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

On AMAZON.com

“SUNDAY SAUCE”