When Italian immigrants venturedwest from New York and theGreat Lakes, many migrated to

San Francisco because the hills, bayand the area’s natural beautywas reminiscent of Italy. Inmany U.S. cities, ethnic groupsgathered in neighborhoods toshare culture, foods and relax-ation. In San Francisco, Italians

settled in NorthBeach, a bayfront communitybetween Chinatownand Fisherman’sWharf. This locationa l l o w e d

many Italian immigrantsfrom the coastal townsof Liguria and Genoa, tocontinue making a livingfishing, as they did inItaly. North Beach is thehome of many of SanFrancisco’s most populartourist spots includingWashington SquarePark, Saints Peter andPaul Church and the Coit Tower.

Dozens of ristorantes sportingcheckered tablecloths, cafés, coffeeshops, bakeries and traditional Italian delisfill the neighborhood. It is the perfect placewith San Francisco’s mild weather to sitoutdoors and enjoy an espresso or cappucci-no. The grand dame of Italian restaurantsremains the Fior d’Italia, the nation’s oldestcontinuously operated Italian restaurant.Dozens of other restaurants and pizzeriasdelight visitors and locals alike. In a cityknown world wide for superior cuisine,North Beach stands out as one of the crownjewels of San Francisco food culture.

Cultural revolutions like the 1950’s “BeatGeneration” enjoyed their headquarters inNorth Beach’s most famous bookshop, CityLights. Poetry thrived in North Beach withthe likes of Allan Ginsberg. Jack Kerouac,

San Fran’s most adventurousadventurer called NorthBeach home and ofcourse, Joltin’ JoeDiMaggio grew upplaying baseball in

W a s h i n g t o nSquare and married Marilyn Monroe

at the famous Saints Peter and PaulChurch.

Several celebrations occureach year to celebrateItalian culture, theColumbus Day Parade, theNorth Beach Festival andthe annual Art in the Alleyevent. All of these eventsharken back to SanFrancisco’s strong Italianculture. But did we mentionthe food? The west coast’s

most famous seafood invention is of courseCioppino. Italian anglers invented this toma-to based seafood stew. Coming into portfrom the cold fog, wind and surf of the San

Francisco Bay, these proud but modestfishermen used the leftovers from

their catch, mixed with tomatoesand strong herbs to cook up thismarvelous dish, somewhere

between bouillabaisse and seafoodchili. Many restaurants serve Cioppino

in a sourdough bread bowl, a true SanFrancisco feast!

San Francisco’s North Beach is an ongoing celebration ofItalian culture inAmerica’s mostromantic city.

San Francisco continues to keep ahead onthe culinary front. The Ferry Building, stillactive as a commuter hub, recently wentthrough a multi-million dollar renovationfeaturing many specialty food shops andrestaurants. The City by the Bay remains anepicurean magnet and North Beach, anongoing celebration of Italian culture inAmerica’s most romantic city.

Rob DiNapoli

See Inside for a Recipe from the DiNapoli Family Kitchen!

The Tomato Press FALL 2006

Travels with RobSan Francisco’s North Beach

Packed From Fresh

Tomatoes!

Scoma’sSteven Scarabosio, Executive Chef

415-771-4376

Scoma’s is a busy restaurant, so busythey make their red sauce in a 50-gallon

kettle! Chef Steven’s challenge is to makesure that the procedure for “layering” eachflavor is completed before beginning a newstage. No Short Cuts! Each batch takes 4hours to complete. Then to make sure eachbatch of sauce retains the perfect flavor, 1-gallon cryovac bags are filled and immedi-ately chilled.

Though not much has changed over theyears, customers sensitive about alcoholmay appreciate that Chef Steven hasexchanged wine with wine vinegars to bal-ance the sweetness of the DiNapoli GroundPeeled Tomatoes.

Pompei’s Grotto340 Jefferson Street, San Francisco

415-776-9265

This Fisherman’s Wharfinstitution since 1946 has a clientelethat demands traditional flavors andconsistency and according to

Vincenzo Stornaiuolo co-owner and buyerat Pompei’s Grotto it starts with the basics!Good simple ingredients. Vincenzo makes abasic tomato sauce using DiNapoli PeeledTomatoes Strips…olive oil, garlic, salt andpepper. Later, on his make line; his simplesauce will be converted to one of five uniquefamily recipes. Keeping it simple keeps cus-tomers coming back!

SAUCY SUCCESS STORIES

Family RecipeRavioli

Dough:3 1/2 cups all purpose flour 4 eggs

Filling:1 pound fresh spinach 1 tablespoon salt 1 pound ricotta 1 egg 2 tablespoons heavy cream 8 tablespoons grated

Parmigiano Reggiano 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg Pinch black pepper

Procedure:To make the ravioli dough, make acrater with the flour on a tabletop. Addthe egg to the center of the flour crater.Partially incorporate the flour into theeggs with a fork. Then knead the flourand eggs together to form dough.Knead until the dough is thoroughlyworked together, approximately 4 to 5minutes. Reserve until the raviolis areready to be assembled.

