ARNOLD: Mama's cooking is always best
Family recipe shows Sicilian roots
 |
| ANDREW JANSEN PHOTO Bart Modica scoops out a slice of apple pie made with Mama Patrina's Best spice blend at his home in Arnold. |
"If there's something you can say about our family, we like to eat," Modica said.
As one of seven children, the Arnold resident can recall his mother simmering her Sicilian red sauce in a three-gallon pot."Mom was always constantly cooking," Modica said.
He remembered when his brother would invite his teenage friends over to work on cars or other projects. Modica's mother would fix them plates of spaghetti, and the boys "raved about the taste."
Now, years later, Modica and his brother and sisters are marketing their mother's sauce and spice blends as Mama Patrina's Best.
As Modica works to perfect his mother's recipes, he takes samples to Pearl "Patrina" Gambino Modica, where she is living in Delmar Gardens North. Modica said that his now 93-year-old mother is enjoying the attention her recipes now receive.
"She's just reveling in the whole thing," he said.
The labeling of Mama Patrina's Best products, designed by Modica's niece's husband under Tim Perry Productions, features a picture of Modica's mother from 1939. When she was younger, Modica said his mother was always humble and religious-never seeking attention. Now she is basking in the pride of her family's accomplishments.
"She said she didn't know she would be this famous so late in life," Modica said with a chuckle.
Modica's grandmother learned to cook in Palermo, Italy, and started cooking all of her family's meals at the age of 12. Later, she passed her recipes to her daughter, Patrina.
Staying true to her mother's recipes, Patrina also developed some of her own, such as her apple pie spice blend. The apple pie mix will be introduced this fall as the newest Mama Patrina's Best spice blend. Modica hopes to have a spiendini recipe ready to market by 2009.
"It takes time to produce-to take it from a homemade recipe to something available to the masses," Modica said.
Developing the sauce and spice blends has been a learning experience for Modica, but one he has come to love. He takes Mama Patrina's Best to local festivals and shows, such as the Missouri Meat Processor's Convention in Columbia last February and the Best of Missouri Life Festival in Boonville during May. Mama Patrina's Best earned Best of Show for the made in Missouri vendors at the Missouri Life festival.
In June, Mama Patrina's Best Sicilian Style Red Sauce and meatball spice blend was featured as an entree at Eckert's Country Store in Belleville, Ill.
The next big event for the fledgling business is the Best of Missouri Market event at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in October. During the same event last year, Modica and his family served 3,500 samples of the Sicilian Red Sauce.
"As soon as they taste it, about 99 percent of the people just love the taste," Modica said. "The key difference is the sweetness. It uses the same spices as other sauces, but the proportions are such that it gives it a very distinct taste."
Best of Missouri Market founder, Nora Stern, said that more than 25,000 people visited the show last year, providing a great opportunity for the 130 vendors, including Modica, featured at the event.
"This is definitely a showcase for our vendors," Stern said. "This is great exposure for these people."
To select the vendors for the show, Stern reads labels, searching for products made in Missouri. She also receives tips from the Department of Agriculture and vendors who visit other shows.
Last year Mama Patrina's Best products were only available at the Imperial Farmer's Market. Now the products are available at more than 30 different locations, including DJ's Meat Market in House Springs and Chef's Stop in Festus.
Making the business a family project keeps Modica's family close.
"It's something that pulls us together," Modica said. "It gives us a lot to talk about."
Modica's son is working on a Web site design for the business, which he plans to have finished by the end of the year.
For more information about Mama Patrina's Best, call 314-210-1528 or e-mail Modica at mamapatrina@charter.net.
