vs.
Today’s face-off is between Rachael Ray and Giada De Laurentiis. Have you ever wonder if a five minute sauce can really taste as good as one that has simmered away?
I used Rachael’s Five Minute Spicy Marinara (from her spicy calzone recipe) and Giada’s plain old Marinara Sauce. Let me start by saying I cut Giada’s ingredients in half, just to make it easier on myself, I am still trying to figure out what I am going to do with all the marinara sauce I have (I guess I will just have to freeze it). To be fair I used the exact same brand of tomatoes in each recipe. Except for cutting Giada’s recipe in half I followed the recipes exactly as they were listed.
Rachael’s sauce was definitely quick and easy. This recipe called for a whopping three cloves of garlic. You could definitely taste the garlic more in this sauce than Giada’s sauce. When this sauce stood alone the garlic flavor did not seem overpowering, but when paired up against Giada’s sauce the taste definitely became more apparent. I have to say I preferred the subtle taste of the garlic in Giada’s sauce. As for the spicy part, I didn’t really find the sauce spicy at all. I don’t even think my nieces and nephews would notice there were crushed pepper flakes in the sauce. Overall, the sauce was not sweet like you expect a marinara sauce to be. The parsley did little for the dish, except give it color.
Giada’s sauce looks like a lot more difficult, but truly is not. The sauce takes a lot longer because of the cook time (1 hour to reduce and 20 minutes to cook the vegetables). I found the extra time cooking the vegetables really added a nice sweetness to this sauce, that Rachel’s sauce lacked. Allowing the root vegetables to cook off in the beginning really seemed to minimize the acidic taste of the tomatoes. I really appreciated the subtle flavors in this sauce, nothing jumps out and dominants your palate.
After completing both sauces and comparing them against each other, meaning one spoon to another, I declare Giada De Laurentiis’ sauce the winner of today’s Food TV Face-Off. Tune in next week for another face-off, have any suggestions send me an email.
WINNER: GIADA DE LAURENTIIS - MARINARA SAUCE
okay, I’ll give you points for trying to be objective, but’s let be practical here–your regular readers know of your bias for Giada. Not that that’s a bad thing. Also, I agree that subtlety in sauces is a good thing, but it’s easier to have “subtle” when there’s more time for the simmering.
BTW, just for clarity’s sake (and I’m sure this has nothing to do your bias towards Ms. D), Ms. Ray’s first name is spelled Rachael
how about a face off between Paula Deen and Emeril in something essentially southern, like pecan pie or pralines, or turnip greens, etc.
e m
Comment by el mojay — February 11, 2007 @ 8:16 pm
Thanks for the comment.
I am sorry if I offended anyone in my Rachael vs. Giada posting. Sorry for the spelling errors, but I also have to say that I am slightly bothered by the fact that my objectivity was called into question by this comment. I in no way prefer Giada to Rachael. In fact, Giada is not one my favorite cooks.(As can be evidenced in my Food TV Favorite Personalities post where I mentioned Rachael, but not Giada.)
I think in the interest of good cooking if the sauce tastes better after simmering then it should be simmered. Quick meals are great, but should not lack in flavor due to their ease of preparation.
Thanks for suggestion on Emeril vs. Paula. I think pecan pies may be an interesting battle for the near future.
Thanks for reading.
Best,
Nicky
Comment by Nicky — February 12, 2007 @ 5:03 pm