In a pot of boiling water, cook thespinach with half of the salt until ten-der. Remove the spinach from the boil-ing water and let cool for 2 to 3 min-utes. Squeeze out the water from thespinach and chop it up roughly. In amixing bowl, combine choppedspinach, ricotta, egg, heavy cream, and4 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano.Season with the nutmeg, remainingsalt, and black pepper.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in asaucepot. Simmer the nutmeg and sagein the butter for 1 minute. Reserveuntil the raviolis are cooked.

To assemble the raviolis, cut the doughinto 4 pieces. Roll out each piece toform a thin layer (about 1/8 inch) ofdough. Place 1 spoonful of filling onto1 sheet of dough 1/2 inch from theedge. Continue to place spoonfuls offilling along the dough 1-inch fromeach other.

Place 1 of the other pieces of rolledout dough on top of the piece with thefilling on it. Pinch the dough aroundthe filling to form the ravioli. Use acookie cutter or a knife to cut out theraviolis. Pinch the edges of each ravioliwith the tines of a fork. Set aside eachravioli on a plate lightly dusted withflour. Do not stack the raviolis, as theywill stick together.

The name used to describe the Italian Style Tomato with the unique shape does not mat-ter because it is the tomato flesh, juice and seeds from within that will determine the fla-vor of the sauce. Delivering a consistent tomato to a discriminating restaurant chef is noeasy task; the flavor of the finished sauce starts with the tomato used.

Round tomatoes, because of their shape, have ahigher juice to flesh ratio than the elongated SanMarzano style. And because the primary purposeof the interior juice of the tomato is to surroundand nurture its seeds that juice carries the seedsbitter taste.

In addition to a natural taste difference, using aplum tomato reduces cooking time. Tomato

flesh is thicker in consistency than tomato juice and therefore reduces the time toreach your desired thickness. That is why the DiNapoli family recommends you con-sider starting your sauce with San Marzano Style Plum Tomatoes for a rich, and fla-vorful sauce.

Premium ItalianStyle Tomatoes

You say Pear I say Plum!You say Pear I say Plum!

In Tribute – Walter Guerra, Italfoods

Amainstay of Italian food distribution passed away in August.Walter Guerra began Italfoods in 1978 and grew to be the

West Coast’s largest supplier of specialty Italian foods.

Walter was born in Urbania, Italy in 1938 and moved with hiswife, Georgette to San Francisco in 1963. He worked for Simi FineFoods while going to school at night to learn English. When anoth-

er importer purchased Simi, Walter began Italfoods in a 1,000 square foot rented ware-house. Over the years, through hard work and a focus on authentic Italian food and oldworld service, Italfoods grew to a 75-person company distributing 3,400 items.

Walter was a firm believer in passing on the fruits of his labor. He supported the commu-nity and was highly active in charitable causes. Walter was the first recipient of theLifetime Achievement Award for his work with the San Francisco Food Bank. He wasawarded the Boys Town of Italy, “Man of the Year” for 2003. Walter was active in theInternational Olive Oil Association, the Museo Italo-Americano, the Marche Club, the SanFrancisco Italian Athletic Club, the Lucchesi Nel Mondo Club and the Peninsula ItalianAmerican Club of San Mateo.

Walter Guerra pioneered Italian food distribution on the West Coast. His energy, spirit andlove of all things Italian will surely be missed.

Q: I keep reading that tomato prices will be going up this season, what are the reasons and how much will they be going up?

George McNally , Omaha, NB.

A:Curious: Several factors are contributing to a rise intomato products. First, the very wet spring weather in

California meant that the tomato plants did not get in theground until late. Most tomato processors begin running in earlyJuly. This year, because of the late start, most are running threeweeks behind. This means that if we have early rain in the fall,the harvest will be short, causing a shortage in supply. Theextremely hot weather in July also put stress on the tomatoplants, causing some drop in yield per acre. Steel for cans con-tinues to rise and finally, as we all have seen, energy costs, forrunning the factories and powering the diesel harvesters are upconsiderably. All of these factors are causing costs to rise. Mosttomato farmers and processors need to pass those costs along inorder to remain profitable. I would predict an increase of $2-2.50 per case.

Q:Where did the term #10 can originate? Steve L. via email

A:When food cans were invented in the 1890s, there wereno standards. Manufacturers produced cans to fit the

products they sold. Within about ten years, however, foodmanufacturers realized that certain standard sizes were evolv-ing and that there could be economic benefits to setting andfollowing standards. The standard can sizes that evolvedbecame known by numbers from one to 10 (with a 2-1/2thrown in for some reason).

