Bill's was a little Italian restaurant in Brunswick, Maine in the 60's (actually it was around before that, but I wasn't) and they served spaghetti sauce that was deep red and had a delightfully bitter taste. All other sauces since have paled in comparison.
Hanging on a wall at Bill's was a sign, and the fact that my mother can remember this word for word is testament that her memory is better than mine was, or will ever be:
"Stop and spend a cheerful day
in harmless mirth and fun,
let friendship reign,
be just and kind,
and evil speak of none."
(I hope they weren't referring to Bill because there has been just a little bit of evil, while not spoken out loud, at least thought of, because he made no reference to this sauce on Google...and we blame him for not at least printing it somewhere where we could find it)
Poem aside, Mom has failed to remember (she's good but not that good)...what the secret ingredient may have been, so she and I have been on a fruitless search for decades (I really am not kidding) for a very specific spaghetti sauce recipe. I throw it out here to see if anyone might know what the secret ingredient may have been. Through the years we've tried limitless combinations of anchovy paste, browning garlic and onions, red wine, extra oregano, extra basil, Kalamata olives, olive paste, fresh tomatoes, fresh parsley, a touch of balsamic vinegar, and various brands of canned tomatoes,etc.
One gentleman I know, a chef, suggested making a deep, dark tomato roux (similar to the roux in gumbo without the flour) to pull out the deep color and tomato flavor. For this I used olive oil and tomato paste, stirring until it was very dark. The result was good but not quite what I am remembering. While I am indeed getting closer to the taste of Bill's, I just haven't hit it yet.
Games not up just yet though. My next step is to do something I talked about in an earlier post...roast my tomatoes! Maybe it's the intensity of the tomatoes we're missing. It will be more time consuming but if I can solve the mystery, let this goofy thing rest, and move onto something else (conquer flan or something), both Mom and I may remember Bill's words to be gentle, kind, and evil speak of none!
Hanging on a wall at Bill's was a sign, and the fact that my mother can remember this word for word is testament that her memory is better than mine was, or will ever be:
"Stop and spend a cheerful day
in harmless mirth and fun,
let friendship reign,
be just and kind,
and evil speak of none."
(I hope they weren't referring to Bill because there has been just a little bit of evil, while not spoken out loud, at least thought of, because he made no reference to this sauce on Google...and we blame him for not at least printing it somewhere where we could find it)
Poem aside, Mom has failed to remember (she's good but not that good)...what the secret ingredient may have been, so she and I have been on a fruitless search for decades (I really am not kidding) for a very specific spaghetti sauce recipe. I throw it out here to see if anyone might know what the secret ingredient may have been. Through the years we've tried limitless combinations of anchovy paste, browning garlic and onions, red wine, extra oregano, extra basil, Kalamata olives, olive paste, fresh tomatoes, fresh parsley, a touch of balsamic vinegar, and various brands of canned tomatoes,etc.
One gentleman I know, a chef, suggested making a deep, dark tomato roux (similar to the roux in gumbo without the flour) to pull out the deep color and tomato flavor. For this I used olive oil and tomato paste, stirring until it was very dark. The result was good but not quite what I am remembering. While I am indeed getting closer to the taste of Bill's, I just haven't hit it yet.
Games not up just yet though. My next step is to do something I talked about in an earlier post...roast my tomatoes! Maybe it's the intensity of the tomatoes we're missing. It will be more time consuming but if I can solve the mystery, let this goofy thing rest, and move onto something else (conquer flan or something), both Mom and I may remember Bill's words to be gentle, kind, and evil speak of none!
