THE MEATBALL
It wasn’t so long ago, about twenty-five years, when the menus in most Italian restaurant in the United States looked pretty much all the same, almost Cookie-Cutter-Like. With few exceptions, most restaurants had pretty much a standardized menu that varied little from one restaurant to the next. They’d have menu items like the standard Cold Antipasto with Salami, Cheese, Olives, Provo-lone, and Roast Peppers. There’d be Baked Clams, or Clams Casino, Prosciutto and melon, Mozzarella and unripe out of season tomatoes, Manicotti, Lasagna, Ravioli, Spaghetti and Meatballs, the ubiquitous Chicken and Veal Parmigiano, Veal Marsala, and Tortoni and Spumoni for desert. Need I go on? You get the message, and if you’re older than forty, you defiantly know what I mean. Then, about twenty years ago or so, some people started opening restaurants that were breaking that old Italian-American Restaurant cookie cutter mold. Restaurants that were throwing out most if not all of the old cliché dishes of the past and replacing them with a multitude of pretty much authentic dishes from all regions of Italy.
Restaurateurs started taking things more seriously, and you started seeing things like Carpaccio, Rapini con Salsice, Parparadelle Coniglio, and Tira mi Su. These dishes that were the new thing twenty-five years ago, but have now become so popular that they too are now cliché as well as the those of the previously old cliché dishes or yore (50’s, 60’s, 70’s). The dishes that were new back in the mid to late 80s are now on the verge of becoming as out of vogue as Stuffed Shells and Veal Parmigiano were way back when, but as they say, History has a way of repeating itself, and those dishes like Veal Parm, Manicotti, and the old lot of dishes are staging a comeback, and a big one at that. Why? Because, they were great dishes in the first place, they were tasty then (That’s why they became so Popular), “they are tasty now,” and they always will be tasty. They’re just Wonderful Classic Old-School Italian-American dishes, “plain and simple.” And because they are so tasty, and such Great Dishes, eventually they stage comebacks. Thus the case with such Popular dishes as Chicken and Veal Parmigiano, Manicotti, and Spaghetti with Meatballs.
There was a point in time when these dishes became so popular that people got sick of them and looked down at them with disdain and bad taste, more or less. Not everyone of course, not Italian-Americans, but a good segment of the general population did. The people wanted something new. With a turn toward the more authentically prepared Italian Food of Italy. The old dishes of American Italian Restaurants lost favor with some people in New York and other parts of the country and the new, more authentic Italian dishes (Italian Regional Food from Italy) were “In” and the old cliché dishes were out. The old cliché dishes started to disappear off menus, but in time the same people who had disdained them for some time, started missing them. They began getting nostalgic for the past and craving nice simple comfort foods, and dishes like Veal Parmigiano, Chicken Parmigiano, and Spaghetti and Meatballs. The old favorites that lost favor for a little while, were missed. In time, these dishes started to reappear. They were revived through nostalgia and simply because they were so tasty and wonderful to begin with, no-matter that they became Cliché, overly popular, and disdained simply for being so popular, no matter that they were tasty as hell. It was never that these dishes were not liked for their flavor, but the fact that because they were so appetizing, people wanted them and ordered them all the time, and for quite a number of years, some people just became tired of them, simply because they were so popular. You could say, they became too popular for their own good, and this was the main reason that they lost favor.
So these dishes lost favor for 15 years or so, but eventually people started missing them, the “Comfort Food” craze hit, and people started craving and asking for these temporarily disdained dishes. These dishes like Chicken Parmigiano, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Veal Parm and others were “In” again. They were coined Comfort Food. People, demanded, and got, once again, Veal Parm, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Manicotti and such.
Places like Rocco’s on Thompson Street, Gino’s
on Lexington Avenue, Lanza’s in the East Village, Patsy’s on 56th ( Frank Sinatra’s favorite restau-rant), along with a multitude of places down in Little Italy, in “Da Bronx,” Brooklyn, and all across America are now busier than ever. Their popularity attributed to the wonderful, comforting old style cooking they serve and the aged décor preserved, as well as the fact that they weren’t influenced by the multitude of fleeting trends that came and went. These old restaurants stood the test of time. They stayed old and true, charming, and traditional. “Thank God they did!”
