Authentic Neapolitan sauces receive rave reviews

Nov. 26, 2008

What does a world-renowned actor do as an encore? “Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time: Put my family’s pasta sauce recipes, that were handed down for generations, in a jar,” says Paul Sorvino, veteran performer of stage and screen, who has ancestral roots in the Neapolitan region of Italy. So, Sorvino began his newest venture, Paul Sorvino Foods, Greenville, Del., by introducing a line of authentic Neapolitan sauces.

Sorvino is certain that anyone who tries the sauces, including Marinara, Arrabbiata, Puttanesca and Italian Vodka, will give them rave reviews. Unlike many sauces in a jar that are made with dried herbs, the ingredients in ours are purely natural, he says.

Everything is “simply the finest,” the company’s trademarked slogan. The slogan, along with the actor’s photo, appears on the label of every jar. Among the ingredients in each special sauce: pure olive oil from the Puglia region of Italy, San Marzano tomatoes (considered by many chefs to be the best sauce tomatoes in the world because they were first grown in volcanic soil in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, believed to act as a filter for impurities), fresh basil, fresh oregano, salt and pepper.

Sorvino, who’s been cooking since he was 12 years old (his parents taught him) says that people today just don’t have the time to cook. So when they want pasta, they often reach for a jar. He admits that, although he likes to cook every day, sometimes he too reaches for a jar.

“And my jarred sauce is unlike anything out there on the market,” he says. A former ad agency creative director, Sorvino developed the sauces’ campaign slogan, “Doesn’t it bother you that everything that comes from a jar tastes like it comes from a jar? At least until now.”

The vice president of Paul Sorvino Foods, Ronnie Robinson claims; “It’s unbelievable that within two weeks of announcing the launch of Paul Sorvino Foods pasta sauces to a small portion of the trade, that almost 1,000 banner stores and five of the largest U.S. sauce distributors have accepted all four varieties, along with another 8,500 banner stores in negotiations. It’s obvious this is a national brand. That was our goal.”

The brands will be on the shelves of some Giant stores in Pennsylvania, Jewel stores in Chicago, A&P, Pathmark, Super Fresh, Walbaum’s-New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Shaw’s of Boston.

Suggested retail price for a 25-ounce jar is $7.99.