Spaghetti Sauce Wars

Something unusual happened yesterday. Marieta made spaghetti and she combined two different brands of tomato sauce. She changes recipes all the time — on some occasions cooking everything from scratch, and on other occasions using a store-bought brands.

For 20 years, Rao’s has been our “go to” sauce. Sometimes, we try other brands. But Rao’s always delivers quality and consistency.

Then, came yesterday’s surprise. We made a new discovery.

Marieta brought over two jars to me. She asked me to do a smell test. This was foodie’s perfume (see pict). I couldn’t believe the difference.

Rao’s is always good. But this unfamiliar brand we’d never tried before was — GREAT.
CARBONE is the brand (Noah, is this your family?). Cost $8 a jar (Rao’s is typically $9, but you can often find it on sale). So far, we’ve only tried the Arrabiatta.

As for taste, it was impossible to compare the two because Marieta had combined the sauces. Next time, we’ll use the Carbone brand exclusively and see if there’s a big difference.

Grocery shelves are crowded with many different brands of spaghetti sauces. The low-end sauces are almost inedible. Last time I tried Prego, my eyes stung. Ragu might be okay if you’re locked in a Guyanan prison and your name is Papillon and you can’t find any bugs. Good old-fashioned Hunts is simple, and fine in cases of an emergency. But those cheap brands loaded with preservatives, chemicals, and sugar belong in the garbage disposal.

Spaghetti sauces are like beer, cars, and cigarettes. Brand loyalty is a big thing.

I think I’ve found a new spaghetti sauce brand — CARBONE.

Anyone have another brand they think stands out?

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