Tomasso Piazza Meat Sauce from the cookbook in progress: Montreal, Then and Now, © Marcy Goldman, River Heart Press 2027
Tomasso Piazza was a cherished Montreal restaurant landmark from 1963 for many decades. Family run, Tomasso Piazzo was famous with their meat but once the restaurant closed, disappointed Montrealers could at least find their frozen meat sauce and lasagna in supermarkets but that quietly disappeared a few years ago. At first the frozen lasagna lingered but the meat sauce long departed.
I grew up a few blocks near the restaurant and could walk or bike over. Later when I was first married, it was one of the repertoire restaurants I went to enjoying the famed spaghetti and Chicken Kiev plate (such a unique but wonderful combination). In the 60’s as well, people remember “Magic Tom” Auburn who would come and entertain the children. For years I tried to replicate the sauce and got no where. Then one day, I bought a spice mix called El Ma-Mia made in Montreal. I can’t imagine why I bought it, but I am curious and it’s such an odd jar of spices I had to try it. It’s indeed spices, sugar, salt and pepper and I didn’t give it much thought. I just added it to my regular basic tomato meat sauce. But one taste and I was astounded! That’s it! Those are the secret spices or Tomasso Piazzo! To me, it was amount 101% identical and if not, it was still the best spaghetti sauce I ever made.
Since I was a food writer at the time, I called El-Ma-Mia to see if I could confirm that Tomasso Piazza had sold the secret spice formula and now El-Ma-Mia was manufacturing it. It was the only thing I could figure out happened. It took a week to reach the CEO and when I did it was a strange conversation. The El Ma-Mia CEO thought I wanted to do a feature story on them (mostly him – already imagining an Andy Warhohl 15 minutes in the Montreal Gazette). But all I wanted was a confirmation that the secret spice of El-Ma-Mia was a formula the restaurant, upon closing, sold out to the manufacturer. I don’t know why I thought amidst the language/business/social barriers the CEO would confess. Anyway, after 30 minutes of back and forth in French and English there wasn’t an overt denial and the CEO seemed put out and got more paranoid by the minute.
So no, I didn’t do a feature store on El Ma-Mia which wasn’t the point of my call to begin with; I was simply a culinary bloodhound doing what we do.
I’m still convinced there’s some relationship between Tomasso Piazzo and this spice mixture and even if not, this does seem to be the secret trick. If you try my recipe, use the Lasagna variety versus the El Ma-Mia Spaghetti spice – it comes out closer to Tomasso Piazza taste and consistency. What’s in the spices? Spices plus sugar, and salt as far as I can tell and probably a touch of red food colouring and some thickener. Whatever the combo is, it seems to be the ‘secret sauce’ of this secret sauce.
Btw, I suspect the restaurant originally used minced pork and beef or minced Italian sausage (instead of pork) with the beef. Italian sausage is possible but for a restaurant in the 60's that seems a bit exotic or simply expensive. An Italian family in the 60's before and beyond, likely used a bit of pork and veal in their recipe. The original sauce was an Italian 'mama's recipe’, so I know it was pure and simple – but it's the spices that made it special. At the restaurant, the sauce was absolutely consistent which is why I’m certain someone in the family sold the secret spice mixture to E Ma Mia when the restaurant (and subsequent frozen food business) closed. I know myself from having been in recipe development that things like the spices - you weigh and precisely document so that everything is duplicatable, without fail, consistently over time.
Incidentally, (as a side note) growing up, I lived but four blocks away from the restaurant and the Tomasso family was incredibly charitable with their donations to the Montreal Blind Association. My mom was a member because my grandmother (who lived with us) was blind. My mother told me when she canvassed for the MBA how generous Mrs. Tomasso was when called on. Later on, when I moved away and launched my cake company Cuisine D'Or, before work, I would have breakfast there at Tomasso Piazzo (yes: Tomasso served breakfast/no one knew!) before I did my carrot cake.
https://elmamia.com/recettes/elmamia-express-lasagna/?lang=en
https://www.amazon.ca/El-Ma-Mia-Spices-Seasoning-Express-Italian/dp/B08ZNVD36C
Tomasso Piazza Meat Sauce from Montreal, Then and Now, © Marcy Goldman, River Heart Press 2027
This is probably the recipe that inspired me to write a whole book of Montreal recipes. Read the companion text about this amazing sauce. If it’s not exactly as you recall it, or if you never had it, either way you will be rewarded with the best meatiest sauce ever. You don’t have to compare it to any other, even your own family recipe, although feel free to adjust things as you like (more garlic, chili peppers, a dash of red wine, or crumbled Italian sausage). The trick here is the spice mix (El Mamia, if you can get hold of some on Amazon or in grocery stores). If not, add spices to taste BUT the other trick is a bit of cornstarch (a slurry of cornstarch and water). This gives the sauce its high gloss and adds a bit of saucy heft. I use tomato paste from the tube in this recipe so as not to have any leftover, canned paste hanging around.
¼ cup olive oil
1 medium onion, finely minced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons parsley, finely minced
1 pound medium hamburger meat
4 ounces minced pork or Italian sausage, optional
1 28 ounces can crushed Italian plum tomatoes
4 tablespoons tomato paste
¼ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon crushed chili peppers
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Tiniest pinch cinnamon
2 tablespoons El Ma-Mia Lasagna Spices
1/2 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
In a 5 quart pot, heat the olive oil on low and add in the chopped onions and cook until translucent (increase heat if required) about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley to soften.
Add the hamburger meat and pork and break up with a large spoon to brown and disperse the meat so it cooks into an even mixture. Once browned, about 5-10 minutes, stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, oregano, chili peppers, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, El Ma-Mia spices, salt, black pepper, sugar, and lemon juice. Simmer over low heat about 20 minutes. In a 2-cup measuring cup measure the water and stir the cornstarch into it. Add to the meat sauce and stir, cooking to incorporate the water/cornstarch mixture about 15 minutes. Simmer on lowest heat possible 25 minutes.
Serve with spaghetti
Makes about 5-6 cups
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