Miracolo di San Gennaro

When I was on a journey across Italy to discover the kitchen of Campania, Molise and the Abruzzo, I stopped at Sabato Abagnale in Sant'Antonio Abate, a little village not far off Napoli.

Here the tomatoes are rinced, as a result they are slightly bruised and juices are released.

His 'factory' was really hard to find, it eventually turned out to be located in the basement of Sabato's house. Once there, we were welcomed with open arms, and we immediately got a personal tour. So I got a bowl home to taste. It's still in my cupboard, I do not dare to open it....

I picked the story about the tradition of the tomatoes and the territory directly from the website:

Our Business is a family company, was founded about ten years ago. We love our territory and its traditions, ours objectives are to increase the agicultural economy in our country and to construct the hope for the future of ours children. 
The agriculture was the activity of ours grandfathers and the principal source in this territory until as 40 years ago, because the territory has many tipycal riches: the mild climate, lands of vulcanic source, than it is rich of water and minerals. 
There is the coltivation of many products, than: San Marzano tomatoes, Mustaccielli beans, Violet Artichokes from Castellammare. Than, with the progress and the industrial business, many people deserted the country-side for to dedicate at other activityes, the peasant was considered a ignorant person. 
Than the desire of the emancipation has contributed to deform the simplicity, the genuinity, the goodness of the ours agricultural origines.

The washed tomatoes are immediately jarred.

Some more inside info from the master himself : We opposed to this situation with determination!

In the 1999 the Slow Food Fiduciary Penisola Sorrentina informed us about the Carlo's Petrini idea: to create a Preside for the safeguard of San Marzano tomato and so to exploit the food traditions of the Sant'Antonio Abate country and the Campain territory. We seed in this idea a lot of light and we begin our arduous venture. We documented by ours grandfathers, we recuperated the seeds and the coltivation techniques and so at the current time we are achieveing our dream...
We produce the Campania's typical products absolutely: tomatoes, tomatoes by Gragnano, Mustaccielli beans, Violet Artichokes by Castellammare, cornetti peas by Gragnano. 
We want that our products arrive to all the people and that they recognize the its genuine taste. 

Pasta time! I'll soon let you know how they taste!!! The trick is never to add onion to tomato sauce, only a bit of garlic. He swears by this. By the determined look in his eyes I could tell how serious family traditions are in Sant'Antonio Abate, and I'm not the one who's going to dishonour that.

You can always pay him a visit  via www.terraslow.it. His family is really openhearted and it's amazing he can keep this business going from his home near Napoli.