I made a trip to Big John's PFI in Seattle, bought half a guanciale and took some pictures of different sections to plan for a bigger trip.
May I ask what your favorite canned tomato brand is of the two photos? This is probably my best source of Italian products in the area so if there's something neat you think I should try, just let me know.
I've got about 300g/10oz of guanciale, so was thinking about making one plate each of Amatriciana, alla Gricia, and Carbonara plus cacio e pepe to make the 4 Roman pastas for dinner this week. Will definitely post pics.
Oh, Italian pasta brands? They had quite a few so I'm sure they'll have some brands you recommend.
by RedditPosterOver9000
36 Comments
Mutti.
I don’t have access to all of those, but I do have a style that carries the Rega brand. I quite like those. Mutti is just good too for both passata and paste
Mutti Is my favourite. Nothing but tasty tomatoes
Mutti by far. As a rule, I avoid preserved tomato products with citric acid added. Mutti is all natural.
Haven’t tried them all. Probably about half. Adore Bianco di Napoli. We’re in Phoenix so we got them early on, and I haven’t used anything else since. Though I use the whole (which I don’t see there) and hand-crush.
For me too, the mutti
Strianese
Mutti
Bianco dinapoli
MUTTI is usually the best bet. Pomi is also a good bet.
There are some Stanislaus products there, the BIG cans to the right and below. Solid California tomatoes.
I like the Strianese quite a lot. Haven’t had the Mutti.
Mufti
Mutti!
Mutti!!
Ciao
Bianco DiNapoli
Mutti, hands down.
As for pasta brands, my favorite is Rummo, but I’ve made delicious pasta with La Molisana, Garofalo and De Cecco too. Rummo releases less starch and has slightly more protein than other types of pasta, it also has a lovely texture that allows it to retain sauce better.
The only Italian brand I tend to avoid is Barilla, especially because we have so many other brands that if I’m looking for a specific shape I will find it even if Barilla more or less covers all bases on its own.
For what is worth, Mutti is one of the most popular brands here in Italy. I’m not familiar with most of the others, which probably means they are not actual Italian brands. Companies may even be Italian but they only produce for the foreign market. In my experience this usually means lower quality (but it may not).
Good Italian pasta brands that I’ve often seen abroad are Rummo, Garofalo, La Molisana. De Cecco is decent too. I would avoid Barilla.
Mutti. It’s one of the best in Italy too.
I’ve never seen the others in Italy. Unless they are very local or made for export.
Anytime you see tomatoes in jars of water you know they’re going to be top notch
Mutti from Pärma 🙂
Mutti and Pomi
The Alta Cucina are nice, but only sold in the big cans.
I use these for my pizza sauce
Put, without a doubt.
Mutti
I prefer Mutti or Strianese
I’m a Mutti man myself
Mufti and Bianco are both good and they serve different purposes. Mutti is sweeter and Bianco is brighter. If I am making pizza, I go with Bianco every time. If I am doing pasta sauce it’s a toss up for me.
Mutti… but also the ones that they don’t have on the shelves yet, in the cases beside. Maestri!
It says it’s the staff favorite!
Another vote for Mutti. I’ve tried a lot of different brands of San Marzano etc but I’ve always ended up going back to Mutti. They’re also available in supermarkets here in the UK which is handy. Of the rest there, I’ve had the Posardi ones a couple of times and remember them being pretty good too.
Pasta – Garafalo and Liguori are my two go-tos.
I would pick the Rega brand. San Marzano tomatoes, labeled DOP.
Mutti
Mutti
Make your own pasta – easy and a million times better!
As an Italian, I’d say Mutti; I’ve never seen the others here. Remember that choosing the right pasta is also crucial. There are very few major Italian brands that make pasta with Italian wheat; I only know of Voiello and Armando. Alternatively, you can look for artisanal products, like Gragnano pasta.
You want to purchase your passata in glass/tetrapak and the concentrate in the tube. As tomatoes are very acidic, the amount of absorption of the PFAS, BPAS, etc is significantly higher than eating other tinned foods. Tuna and peas are largely ok, most fruits and especially tomatoes have much higher amounts. You should not be eating that shit.
A good mid range pasta- price for quality- is Rumo.
Strianese for San Marzano, Mutti for everything else