In the past few years there has been a craze for
So-Called “Comfort Food.” Things like pork chops, mashed potatoes, Fried Chicken, and yes, Chicken Parmigiano, as well as Spaghetti with Meatballs, and Eggplant Parmigiano. These tasty old dishes have all come back in a very big way. I’m ecstatic to say how happy I am to see these restaurants so popular again, as they are literally part of our beloved Italian-American Heritage, New York City History, and American Cultural History as a whole.
Although I was utterly happy in the 1980’s when there was a great surge of all those new restaurant openings that served authentic Italian food, with a greater array of choices, I must now say that it gives me and a multitude of others, great comfort that we still have a fair number of these old style, so-called “Red Sauce Restaurants” left today. They still stand, and are doing better than ever. We’re lucky they were not all totally obliterated. “Dam Lucky!”
Whenever I go out to eat at an Italian Restaurant
in New Jersey with my family, I usually order either Chicken or Veal Parmigiano. I never order any of
the Specials that they try to get fancy with. Invariably these dishes are not very good. Often someone in ourcrowd orders one of those dishes and is disappointed. The moral of the story is that when you’re in one of those old style restaurants, stick with what they do best, the tried and true, “Old-School Favorites.”
Many people will tell you that that Spaghetti and Meatballs or Veal Parmigiano are not Italian. Well Italians do eat Meatballs, but not with pasta. The Meatballs are served on their own with Tomato Sauce or with Polenta and sauce. It was our Italian immigrant ancestors who first put the two together, Spaghetti and Meatballs that is! Although I must say,
that I feel that although it may not have been a known practice, that over time, there must have been quite a good number of Italians in Italy who over the years put Pasta together with Meatballs on the same plate. “It would be absolutely impossible that of the Billions of meals cooked in Italy over the years, that somewhere in homes in Sicily, Campania, Puglia, Calabria, or even Tuscany for that matter, that no Italian mothers or grandmas did not put Meatballs and Pasta on the same plate. “Impossible I tell you! The odds are against it!”
So, what I’m saying is that, although it was not documented, I’m sure that in some households in Italy, over the years, there had to be families who cooked Meatballs in Sauce (Gravy), dressed the pasta, Spaghetti, Rigatoni, Ziti with the Sauce, and threw a couple Meatballs on the same plate as well. Don’t you think? Had to be!
Yes, the Italian immigrants at the turn of the 19th Century (1900) were primarily a poor lot. Meat was a bit expensive, and any meal that might include it, would have to be stretched with much cheaper ingredients in order to feed the entire family. That cheaper ingredient was none other than, Yes, you guessed it, “Pasta;” Spaghetti, Ziti, Rigatoni, Cavatelli, and such. I’m sure, some of these Italian ladies who came to America from Campania, Sicily, Calabria, Genoa, and Apulia, as a treat, would put one or two Meatballs on a plate with pasta. Doing this was also a way of being able to wash less dishes.
Did you know that Meatballs are many times more popular in the United States than in Italy? The ratio is not even close. “True,” Italians don’t eat nearly as many Meatballs as do Italian-Americans, and all Americans for that matter. As everyone loves them. Yes, Meatballs are Italian and they are eaten occasionally, just not normally with Pasta, not that anyone will admit to anyway!
What “Spaghetti and Meatballs” happen to be,
is a “Great” Italian American Classic, which is defiantly a cuisine of its own. The Meatballs have been made by scores of Italian-American “Mamma’s” and Nonna’s over the past 125 years or so. Meatballs, “Polpette,” the variations are many and Italian-American boys and men it seems love them much more than the girls do, and they love them best the way Mamma makes them. Some people make them with just Beef, while others make them with a combination of beef, veal, and pork, and in Italy the most popular ones are made with veal. Some Mamma’s put in a lot of garlic while others put just a little. The same goes for breadcrumbs. You can use either Pecorino or Parmigiano, or a combination of both. The two main objectives are that the Meatballs are soft and that they are “Tasty.” Make plenty of them and you can make a delicious Meatball Parm Sandwich the next day, another great Italian-American Classic and something that I’ve never seen in Italy. Meatball Parm Sandwiches are great never the less.
