Please,stop trying to eat italian outside of Italy..
This is crazy talk. I grew up in a half Italian, half Irish neighborhood, and we learned to eat like the Italians and drink like the Irish. You will get my Saltimbocca when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
Unless the restaurant makes it tableside, DO NOT get the carbonara anywhere, because you will probably get pasta with a bit of alfredo and pieces of bacon...has happened to me on a few occasions and it made me sad, carbonara is my favorite...so anywhere west of the Atlantic I know to make sure it is made tableside because then there is a chance of it being made correctly...
I'll co-sign Al di La as the best Italian in Park Slope.
oh, I didn't go, we ordered out. My wife had found this menu in front of our door and said "hey, let's try this, it looks good". Big mistake. I threw out the menu with the food so I can't even tell you the name of the place.
I'll try out Al di La, heard some good things about it. When we lived in Bourum Hill in the 90s, we used to go to Cafe Carciofo on Court street but unfortunatelly the palce has closed down since.
did anyone else immediately think of this after seeing this thread?
Today everything is different; there's no action. I have to wait around like everyone else. I can't even get decent food - right after I got here, I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce, and I got egg noodles and ketchup.
al di la is a great meal but it will hit your pocketbook. they don't take reservations, it's funny to see people lining up to get in at 4:30.
also i will be making that NYT ragu recipe this weekend
I'll co-sign Al di La as the best Italian in Park Slope.
oh, I didn't go, we ordered out. My wife had found this menu in front of our door and said "hey, let's try this, it looks good". Big mistake. I threw out the menu with the food so I can't even tell you the name of the place.
Oh ok, yeah don't mess around with any food from menus being left under your door.
In the neighborhood I also like Scalino on 7th ave and 10th St, but its not as cheap since they got their liqour liscence, no more byob. Regardless, their oxtail and pork shoulder dishes are some of the best I've ever had. I will say their bolognese is average.
I didn't realize we live in the same area, we should link up sometime.
An important thing to consider abount Italian food culture in America is that so many of those immigrants who arrived in the earliest and largest waves were unaccompanied young men or even young women and children that were not accustomed to preparing their own food. They may have had a strong taste and appreciation for traditional italian cooking, but, especially with the different ingriedients on hand in America, if they wanted to satisfy a specific craving they might have to do some experimenting and improvising that may result in a new dish entirely. Also, don't discount the power of advertising and consumer culture to steer immigrants away from the old in favor of the new. I know that at least the younger of some of my italian ancestors quickly became embarrassed about the home-pressed olive oil they had brought over with them from the old country, when clearly Land-O-Lakes was superior.
don't mess around with any food from menus being left under your door.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
My grandma's homemade sauce, with meatballs, is by far the best I've ever had (hundreds of times).
I don't care if it's Italian authentic, or just Italian-immigrant-to-NYC authentic, or otherwise...it takes all day to cook and it's off the chain good.
I'll co-sign Al di La as the best Italian in Park Slope.
oh, I didn't go, we ordered out. My wife had found this menu in front of our door and said "hey, let's try this, it looks good". Big mistake. I threw out the menu with the food so I can't even tell you the name of the place.
Oh ok, yeah don't mess around with any food from menus being left under your door.
In the neighborhood I also like Scalino on 7th ave and 10th St, but its not as cheap since they got their liqour liscence, no more byob. Regardless, their oxtail and pork shoulder dishes are some of the best I've ever had. I will say their bolognese is average.
I didn't realize we live in the same area, we should link up sometime.
We had this one Italian take out place on Smith street back in the day who had a very satisfying Bolognese and all in all decent food and we had found the menu under the door one day but yeah, it's a risky business.
I've actually had Tagliatelle with Oxtail at Scalino a few weeks back and it was very good. We were three and all other dishes were not so special though.
ayo bambouche, what kind of beef did you use? how lean should i get it for this sauce?
yeah bambouche as many details as possible i make the killer chicken parm in my family, wife makes amazing lasagna so a month or two back she accidentally burned the sauce pretty bad it tasted amazing, i tried to duplicate for my parm sauce but had a time crunch and failed to get that good carbony smoke flavor i guess i cant use teflon coated pots for crud and scrape
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
ayo bambouche, what kind of beef did you use? how lean should i get it for this sauce?
yeah bambouche as many details as possible i make the killer chicken parm in my family, wife makes amazing lasagna so a month or two back she accidentally burned the sauce pretty bad it tasted amazing, i tried to duplicate for my parm sauce but had a time crunch and failed to get that good carbony smoke flavor i guess i cant use teflon coated pots for crud and scrape
My twist on my usual sauce is to really burn the garlic in olive oil before adding the tomato sauce. Even when I'm just heating up a jar brand, I always simmer some garlic and oregano/sage/parsley/etc. in some olive oil before pouring the sauce in the pan. But yeah, about every 10th time I burn that garlic up good and it completely transforms the tatse of the sauce.
My mother makes my grandma's sauce pretty much the same way as her...thank goodness. But I'm not sure if either of my sisters have inherited the gift. I think it may finally be time for me to give it a go...now, I just have to get ahold of that recipe.
Lidia is a bitch. sheAbitch. She's always elbowing her guests out of the way, she's not concerned with teaching anyone anything--sall bout how much better she is than you...
