Masala Mama Simmer Sauce

This story will end your hunt for the perfect tomato. Here’s my slightly quirky yet educated guide on these famed fruits. While San Marzano tomatoes may be hyped up, the best canned tomatoes are the ones that you can easily find in your neighborhood. This guide features my top 5 canned tomato selections, all plum tomatoes, with a focus on use in Italian recipes.

Top 5 Canned Tomatoes

Caluccio

This Italian plum tomato comes from the San Marzano area near Salerno and has the official D.O.P. designation. The ingredients are simply Italian plum peeled tomatoes, tomato puree, citric acid, and salt.

Marco LaBella San Marzano

Also from the San Marzano area, these plum tomatoes have been grown by the Visconti family since 1957. The label is charming, and the lack of added salt is a plus.

Mutti

Although not grown in the San Marzano area, these plum tomatoes from Parma are a go-to for me because they have the least amount of ingredients. It’s just plum tomatoes and a little tomato juice.

San Marzano Brand

Despite the confusing branding, this canned tomato produced and packaged in America is a delicious option. Ingredients include citric acid and sodium chloride but no basil leaf, which can be added separately.

Bianco de Napoli

Canned by chef Chris Bianco in California, these plum tomatoes are my new obsession due to their intense, rich flavor.

Watch this video to dive a little deeper and hear my favorite.

These top 5 canned tomatoes have got you covered, whether you’re making sauce, gravy, pizzas, lasagnas, and more. Don’t let the hype of San Marzano tomatoes fool you. The best canned tomatoes are the ones you can easily find in your local grocery with the least added ingredients.

We never thought of putting garam masala on cold greens either but a few nights ago we were treated to such a salad. A sprinkle of this quintessential Indian mixture onto crispy fresh fennel, juicy grapefruit supremes and the occasional candied ginger, worked better than I would have ever guessed in making our tastebuds dance. With a bit further investigation (Raiding our friend’s pantry) we discovered this triad of masalas from the late, great chef Floyd Cardoz in collaboration with Burlap and Barrel. Chef Cardoz passed from complications of COVID-19 in March 2020 but left a legacy through his compassion, teachings and artifacts, like these spices. Burlap and Barrel partners directly with small farmers to source spices that have never been available in the US before and help improve the livelihoods of their partner farmers. This collab was no exception. Working with Chef Cardoz’s wife and business partner Barkha Cardoz, as a memorial to his love for the cuisines of India and his passion for sharing them with the world, the three masalas are uniquely different but all Chef Cardoz. The garam masala is floral, sweet and aromatic. Second in the trifecta, the Goan masala has an earthy, pungent, gingery complexity flavor profile. Lastly, the Kashmiri masala brings the heat with a fennel, ginger and aromatic profile anchored by the Kashmiri chili. Aside from being great on your favorite greens, this trifector collection is a fantastic way to pay homage and connect with a chef who made a huge impact on the culinary world.

Impossible to drop into Montreal without some David McMillan and Frédéric Morin touchpoint. This trip, it was snacks and drinks at their newish wine bar Le Vin Papillon and some Joe Beef Butcher’s Blend. This souvenir was acquired at a local market in the Westmount proving that the Joe Beef dynasty reaches far from the humble, pioneering roots of Little Burgundy into even the shishiest of Anglo-Quebec ‘hoods. As it should.

Speaking of that Maine trip, we also discovered Pemberton’s Puttanesca, another Maine business with a great origin story. Ever heard of Death by Chocolate. Yep. That’s right. Pemberton’s. That first product quickly went from local favorite to legendary status. How did they get to a jar of sauce? Simple really, they are about small batch, traditional classics, handcrafted with care. That allows them to explore a lot of different products from sweet to savory. As you know, we’re usually a discerning crowd when it comes to jarred red sauce but this puttanesca delighted our tongues and makes for a quick fix when we’re two tired (read busy) to start from scratch.