Italian American Food

[mjd]

I concur with everything TastyReuben said. The only thing I would add is meatball sandwiches which is a few meatballs (usually with Italian seasonings) topped with marinara sauce on a thick bread, usually a French bread or sub type bread. I don't know if that's a dish traditionally served in Italy. It seems to me that people generally think anything with a red sauce is automatically Italian. ;-)

 

[TastyReuben]

I concur with everything TastyReuben said. The only thing I would add is meatball sandwiches which is a meatball (usually with Italian seasonings) topped with marinara sauce on a thick bread, usually a French bread or sub type bread. I don't know if that's a dish traditionally served in Italy. It seems to me that people generally think anything with a red sauce is automatically Italian. ;-)

And ravioli. I forgot ravioli!

MypinchofItaly - you might faint if I told you what was our favorite school cafeteria lunch when I was a kid: pizza burger day!

Hamburger on a bun, topped with mozzarella cheese, canned pizza sauce, and a sprinkle of oregano.

 

[Mountain Cat]

Maggiano's is one of my favorites just for the reasons you describe. ;-)

Tasty, never heard of this chain. Must not have made its way to my part of the country.

Don't care for Olive Garden- the salad is decent but otherwise...

 

[caseydog]

Here's what's better - we have another chain Italian place, Maggiano's Italian Kitchen, and they're twice the price of OG, but their waitstaff are better, they're dressed properly, low lighting, big comfy booths...much, much better ambiance.

The food? The same. So you can go to OG, put up with the rattle and clang, the wobbly tables, the 17yo waitstaff who've had probably two hours of training, and pay $50 for dry chicken parm and a glass of wine, or go to Maggiano's, enjoy some quiet, sit in a dark booth, have a 40yo waiter who at least looks presentable...and pay $100 for dry chicken parm and a glass of wine.

Maggiano's has better food than Olive Garden, and they are HONEST by calling it "Immigrant Italian" food, which is what it is. Same with Buca di Beppo, another Italian American chain. Buca serves "family style," so you really need a group of at least four adults to eat there.

I love Italian American food. I grew up eating it. My great grandparents were Italian Immigrants. They came here from Torino just about 110 years ago. Family recipes adapted to American ingredients, and Italian American food was born. It is good food -- it is just not the same food you would generally find in Italy.

CD

 

[caseydog]

I concur with everything TastyReuben said. The only thing I would add is meatball sandwiches which is a few meatballs (usually with Italian seasonings) topped with marinara sauce on a thick bread, usually a French bread or sub type bread. I don't know if that's a dish traditionally served in Italy. It seems to me that people generally think anything with a red sauce is automatically Italian. ;-)

The best meatball sub I ever had was from a bodega in Brooklyn, NY. It was really good, and huge. I got two meals out of it, lunch and dinner. I paid five bucks for it.

CD

 

[Burt Blank]

I was lucky 60 yrs ago when I started taking interest in the food I ate, a lot of my school friends were Italian immigrants who came to the UK to work in brick and cement factories. The most silky Ragu I ate was made from minced left over roast beef from Sunday lunch. Most were polentone so pasta was rare. My friends Mam would use the same sauce to make lasagna. We also had in a nearby village a Bracchis. The ragu was a finished soffrito that she added the left over minced roast beef and stock with tom paste. 5 mins later a delicious dish that in my opinion makes "bolognese" second rate.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuYZKtbrBR4&ab_channel=GiovannisMondo

 

[TastyReuben]

I love Italian American food.

Same here. It's my single favorite cuisine. Give me red sauce, pasta, and pizza, and I'm a happy, happy boy.

We also have Buca's here. When we used to get lunch catered in at the office, that was a favorite place to order from.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

I concur with everything TastyReuben said. The only thing I would add is meatball sandwiches which is a few meatballs (usually with Italian seasonings) topped with marinara sauce on a thick bread, usually a French bread or sub type bread. I don't know if that's a dish traditionally served in Italy. It seems to me that people generally think anything with a red sauce is automatically Italian. ;-)

You got the point. It seems to me too that everything has red/tomato sauce is automatically Italian which is not. We are not the owner of tomato sauce although we make a huge use of it and with good results, but tomato sauce has no owners. That’s why we said “all’italiana” to indicate the method as other countries say the same about their dishes: “greek-style, American-Style, etc”.
Meatball sandwiches don’t exist in Italy - but this doesn’t mean that someone don’t make it. (I may give it a try )
Another thing that I have been always wondered is : what do you mean exactly in America with Marinara Sauce?”

 

[Morning Glory]

t I'll add that when you get spaghetti as a side, it's usually a half-portion, or at least a smaller portion.

If those images you posted above are portions for one person then to me they are large portions.

 

[TastyReuben]

If those images you posted above are portions for one person then to me they are large portions.

Well, I'm sure you know that American meal portions are generally considered larger than necessary. That's something that nearly all my international online friends mention to me when talking about visiting the US - some variation of how inexpensive the food is compared to home and how the portions are massive. The opposite is also true when many of my American friends visit Europe for the first time - "so expensive, and you barely get anything to eat for your money!"

what do you mean exactly in America with Marinara Sauce?

It depends on who you talk to, but a layperson would use it fairly interchangeably with any tomato-based sauce used for pasta. We don't get that particular about it.

Notice how I'm always saying "red sauce," it's like that. Red sauce, spaghetti sauce, marinara...they're all generic terms for "tomato-based sauce I'm gonna dump on my pasta or dip my cheese sticks in."

 

[Morning Glory]

what do you mean exactly in America with Marinara Sauce?”

