Italian American Food

A meatball sub is probably my favorite sandwich.

Also, I want to point out, any comments I make regarding this or that sauce, I'm not talking about what I make, I'm talking about what's available to the masses via the supermarket - here, the big national brands are Ragú and Preggo.

My dad wouldn't let spaghetti in the house when I was a kid ("I ain't eatin' that foreign garbage!"), but Mom would every so often buy a box of "Kraft Spaghetti Dinner," which was the spaghetti version of Kraft Macaroni-And-Cheese (now usually just called "The Blue Box," it's so iconic - and thanks to Kraft's marketing).

Kraft Spaghetti Dinner was a small box of spaghetti pasta (about half-length), a little packet of dried Parmesan cheese powder, and a bigger packet of dried spaghetti sauce powder - just add water. She'd make that for us for lunch sometimes as a treat, but we could never use the cheese powder, because my dad would have smelled it once he got home and that would have been that.
 
ElizabethB said:
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.
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Oh thank you 😍
I know, my dear, unfortunately abroad the information about real Italian food is distorted and out of control. It's a shame.
But now there is your super-heroess My Pinch of Italy! 🤣
 
ElizabethB said:
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.
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This is so true. I cannot recall the name of it but I was watching a mini-series on Netflix a couple years ago. It was sometime around WWII (I think) and the wife had prepared spaghetti for dinner. The husband was NOT impressed at all and actually made some very negative comments about it (before tasting it. His argument was that it was "exotic" or "foreign"). I currently have neighbors that absolutely refuse to try ANYTHING that has any kind of "hyphenated" name (ie Chinese-American, Italian-American, Mexican-American, soul food (aka African-American), etc.). It's hard to believe we've come so far yet remain divided over superficial categorizations.
 
mjd said:
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]

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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)).

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Oh my, that meatballs sandwich is WOW.
Now, it has nothing to do with Italian, but I confess that it makes my mouth water, really. I consider it as a kind of Italian scarpetta on the contrary, that is, it is the sauce that collects the bread instead of the opposite :laugh:
I think I may be able to eat only half of it, but yes, I'd try it!
 
TastyReuben said:
A meatball sub is probably my favorite sandwich.

Also, I want to point out, any comments I make regarding this or that sauce, I'm not talking about what I make, I'm talking about what's available to the masses via the supermarket - here, the big national brands are Ragú and Preggo.

My dad wouldn't let spaghetti in the house when I was a kid ("I ain't eatin' that foreign garbage!"), but Mom would every so often buy a box of "Kraft Spaghetti Dinner," which was the spaghetti version of Kraft Macaroni-And-Cheese (now usually just called "The Blue Box," it's so iconic - and thanks to Kraft's marketing).

Kraft Spaghetti Dinner was a small box of spaghetti pasta (about half-length), a little packet of dried Parmesan cheese powder, and a bigger packet of dried spaghetti sauce powder - just add water. She'd make that for us for lunch sometimes as a treat, but we could never use the cheese powder, because my dad would have smelled it once he got home and that would have been that.
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I just now learned about Kraft Spaghetti Dinner. Is it as wonderful as the mac and cheese? /sarcasm

My father is also set in his ways and we all had to follow his rules. Fortunately, though, he was in the military before he got married so we often went to ethnic restaurants and HAD to try different foods so he wouldn't have been vocal about "foreign" foods at home. I also don't recall my mother making anything he outright objected to.

P.S. I didn't read through all the responses before posting so I apologize if my posts look like I planarized you. ;-0
 
MypinchofItaly said:
Oh thank you 😍
I know, my dear, unfortunately abroad the information about real Italian food is distorted and out of control. It's a shame.
But now there is your super-heroess My Pinch of Italy! 🤣
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I think anyone could make that claim, though - not that it makes it less true, of course. Dishes and whole cuisines get exported or migrate, and then they're pretty much instantly modified to match the tastes of the locals and the ingredients at hand, but it still gets referred to as an "Italian" dish or whatever the origin is. I imagine when someone comes here for the first time from China, they don't recognize what we call Chinese food. :wink:

It's not just Americans doing the bastardizing, it goes on everywhere, all directions.
 
TastyReuben said:
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.
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I do love pizza.

Never understood calling tomato sauce "red sauce". Maybe it is a geographic thing?
 
ElizabethB said:
I love Osso Bucco. Unfortunately Veal Shank is very expensive and only for special occasions. I make a "poor man's" Osso Bucco with pork shank. :hyper: Really delicious. Anything braised is wonderful. I love braising.
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I made a pork shank osso bucco a few years back - loved it.
 
Mountain Cat said:
I do love pizza.

Never understood calling tomato sauce "red sauce". Maybe it is a geographic thing?
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Yeah, I don't know. It's more on restaurant menus than, say, jars at the store. Like, you'll see a dish called something like Hot Mama Spaghetti (I'm making that up, obvs), and it'll say something like, "Spaghetti pasta tossed in a spicy red sauce," or like when my niece got married, her reception included a pasta bar, so they had big pans of various cooked pastas out, and you could choose from sauces labeled red (marinara), white (alfredo), or green (pesto).

Maybe we're too dumb down here to know the Italian words. We also refuse to use those fancy words for cup sizes at Starbucks - instead, we say "little'un," "middlin'," or "bigg'un." :laugh:
 
TastyReuben said:
Yeah, I don't know. It's more on restaurant menus than, say, jars at the store. Like, you'll see a dish called something like Hot Mama Spaghetti (I'm making that up, obvs), and it'll say something like, "Spaghetti pasta tossed in a spicy red sauce," or like when my niece got married, her reception included a pasta bar, so they had big pans of various cooked pastas out, and you could choose from sauces labeled red (marinara), white (alfredo), or green (pesto).

Maybe we're too dumb down here to know the Italian words. We also refuse to use those fancy words for cup sizes at Starbucks - instead, we say "little'un," "middlin'," or "bigg'un." :laugh:
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Don't know the Italian words either - but just in case a "red sauce" is made with something other than tomato, we call it "tomato sauce".

As for Starbucks - small, medium and large are words that still get that point across. Or at least they did. Haven't been in a Starbucks since a couple months pre-COVID.
 
ElizabethB said:
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.
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That's a bit harsh. Keep in mind, Italian-American food was created by Italian immigrants, like my great grandparents. When they got here, the food that was readily available here (and cheap) was different than what was available (and cheap) in Italy. So, recipes changed.

I wouldn't say that Creole food is a bastardization of French cuisine -- it is the result of people using what was local (and cheap).

CD
 
TastyReuben said:
I think anyone could make that claim, though - not that it makes it less true, of course. Dishes and whole cuisines get exported or migrate, and then they're pretty much instantly modified to match the tastes of the locals and the ingredients at hand, but it still gets referred to as an "Italian" dish or whatever the origin is. I imagine when someone comes here for the first time from China, they don't recognize what we call Chinese food. :wink:

It's not just Americans doing the bastardizing, it goes on everywhere, all directions.
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I agree, it’s not just Americans doing it. I was only referring to this specific thread about Italian-American food 🙃
 
epicuric said:
I think it's more to do with the colour :)
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It is really a regional thing. Most of us call it tomato sauce, or spaghetti sauce. In and around NYC, they use terms like "red sauce" and "Sunday gravy (ragout)." They also call capocollo "gabagool." Pasta Fagioli is called "pasta fazool."

NYC has a slang name for almost everything.

CD
 
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