One dish that has completely disappeared from Italian restaurant menus, are “Stuffed Shells.” They are large Seashell Shaped Pasta that are filled with Ricotta and Pecorino and baked with tomato sauce and a little Mozzarella Cheese on top. The ones my mother (Lucia Bellino) used to make were “The Best.” They were one of our favorites when we were kids and I used to love when my mom would let me stuff a few of the shells with the ricotta myself. Then when all the shells were stuffed, I’d stick my finger in the Ricotta bowl and lick it, the same way you would do with the bowl of cake batter. “Know what I mean? Yummy!” Now that I think about it, I have not had any Stuffed Shells for quite some time now. Think I’ll pick up a box of Ronzoni Shells one of these days and make some stuffed ones for the first time in ages. When I was a child, I didn’t know that there were any other companies outside of Ronzoni that produced commercial Pasta. And, although nowadays I always buy Italian Pasta made in Italy, there are two exceptions for me. When it comes to Pastina or Large Shells for stuffing, when making Stuffed Shells, there is only one Pasta Brand and only “Ronzoni” will do.”
When I was growing up back in the 60’s and 70’s, Ronzoni was by far the most popular Brand of Pasta. In fact, as a child, I don’t know if I can remember
any other. They didn’t have all the other imported
and domestic ones back in the sixties.
My mother only used Ronzoni, and quite a lot of
it, especially, Ziti, #9 Spaghetti, Fusilli, Ditalini, Pastina, and yes, large Shells for stuffing. “Ronzoni Sono Buoni”, was their slogan. Meaning, “Ronzoni
is so good.” I used to use Ronzoni when I first started cooking because I grew up with it, and Ronzoni is a very good product. I stopped using it a number of years ago because when I am making an Italian meal, I use as many Italian products as I can. I use Italian made Pasta, Olive Oil, Porcini Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Anchovies, vinegar, capers, Prosciutto
de Parma, and Parmigiano Reggiano.
The only times that I’ve bought Ronzoni over the past several years is when I get nostalgic for Pastina, and now when I make the stuffed shells in the near future. Pastina is very tiny Star Shaped egg pasta that Italian Mamma’s make for their piccolo bambini ( little children). When I was a very young boy this was my absolute favorite. I would ask my Mom to make it for me all the time. She used to cook the Pastina and dress them in gobs of butter, and sprinkle Parmesan on top. “YUM yum yum!!!” I used to go crazy for my Pastina. Simple perfection!
“I want some Pastina now, and Stuffed Shells!”
For these particular shapes, you’ll probably have to buy Ronzoni, for it’s hard to find these shapes from other brands.
Think I’ll run to the supermarket and get a pack of each. I’ll make them in honor of my mother Lucia
Bellino. I’ll have some Pastina for Breakfast and one
night soon I’ll make the “Stuffed Shells,” and I’ll put on some Sinatra, Dino, or Tony Bennett as the Sauce cooks away, “just the way Mommy did.”
EXCERTED From “La TAVOLA”
Daniel Bellino Zwicke
SUNDAY SAUCE
Of all the fine traditions of the Italian-American enclave in the United State, the Sunday afternoon ritual of making and Eating a Sunday Sauce is Italian-America’s most Time-Honored. Mamma, Grandma (Nonna) will make her Celebrated Sunday Sauce. What is it? Well there are a number of variations on the theme. Most Sunday Sauces are made with Italian Sausages, Braciole, and Meatballs. Some people make their versions with; Beef Neck, while others make their Gravy (Sunday Sauce) with just Sausage and Meatballs. Some may throw some Chicken Thighs into this mix. Sunday Sauces can be made with any combination of these aforementioned meats. The meats are slowly simmered for several hours with tomato, and minced onions and garlic. I generally like to make my Sunday Sauce with Sausages, Meatballs, and Pork Ribs. Other times I’ll make it with Sausage, Ribs, and Braciole. An old tradition in some families is that mother or Grandma would start the Sauce early on a Sunday morning, get it simmering away for a couple hours on top of the stove, then put it in the oven for a couple hours while everyone goes to Church. When you get back home, the sauce would be ready, ready to be devoured that is.
We would usually start our Sunday meal with the most traditional Italian-American-Antipasto of roast peppers, Salami, Olives, and Provolone. After that, it’s on to the Main Event, Maccheroni and Sunday Sauce. Something so Blissfully Pleasurable and Sublime, that it is almost “Sinful.”