It depends on who you talk to, but a layperson would use it fairly interchangeably with any tomato-based sauce used for pasta. We don't get that particular about it.

When I read marinara sauce it always confuses me because I automatically connect it with seafood.

According to Wiki (which may or may not be correct):

("mariner's") sauce is a tomato sauce usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and onions.[1][2] It can include the addition of capers, olives, spices, and a dash of wine as possible ingredients in its many variations.[3][4] This sauce is widely used in Italian-American cuisine, which has diverged from its Old World origins.[5] In Italy, alla marinara refers to a sauce made with tomatoes, basil, and oregano, but also sometimes olives, capers and salted anchovies; it is used for spaghetti and vermicelli, but also with meat or fish.[6] This is not to be confused with spaghetti marinara, a popular dish in Australia, New Zealand, Spain and South Africa, in which a tomato-based sauce is mixed with fresh seafood.[7] In Italy, a pasta sauce including seafood is more commonly called alla pescatora.[6]

Marinara sauce - Wikipedia

I'd be interested to know if MypinchofItaly agrees with the Italian version cited above.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

When I read marinara sauce it always confuses me because I automatically connect it with seafood.

According to Wiki (which may or may not be correct):

Marinara sauce - Wikipedia

I'd be interested to know if MypinchofItaly agrees with the Italian version cited above.

Oh no no... Marinara Sauce is not at all what Wiki says.

Yep, I perfectly understand you, many people confuse it since the name 'Marinara' automatically is connected with seafood, yet, even if close to it, it is not due to the seafood but to the sailors, which in Italian is 'Marinai'. Its name comes from the fact that the ingredients, easily preserved for a long time, could be brought by Marinai - Sailors, to season the bread during their long journeys.
So drum roll....... Marinara sauce is related to Marinai and not to the seafood

Back to the ingredients about Marinara sauce (it's Neapolitan, by the way), there is no trace of seafood in, it's only made with tomato sauce, garlic, oregano, oil, nothing else. If you add capers or black olives or anchovies, it's a marinara sauce base with capers, black olives and anchovies, but they all together give life to another sauce that you love very much, that is the puttanesca sauce (always Neapolitan).


And about Pizza Marinara, same thing, you will get nothing but a pizza with tomato sauce, garlic and oregano and a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 

[mjd]

You got the point. It seems to me too that everything has red/tomato sauce is automatically Italian which is not. We are not the owner of tomato sauce although we make a huge use of it and with good results, but tomato sauce has no owners. That’s why we said “all’italiana” to indicate the method as other countries say the same about their dishes: “greek-style, American-Style, etc”.
Meatball sandwiches don’t exist in Italy - but this doesn’t mean that someone don’t make it. (I may give it a try )
Another thing that I have been always wondered is : what do you mean exactly in America with Marinara Sauce?”

This is how marinara sauce is defined on Wiki... Marinara ("mariner's") sauce is a tomato sauce usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and onions.[1][2] It can include the addition of capers, olives, spices, and a dash of wine as possible ingredients in its many variations.[3][4] This sauce is widely used in Italian-American cuisine, which has diverged from its Old World origins.[5]

The final dish is usually topped with cheese, often Parmesan. This is where I start... Kay's Spaghetti and Lasagna Sauce

I don't care for very runny sauce so I use diced tomatoes (canned/tinned) or fresh tomatoes when I have them. I have made it with ground beef or ground turkey or Italian meatballs. It really just depends on what I have on hand and I've been happy with the results. Sometimes, I will add a little tomato paste or strain some of the liquid if I use the sauce for lasagna.

I hated spaghetti growing up (I think because our grandmother got us drunk by pouring too much wine in her sauce) but our father said we had to finish what was on our plate. My mother would sneak and put a spoonful of sugar on it so I could choke it down. My father was very health-conscious so that was a big no-no. Luckily, he never found out. I've heard debates on the "authenticity" of adding sugar versus no sugar. I add about half of the amount called for just to break up the acidity of the tomatoes. Maybe that was my grandmother's rationale for adding wine. LOL

Meatball subs are good. They aren't my favorite mainly because the sauce drowns the bread and makes it soggy. I suppose that could be assuaged by toasting the bread but must admit I've never bothered with it. I have no logical explanation for that though. I guess it's because I don't eat it often enough. However, it must be popular enough as it's one of the menu options at Subway (Sub Sandwiches - Breakfast, Sandwiches, Salads & More | SUBWAY® | SUBWAY.com - United States (English)).

 

[ElizabethB]

The more you confirm this the more I want to try it!

You must be a gluten for punishment.

 

[ElizabethB]

Oh no no... Marinara Sauce is not at all what Wiki says.

Yep, I perfectly understand you, many people confuse it since the name 'Marinara' automatically is connected with seafood, yet, even if close to it, it is not due to the seafood but to the sailors, which in Italian is 'Marinai'. Its name comes from the fact that the ingredients, easily preserved for a long time, could be brought by Marinai - Sailors, to season the bread during their long journeys.
So drum roll....... Marinara sauce is related to Marinai and not to the seafood

Back to the ingredients about Marinara sauce (it's Neapolitan, by the way), there is no trace of seafood in, it's only made with tomato sauce, garlic, oregano, oil, nothing else. If you add capers or black olives or anchovies, it's a marinara sauce base with capers, black olives and anchovies, but they all together give life to another sauce that you love very much, that is the puttanesca sauce (always Neapolitan).


And about Pizza Marinara, same thing, you will get nothing but a pizza with tomato sauce, garlic and oregano and a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

MypinchofItaly I am so glad to have you as source of information for REAL Italian cooking. Our (American) versions are often bastardizations of what should be wonderful food.