Mama's Saucy Entry Pours It On In Spaghetti Taste Test

Mama mia! You must know best. At least about making spaghetti sauce.

When bottled and canned sauces available at local supermarkets were taste tested in the Times kitchen recently, a ringer was slipped in by a staff member so enamored with Schiavone's Casa Mia Marinara Spaghetti Sauce with Basil that she mail-orders it by the case from Middletown, Ohio.

Schiavone's received the most points for consistency, taste, aroma and color in blind tasting by five sauce scrutinizers.

Much easier is plucking one of the runners-up off the shelf of your local supermarket.

Prego Spaghetti Sauce with Mushrooms, in second place, won points for its pleasing blend of tomatoes and herbs, and its deep red color. Classico Ripe Olives and Mushrooms Pasta Suace, in third place, won points for taste and color from some judges, but several found it too watery, not coating the spaghetti well.

Ragu Homestyle Spaghetti Sauce with Mushrooms was fourth and Newman's Own Marinara Sauce with Mushrooms was fifth.

In last place was Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce with Mushrooms, judged to be too bland and too ketchup-colored, with not enough definition of ingredients.

But when all the points were totaled, Schiavone's was the favorite. It was praised for richness, smoothness and herbal and garlicky flavors. On the down side, one judge decided it did not coat the spaghetti well and its color was too pale. Another said it was hurt by a strong aftertaste.

The tasters were in agreement that most of the products seemed too sweet. A review of labels shows that every one of them contained sugar and/or corn syrup. Classic recipes for homemade spaghetti sauce rarely include sugar, but if they do, it's usually in small amounts, just enough to balance the acidity of the tomatoes. For example, Marcella Hazan, in her "The Classic Italian Cookbook" uses 1/4 teaspoon sugar in some of her tomato sauces.

The prepared sauces also are salty, so if sodium content in your diet is an issue, check the labels closely. The range was 407 milligrams per serving of Schiavone's to 630 milligrams per serving of Prego.

Several tasters commented that they use these bottled and canned sauces as convenient bases for making their own spaghetti sauce, adding such ingredients as roasted vegetables, meats, fresh herbs and wine to intensify flavors.

The Schiavone sauce made from a recipe created by the matriarch of the family, Yolanda Schiavone, can be ordered by the case (a dozen 19 1/2 ounce cans) for $12.75 plus delivery by calling 1-(513)-422-8650, or writing Schiavone's Restaurant, 1907 Tytus Ave., Middletown, Ohio, 45042. The sauce can be charged on Visa or Mastercard, or shipped COD. The total cost is about $22.30 per case, delivered here.

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HOW DID THEY RATE?

Here are the results of a Times Kitchen taste test for bottled and canned spaghetti sauces. The possible total is 75.

Sauce Score Weight Price . ------------------------------------------------------------------- Schiavone's Casa Mia Marinara 64 (1) 19 1/2 oz. $1.86 . Spaghetti Sauce . ------------------------------------------------------------------- Prego Spaghetti Sauce with 57 14 oz. $1.49 . Fresh Mushrooms . ------------------------------------------------------------------- Classico Ripe Olives & Mushrooms 56 26 oz. $2.79 . Pasta Sauce . ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ragu Homestyle Spaghetti Sauce 43 14 oz. $1.29 . with Mushrooms . ------------------------------------------------------------------- Newman's Own Marinara Sauce 39 26 oz. $2.79 . with Mushrooms . ------------------------------------------------------------------- Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce with Mushrooms 38 27 1/2 oz. $1.59 . -------------------------------------------------------------------

(1) Not available locally. The approximate price includes delivery charge. It must be ordered by the case.