Claudia Romeo: We're in
Corato, Puglia, Italy, and today I'm going to meet
with Isabella and her family, who are going to show me how
they make their tomato sauce, in their garden. Finding a family that makes
traditional tomato sauce from their own tomatoes in their own house has become pretty rare,
sadly, here in Italy. This is such a fascinating tradition, and, most of all, it is the
original way to make it. So, they've got about 20 kilos
of tomatoes ready for us. Let's go and turn them into sauce. Making tomato sauce from
scratch is a laborious process that takes several hours, from handpicking each tomato to adding basil leaves
into jars one by one. It has a far greater
meaning than just preserving the harvest of the summer. For Isabella, her mother, Dina,
and her daughter, Federica, it is a bonding experience that brings together three generations. Claudia: Isabella and her
family planted 80 plants of tomatoes this year. From them, they have harvested
about 200 kilos of tomatoes. After seeding in the spring, tomato plants need two or
three months to mature, depending on weather conditions. This is their third harvest of the summer. Claudia: All together, the
tomatoes are then boiled over a fire in this big pot. Claudia: Once drained, the tomatoes are placed in this strainer, which will separate the pulp
from the skin and the seeds. [machine whirring] It looks like Federica's
task got another upgrade, and she's now in charge
of pushing the tomatoes in the machine, while
Nonna Dina supervises. Claudia: The family uses any
kind of container they can find in their pantry, from old
honey jars to Coke bottles. Before being filled with the tomato sauce, they are filled with the
best possible basil leaves Federica can pick from the garden. This is to add flavor to the sauce. Claudia: The freshly prepared sauce is then scooped into the jars. Claudia: To make sure they can
be preserved for a long time, the jars are given a
final boil for 15 minutes. This will also sterilize them.
That was surprisingly simple!
tomato souus