Wednesday, January 15, 2014

MEATBALLS alla SINATRA








MEATBALLS


    Spaghetti and Meatballs, what’s more Italian than that?  Well, a lot of things actually. There is a constant ongoing debate over whether “Spaghetti and Meatballs” is an authentic Italian dish or not. Of course spaghetti is Italian as you can get, and so are Meatballs. However Italians (in Italy) do not eat them together. Eating Spaghetti with Meatballs is an Italian-American invention and tradition, and a great one at that, as Lidia Bastianich and other have written. Italian-American is a great cuisine in itself. It is most truly authentic Italian with a few twist here and there, like eating Meatballs on the same plate with Spaghetti instead of two separate courses as they do in Italy. What’s wrong with that? Maybe the Italian-American mammas of way back (100 years ago, around 1905 or so) didn’t want to clean twice as many dishes so they combined the two courses into one. Just kidding, though it is not a bad idea.
    Let me tell you one thing, in case you might not have known. Meatballs, and yes they are Italian and eaten in Italy, meatballs are infinitely more popular in the United States than they are in the mother country of Italy. Americans eat millions more of them a year than their Italian brethren. The Neapolitans and Sicilians eat them the most in Italy and because of the fact that these are the areas where the greatest number of Italian immigrants to the U.S. came from, thus one of the reasons this dish became such a great favorite of Italian expatriates, their children, grandchildren, and millions of Americans, including people of other ethnic origins who happen to love the great cuisine of Italy and Italian-America. Italian is one of the World’s great cuisines. You don’t have to be Italian to love the food, the same as many Italian-Americans love to eat Chinese food, it’s tasty, so Mangia!!!
    Oh yes, you want to know what kind of meat goes into the Meatballs? Well the most common in Italian America are Meatballs made of ground Beef, Pork, and Veal. However, many make their meatballs solely with Beef, and in Italy and especially Tuscany, Veal Meatballs, “Polpettini” are quite popular. Whatever meat you choose, just make them tasty, and you’ll have people coming back for seconds, even third helpings.
    One more thing, Meatballs in Sauce (Gravy) are great but if you ever want a little change when making them? When making Meatballs for a Sunday Sauce or to serve with Spaghetti on their own, reserve a dozen or so meatballs that you don’t cook in sauce. Brown the Meatballs, then pop in the oven to finish cooking and serve on their own without tomato sauce gravy, and just a little bit of the juices the Meatballs cook in, with some chopped fresh parsley on top. They taste great this way. You can serve them as starter course (Antipasto), in a Sandwich, or as a main course with Mashed Potatoes, or a salad on the side or whatever you choose to serve them with, they’re “Great.” Try it some time!


Excerpted From SUNDAY SAUCE  "When Italian-Americans Cook"
   by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

RECIPE FOR SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS alla SINATRA in SUNDAY SAUCE 
by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke


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