When a meal centered around a Sunday Sauce is announced, one can have visions of Blissful Ecstasy
At thoughts of Eating Pasta laden with Italian Sausages, Savory Meatballs, and Succulent Pork Ribs. All this has been slowly simmered to culinary perfection. Yes just the thoughts can enrapture one into a Delightful Frenzy of the Most Blissful Feelings of smelling, seeing, and consuming Sausages, Meat-balls and Gravy. Yes a Sunday Sauce can and does have such effects on one’s mind, body, and soul. And, I do not want to sound prejudice, but this is pure fact, it is the Male of the Italian-American species who Love The Sunday Sauce in all its form, far more than the female sex. True! Meatballs too. And Italian-American men and boys Love and hold oh-so-dare, their Meatballs, Sunday Sauce, Sausage & Peppers, and Meatball Parm Sandwiches.
The Sunday Sauce (Gravy) that my mother would make was with Sausages, Meatballs, and Beef Braciole. My memories are vivid watching my mother stuffing the Braciole with garlic, parsley, Pecorino, and Pignoli Nuts, then tying the bundles with butchers cord to hold the Braciole together as they slowly simmered in the Gravy. Another fond memory was helping my mother roll and shape the Meatballs.
As for me, my Sunday Sauce will vary depending
on my mood. One thing I Love to do when making
my sauce is to add Pork Spareribs to the “Gravy.” “Gravy” by the way is what many people in the New York area call Sunday Sauce, particularly in Brooklyn and Jersey (Soprano Territory). Not many people make their Sunday Sauce with the Pork Ribs, but to me they are phenomenal, and anyone who tries them, they are immediately hooked. As I think back, none of the ladies in our family put Pork Spare Ribs into their Gravy. I guess I read or heard about some people doing it, and I believe it was about 14 years ago or so that I started adding the Ribs into my Gravy. I haven’t looked back ever since. I Love them, as does everyone whom I serve them to.
Whenever I make my sauce with Pork Ribs, my friends go nuts for them. Many are surprised, as they might never have had Ribs in a Sunday Gravy before. They didn’t know that you could use Pork Spareribs.
The ribs are traditional with some but not all. It is quite a shame for those who don’t add the ribs as they give the sauce a quite wonderful flavor, and the Ribs themselves,. Yumm! The Ribs that simmer long and slow and are very tender,” they’re so succulent and tender, they literally Melt-in-Your-Mouth.
Whenever I make the sauce, and I’m dishing it out to friends and family, I always make sure that I have my fare share of the Ribs. Pork Ribs cooked in this manner, simmering in the sauce are oh so succulent and tasty, they are Beyond-Belief-Tasty. These Sunday Sauce Ribs are, “Out-of-this-World” and friends, one-by-one, go nuts for them.
I remember the time I first met my friend John Cataneo. We were having a dinner party with Ada, Jimmy, Pat and Gina Parrotta, Ronny “C,” Bobby Shack. Jimmy had invited John and his wife Maria.
I had never met either of them before. John and Maria had eaten already and were not hungry so Johnny told me just to give him a small portion when I was dishing the Gravy out. I guess it was so good, Johnny shyly came back and asked if he could have a couple more ribs.
“No problem Johnny. Enjoy!”
And what to serve with the Sunday Sauce you ask? Any short Maccheroni such as Rigatoni, Ziti, or Gnocchi are best.
The rituals of cooking, serving, and eating Sunday Sauce is a time honored one. It is a quite a beautiful thing, same as making Mole in Mexico or Cassoulet in France. These dishes are all wonderful things of Beauty. They take time and effort to make, and are made and served with Love. These dishes bring together friends and family, and for Italian-Americans, the Sunday Sauce is The King of all dishes.
If you utter the term Sunday Sauce to any number of millions of Italian-Americans, they start salivating at the simple mention of its name. The wheels start turning in their heads, with thoughts of how tasty it is and all the different components; the Meatballs, Sausages, Braciole, maybe Ribs, Beef Neck, or Pig Skin Braciole, the Pasta, and the Gravy itself. They think about sitting at the table with friends and
or family, people they love. They’ll ponder the Antipasti, wondering what it might be; Mixed Salumi, Baked Clams, Grilled Calamari? And at the meal, there will surely be Wine, Italian Wine, maybe a good Chianti or Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. With Uncle Frank and Uncle Tony, the wine was usually Carlo Rossi Paisano or Gallo Hearty Burgundy, two solid Italian-American winemakers. You think about the warmth in the air, of loved ones, Sinatra, Dino, the Sunday Sauce.“It’s a beautiful thing!!!” If you’ve never done it, “Try it!” If you haven’t cooked one for some time, plan a get-together with friends and family, soon. Sunday Sauce, It brings people together, in a most Delightful way, and as the Big Boys would say, “It’s a Beautiful Thing.”
