid. The whole idea behind this cooking, sieving and the next phase of cooking is to remove water from the tomatoes, this in turn concentrates the delicious flavour.

The tomatoes are next processed through a wonderfully noisy, homemade machine which looks like something straight out of Willy Wonka’s factory. Tomatoes go in and a lovely smooth sauce comes out the other end. The machine separates the skin and heavy pulp, leaving just the velvety sauce.
Once the receiving pan is full, the final stage of cooking starts, evaporating yet more water from the sauce while salt is also added to season the Sugo well.
Bottling Tomatoey Goodness
After another hour of cooking the final stage of production is started immediately, the bottling. Piping hot sauce is funneled into the waiting basil beer bottles. Then quick as a flash the bottle is capped.
The bottles are then moved into blanket lined trunks and barrels, which once full, are covered with more blankets (good job you don’t need these in the summer!). Bottling the Sugo while it is piping hot then placing it somewhere cool, dark and undisturbed enables it to cool very slowly. This is all key to the preservation process of the Sugo and is what enables it to last for the year ahead.
And that was it, the most Italian thing I’ve done to date. It was great to have such a unexpectedly authentic experience, and I want to thank my Italian family for involving me.
There was just one thing left to do. Sit down with the family, a glass of red wine in hand and dig in to a big bowl of spaghetti and the freshest Sugo!
Video:
I made a video of the Sugo making process, check it out below.
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