Pasta and Tomatoes: A Neapolitan Love Story

The tomato is certainly a main ingredient in Italian cuisine, but what makes it a key symbol of the Peninsula is its marriage with pasta! This is a marriage that has its roots firmly planted in Neapolitan soil. 

Pasta has always been the main course that best represents the Italian passion for good cooking. And just as for pizza – the other great Queen of Italian cooking – pasta too has its roots firmly planted in the history of Naples! 

In fact, it was in Naples that the press and the drawplate were invented, transforming the city into the pasta capital and spreading its preparation technique on an industrial level. 

Naples is where the historic marriage between sauce and pasta was first celebrated by two key chefs in the history of Italian cuisine, both Neapolitans, and their recipe books: Vincenzo Corrado in the 18th century with his Cuoco Galante (the romantic cook) cookbook and Ippolito Cavalcanti in the 19th century with his Cucina teorica pratica (theoretical-practical cuisine) book. 

Even the habit of eating pasta “al dente” is believed to be of Neapolitan origins and dates back to the maccaronari, the street vendors who sold pasta in the city alleys and, to save time and sell more, used a brief cooking time! 

In a word, Naples is passion: the innovations, the recipes, the pasta and the best products of Italian cuisine were born under the shadow of Vesuvius! Thanks to our processing methods, our tomatoes are harvested and preserved within just a few hours, keeping all the flavors of Vesuvius’ land and making them the perfect addition to other Neapolitan specialties like pasta and pizza!