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Nice Review Bubba

Thanks

wrote in message . com>...
> Well,
> Tonight my girlfriend and tasted Barilla "Tomato and Basil" sauce and
> Roa's "Marinara". I did have a favorite which I'll announce toward the
> end.
>
> This was a surprising and interesting tasting which was prompted by my
> girlfriend's surprise at my sauce making. I always felt it tasted
> better and the taste test helped her to confirm that. Still I was so
> surprised by the two sauces.
>
> For those that don't know, Rao's (http://www.raos.com/) has an old and
> good reputation, as a restaurant and as a maker of boutique sauces.
> Barilla of Italy has a very good reputation for jar sauces (produced
> in the US at a plant under license with another manufacturer). The
> Rao's Marinara sold for $7.99, the Barilla, for $2.99.
>
>
> Here's my notes:
>
> COLOR & APPEARANCE
> Rao's
> Decidedly orange. It reminded me of some of those vodka sauces I see
> or of a sauce with added cream or ricotta cheese. It was flecked with
> small pieces of oregano. There were also some slightly larger pieces
> of basil. There is an olive oil halo present which added a tempting
> hope of homemade character. There are some seeds visible in this
> sauce. From the label, this sauce weighs 113 grams per 1/2 cup.
>
> Barilla
> Decidedly red. It had thick and large, prominent pieces of tomato
> flesh that just looked great. There is a lot of basil throughout this
> sauce, each piece about 2 mm give or take. This would make the hungry
> stomach growl. The impact of thickness started the minute it was
> poured from the jar; there's a lot of tomato solids in there and they
> are big. From the label, this sauce weighs 125 grams per 1/2 cup.
>
>
> TEXTURE
> Rao's
> Running the back side of a spoon down the middle of a wide bowl, the
> wake of the spoon immediately folded back into the sauce. Dropping a
> spoonful of the sauce onto the top of the bowl, it quickly flattenned.
> Overall, it was fairly thin. It left we wanting bread for dipping. (I
> only had water to cleanse the pallete between tastes.)
>
>
> Barilla
> Running the spoon through the sauce, I can clearly see the bottom of
> the bowl left in the wake of the spoon's path and the wake didn't fill
> in completely for at least 30 seconds. Dumping a spoonful of sauce on
> top created a mound which mostly stayed their.
>
>
> FLAVOR
> Rao's
> No red pepper! (In the Barilla either!). The first impressons were
> "concentrated", "balanced". It was simple, well made, and enjoyable.
> It gave me the impression of a "long simmerred" tomato sauce. I kept
> comming back with this same impression of simplicity. As I continued
> to taste this sauce I found the "unsubstantial" character had me
> comming back for a second spoonful. (Sort of like a wine tasting where
> your not supposed to swallow.... But you do when the wine is good.)
>
>
> Barilla
> Before tasting, the sauces impressive appearance of chunky tomato
> flesh and basil flecks and thickness left we at first watering (in the
> mouth). My first bite confirmed the visual; this sauce is defined by
> chunkiness and basil. But it was so strong I wondered if it would
> become cloyingly heavy. I tried to taste the sauce apart from its
> chunks. Here I was less impressed. The "saucy part" reminded me of an
> overly heavy puree. This was confirmed on the label. I like "puree" in
> a sauce but adding too much of typical American canned puree can have
> that heavy character and it did here. The sauce was also sweet -
> pungently so. The label says it has added sugar. I was turned off by
> this. The sauce had descent acid to balance the sugar. I just wish it
> had less of each. As I continued to taste, its "bigness" did not
> subside. It made each mouthful "an event". I thought though that if I
> had to eat a lot of this I would feel bloated.
>
>
> OVERALL
> Rao's
> Before tasting, the orange color and simple texture created an initial
> impression of understatement - "where's the beef". I wasn't overly
> impressed but held out that beauty is skin deep. In the end this is
> the sauce which got finished first. And when it was gone from the
> plate, I opened up the jar just to taste it again, hoping to find some
> more useful flavor or impression -either positive or negative. I
> couldn't.
>
>
> Barilla
> Toward the end of tasting I was left with a pervasive loud feeling of
> sweetness. Excessive. Heavy. Could I eat a lot of this stuff? I don't
> think so.
>
>
> I am very much interested in other's opinions of these sauces.
>
> So long for now!