# Tips for tomato pasta sauce **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-tomato-pasta-sauce/849223 "2020-03-10T19:55:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-tomato-pasta-sauce/849223/41 "2020-03-12T16:29:48Z")
**Re: parsley**. Hell, I just put a handful into the big pot of dog food I’m cooking up. Give the little bastards a little more vitamin punch. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-tomato-pasta-sauce/849223/42 "2020-03-13T04:44:22Z")
PookehMacphillemey beat me to my point, using onion or garlic but not both makes a subtle but important difference in my mind. It adds a clarity to the sauce, a focus as it were. It is noticeable in its absence especially when I make a soup or other braise with a mirepoix and garlic blend. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-tomato-pasta-sauce/849223/43 "2020-03-13T12:22:32Z")
> [@MikeG](#): > > PookehMacphillemey beat me to my point, using onion or garlic but not both makes a subtle but important difference in my mind. It adds a clarity to the sauce, a focus as it were. Yeah. While it’s not a universal rule, the recipes I have for most Italian dishes are very much either onion or garlic not both. (Leafing through one of the cookbooks I bought in Italy, there’s not a single recipe that has both in them.) I’ve never really deeply researched it, but I wonder if Sicilians or southern Italians are more likely to use both, which is why it became popular here in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-tomato-pasta-sauce/849223/44 "2020-03-16T16:28:21Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m not a trained chef. I chose the username on a whim, as it’s easier to use than **Reallygoodhomecookguy**. 😃 I have taken some professional grade classes in the past, but not been to a full-time culinary school, nor worked in a restaurant. I’d change the name, but is seems like too much trouble to bother with. I am a trained chef, and have been for 30 years, and when I’m in Italy, I work in a place with 3 Michelin Stars…but the aspect of my job I enjoyed the most is line-cooking during service, and the skill of which I am most proud. I’m a cook. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-tomato-pasta-sauce/849223/45 "2020-03-16T18:51:53Z")
Sugar?? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-tomato-pasta-sauce/849223/46 "2020-03-18T15:20:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah. While it’s not a universal rule, the recipes I have for most Italian dishes are very much either onion or garlic not both. (Leafing through one of the cookbooks I bought in Italy, there’s not a single recipe that has both in them.) I’ve never really deeply researched it, but I wonder if Sicilians or southern Italians are more likely to use both, which is why it became popular here in the US. Garlic goes in the “gravy,” minced onion goes in the meatballs. Of course, that’s Italian-American…but it works! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-tomato-pasta-sauce/849223/47 "2020-03-18T15:53:21Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Garlic goes in the “gravy,” minced onion goes in the meatballs. Of course, that’s Italian-American…but it works! Yeah, but I’ve also had plenty of Sunday gravies that have had both in the sauce/gravy. It certainly doesn’t seem atypical to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-tomato-pasta-sauce/849223/48 "2020-03-18T19:08:35Z")
Just backing you up at your post @43. Besides, that’s the way _I_ make it. Onion in the sauce makes the sauce overly sweet, IMHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tips-for-tomato-pasta-sauce/849223.md?page=2)