The best Italian restaurants have Italian folk songs vibrating through their speakers as patrons sitting in noisy dining rooms rip off pieces of crusty bread to sop up the last bits of tomato sauce stuck to the sides of their spaghetti bowls. Your favorite Mexican dives loop the same six Miriachi songs that strum to the festive beat of each glass of horchata being slurped dry. So why not couple nights you cook authentic cuisine at home with music to match each dish?

For me, the epitome of pairing the art of cooking ethnic classics with the right type of music is making homemade tomato sauce, or ‘gravy’ as my Nonna would say, with any Frank Sinatra album. Before my Nonna passed away, she gifted me one of the greatest gifts of all – her entire collection of Sinatra records on vinyl. On the surface that may not sound like much, but for context I’m talking about over 50 Sinatra albums. He was the only musician my Nonna listened to and per the testimonies of my mom and her brother, the crooning of Baby Blue Eyes was the only music they knew existed as kids.

Now and at home, anytime we start the process of opening peeled plum tomatoes, imported from Italy by way of road trips to New Jersey, as freshly chopped garlic and red pepper flakes simmer in extra virgin olive oil over a warming stove, my wife or I always mosey over to the Sinatra section of our collection and decide on which album to play. It’s our tradition and it doesn’t matter what record we pick. When the needle drops and the first song begins to soar – it’s Frank and Nonna’s sauce needs Sinatra.