The MEATBALL PARM
The Meatball Parm Sandwich, as stated earlier, the Meatball Parm is one of thee Italian-American males most treasured things. Things he needs to live a happy, normal, satisfying life. A actual necessities for true Happiness. We ask not for too much!
No you do not have to be a Man or a Boy to eat one. Ladies and Girls eat them as well. It’s just that the male of the species happens to Eat 5 Times the amount that Italian-American Women do. Not only that, but the male of the species holds Meatballs and Meatball Parms in much Greater Reverence, than do the females. They “Exalt” it, as the Meatball Parm, it deserves such adulation. The men and boys adore it and get quite excited at the prospect and act of eating one, the “Meatball Parm.” And ladies who make them, know how much it is loved, cherished even.
Yes Italian-American ladies and girls love this thing called the Meatball Parm as well, it’s just that they don’t get quite as excited about this sandwich that is held so dear to Italian men and boys. The Italian-American male have given the Meatball Parm Iconic Status. The Great Ritual of the Meatball Parm Monday and its ties to the Sunday Sauce. You make the Meatballs for the Sauce, The “Gravy.” On Saturday you will buy all the meat, the Sausages and the rest of the ingredients for your Sunday Sauce (Gravy) to be made on Sunday. However, on Saturday you are already thinking about those Meatball Parms for Monday’s lunch.
Yes Meatball Parms on Monday, following the previous days Sunday Sauce. You see, you have to think ahead. Every good Italian knows that when you go through all the effort and time it will take to make a pot of Sunday Sauce, that you don’t just make it for Sunday’s consumption alone. No, that would be
a waste of time to make just enough to eat on Sunday. It takes time, effort, energy, and work to make a Sunday Sauce, which of course is well worth it. You do not mind the work involved at all, for in the end, the “Rewards are Great,” it will yield, the beloved Sausages in Gravy, Braciole, succulent ribs, and Meatballs for Monday’s Parms.
It does not really take much more time to make a larger quantity in order to have leftovers for the next day or two, and this is just what one wants to do, is keep that sauce going, and going for another two days is best of all. And in those leftovers are the much Prized Meatballs to use for Monday’s Lunch.
And it is the men, who Love and need these Monday Meatball Parms so greatly, for the Ritual of the
Monday Meatball Parm is a “Time-Honored” one that must be carried on. Yes, you know this by now.
So, you see, on Saturday when one goes to buy
the ingredients to make the Gravy, they automatically know to make sure they get enough ground meat to make plenty of Meatballs that will last the Sunday Supper as well as yielding numerous leftovers for Monday’s Meatball Parms.
And if there are leftover Sausages on Tuesday one can make Spaghetti with Sauce and Sausages, or even a Sausage Sandwich. “Think ahead boys and girls!”
And speaking of Sausages and Sandwiches, there is the much loved Sausage & Peppers Sandwiches, and again, more for the guys than the girls.
It is the guys who hold this tasty sandwich in such High Esteem as well. Whether they are making their own at home, having one at a Pizzeria, or at the most popular place of all, The Italian Feast of San Genaro on Mulberry Street every September, St. Anthony’s, or Our Lady of Pompeii on Carmine Street in Greenwich Village, New York’s real Little Italy. They eat Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches in cities like Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Brooklyn, and at The Feast of San Genaro in New York, you gotta get your Sausage & Peppers from the “Singing Sausage Man,” a Mulberry Street Staple for years.
Yes the Meatball Parm is Dear, it’s Loved and Honored. You make the Meatballs, cook them in the Gravy (Sunday Sauce), eat it on Sunday, but make sure there’s enough left for Monday, Meatball Parm Day in Italian households all over Italian American America. Get yours.
P.S., you don’t have to make a whole Sunday Sauce for Meatballs for your Meatball Parms. Let’s not forget the famed Spaghetti and Meatballs. You know what to do? Make extra Meatballs, “You can never have too many.”
Excerpted From “La TAVOLA”
by Daniel Bellino Zwicle
“SUNDAY SAUCE”
Cooking Italian 