Today, can manufacturers identify their products by two dimen-sions — width across the top and height, both in inches. The old#4 can, which held peas, corn, and other vegetables, is now a300 by 407 — that is, 3 inches across the top by 4-7/16th inch-es tall. The old #5 can, which is a standard for large juice cans,is now a 404 by 700 — 4-4/16ths inches across the top by 7inches tall. An old #1, which is the size of most beverage cans,is a 211 by 400 — 2-11/16th-inches across by 4 inches tall.

In the canning world, then, there areno longer #10 cans. They existonly in the memories ofrestaurant and foodserviceworkers. Next time youneed one, tell the prep cookyou need a “603 by 700”of tomatoes and see what you get….

In My Opinion...Questions & AnswersQuestions or comments, email me at rob@dinapoli.biz

Italian CookingTraditions

RavioliStuffed pasta has a long history in Italy and almost every region

has its own varieties, with characteristic forms and stuffings.Ravioli, a pasta whose name derives from the verb “to wrap”

(ravvolgere), is a Ligurian specialty. We honor some of our favoriteravioli makers in this edition of Italian Cooking Traditions.

Antipastos - 3454 McKee Rd. San Jose, CANick DeRose Sr. (now deceased) startedmaking raviolis in 1987 upon opening

Antipasta in San Jose with his wife Mary andthree sons. Joe realized that handmade raviolis

would provide distinction to his new venture.

Ramon Olivio, who has made raviolis at the restaurant for 18-years, makes beef, chicken and spinach & cheese raviolis eachweek. Amazingly, Antipasto uses the same brass press that maderaviolis for Nick Sr. and Mary,’s wedding over 50 years ago. Therecipes are a Calabrese secret and include cooking the fillingsovernight. Ramon’s biggest challenge is stretching the dough asthin as possible so that it still holds up while cooking.

The DeRose’s Antipasta has grown since 1987 and is recognizedfor their unique meats, Italian groceries and bustling dine-in crowdfilling the 20 tables scattered throughout their shop. However,they all agree with founder Nick Sr., that “raviolis are the heart ofour establishment…the Italian heart!”

Lupretta’s Deli, 14480 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, 408.484.0004 People come to Lupretta’s from asfar away as Monterey for the deli’shomemade ravioli. Daryle Lupretta,owner of the Saratoga deli makes

batches of raviolis—2,500 at a time on a ravioli press built in1908 behind a glass window visible to customers anxiously await-ing their lunch or box of raviolis.

Lupretta, an engineering technician by trade, puts it all to use whenspreading the soft filling with a huge spatula to a precise thickness.The filling is either ground beef or ricotta cheese and Swiss chard,which Daryle prefers over spinach for its sweeter flavor.

“During the holidays, I make three to four batches a day,” he said.“The raviolis are the heart of the business. If it wasn’t for them, wewouldn’t be here.” The dough remains the most the critical part ofthe process. Affected by weather, water and time, almost everybatch must be worked differently to produce a thin covering thatmelts in your mouth.

Customers can buy a 100-count box of uncooked raviolis for$11.00 or buy them cooked by the quart. The store also sellshomemade meat sauce and marinara sauce. The deli gets a good-sized lunch crowd while others pick up dinner on their way homefrom work. Other big sellers include meatball sandwiches andmother Jo Lupretta’s homemade cuccidati—a fig-based cookie. “Itmakes you really feel good when people come in and say they’veheard my ravioli is the best,” Lupretta said.

DiNapoli Products

s/a Traditionale 1936

1582 Monterey Road ✦ San Jose, CA 95110

((440088)) 228833--88224400www.DiNapoli.biz

I N T H I S I S S U E

Travels with Rob

Saucy Success Stories

New DiNapoli Products

Family Recipes

Question & Answers

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Packed From Fresh

Tomatoes!

RREETTUURRNN SSEERRVVIICCEE RREEQQUUEESSTTEEDD

Naples Italy, home of the soft, sweet San Marzanoplum tomatoes is also the home of our ancestorsand the family namesake “DiNapoli”, which

gives us such pleasure to present our ultra-quality lineof San Marzano style peeled tomatoes.

Backed by over 60 years of tomato processing experi-ence, each can of DiNapoli peeled tomatoes is true toits Italian heritage; deep red color, soft fragile textureand a sweet natural taste; the closest thing to handpicked San Marzanos our family raised in the country-side surrounding Naples.

Our tomatoes are all grown and packed in Californiathen provided in foodservice and consumer sized tins.We offer our San Marzano Style Peeled Plum Tomatoespacked as Whole, Strips and Ground. No matter whatvariety you choose, trust our family to provide qualitytomatoes presented in the Italian tradition.

Buon Appetito Rob DiNapoli

Peeled Tomatoes in the Italian Tradition.

✦ Whole Peeled Plums✦ Peeled Tomato Strips✦ Ground in Puree✦ Fire-Roasted Dice✦ Pizza Sauce✦ Deluxe Marinara✦ Puree & Paste