1) Look for the DOP. 2) Look at the ingredients, if it has anything other than tomatoes, avoid. Regular brands often add salt, or tomato paste. 3) Make sure it says San Marzano, not San Marzano type that's grown elsewhere. The volcanic ash soil (terroir) is a key factor to the taste of the DOP type. 4) try several brands that fit those guidelines...
My suggestion for meat is to use a mixture. I like to mix ground veal/pork with ground lamb.
Salt your pasta water AGGRESSIVELY. #1 mistake of home cooks making pasta. The water should taste like the sea. Also use as much water as possible in a big stockpot.
I always simmer some garlic and oregano/sage/parsley/etc. in some olive oil
while rosted garlic can be nice, herbs should never be put in hot oil, you'll burn them and the aetheric oils evaporate or oxydise, leaving you with bitter tasting straw. Don't slaughter me now.... that's just what I learned at culinary school. Also sorry for yesterdays unsensitive remarks but you should know by now that everything I say is meant to be consumed with more than just a pinch of salt...
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
I always simmer some garlic and oregano/sage/parsley/etc. in some olive oil
while rosted garlic can be nice, herbs should never be put in hot oil, you'll burn them and the aetheric oils evaporate or oxydise, leaving you with bitter tasting straw. Don't slaughter me now.... that's just what I learned at culinary school. Also sorry for yesterdays unsensitive remarks but you should know by now that everything I say is meant to be consumed with more than just a pinch of salt...
No slaughter...even for yesterday. Just one of those things I thought was worth mentioning...no big deal.
On the herbs in the oil...I get where you are coming from, but when I do it the oil is just barely heated before I throw the herbs in for a minute and then the sauce on top of it. I picked that practice up from my wife long ago and never do our herbs turn to tasting like straw. And when I'm intent on burning the garlic, I don't throw the herbs in the oil but for a few seconds before the sauce goes in.
are you guys talking fresh herbs or dry? fresh herbs sizzling in oil, in my experience, don't end up tasting like much. but dried basil and rosemary are two that seems to release plenty of flavour if thrown in from the get-go. I never cook parsley, it is is just too delicious fresh and best added in right at the end in anything from sauce to soup to rice to stew.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
are you guys talking fresh herbs or dry? fresh herbs sizzling in oil, in my experience, don't end up tasting like much. but dried basil and rosemary are two that seems to release plenty of flavour if thrown in from the get-go. I never cook parsley, it is is just too delicious fresh and best added in right at the end in anything from sauce to soup to rice to stew.
Both...and again, I don't really let them sizzle any more than a minute tops.
Lidia is a bitch. sheAbitch. She's always elbowing her guests out of the way, she's not concerned with teaching anyone anything--sall bout how much better she is than you...
depressed elitist bald jerk AKA she a strutter
shes also croatian not italian if that matters at all...
ok if you want to get good italian in nyc theres plenty of really good places. you have to pay for it though. these places dont really serve old school red sauce dishes. thats just not the trend right now. i would avoid all places on mulberry st and arthur avenue...
id suggest convivio, alto, esca, a voce, and in brooklyn al di la and frannys are great...
ayo bambouche, what kind of beef did you use? how lean should i get it for this sauce?
yeah bambouche as many details as possible
I usually go to my local butcher, tell them what I'm making, tell them what it calls for, and then ask what they recommend.
First time, per recipe. Second time ground chuck and regular bacon. Birthday party, ground sirloin and thick cut bacon. To be honest, it cooks so long that it's hard to distinguish the meat from the other heavenly Greek/Italian goddess breast-milk flavors. Even the thick cut bacon chunks are barely solid by the end of the 3 hour simmer.
Comments
This is crazy talk. I grew up in a half Italian, half Irish neighborhood, and we learned to eat like the Italians and drink like the Irish. You will get my Saltimbocca when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
oh, I didn't go, we ordered out. My wife had found this menu in front of our door and said "hey, let's try this, it looks good". Big mistake. I threw out the menu with the food so I can't even tell you the name of the place.
I'll try out Al di La, heard some good things about it.
When we lived in Bourum Hill in the 90s, we used to go to Cafe Carciofo on Court street but unfortunatelly the palce has closed down since.
--
al di la is a great meal but it will hit your pocketbook. they don't take reservations, it's funny to see people lining up to get in at 4:30.
also i will be making that NYT ragu recipe this weekend
Oh ok, yeah don't mess around with any food from menus being left under your door.
In the neighborhood I also like Scalino on 7th ave and 10th St, but its not as cheap since they got their liqour liscence, no more byob. Regardless, their oxtail and pork shoulder dishes are some of the best I've ever had. I will say their bolognese is average.
I didn't realize we live in the same area, we should link up sometime.
how lean should i get it for this sauce?
Lydia Bastianch and her empire know the real and still know what middle america has been reared on.
Chefs have to be coming to the states all the time bringing the OG styles.
But to think that it stays static in America or Italy is inaccurate.
Plus - There is no "National cuisine" of Italy -its all regional.
I don't care if it's Italian authentic, or just Italian-immigrant-to-NYC authentic, or otherwise...it takes all day to cook and it's off the chain good.
We had this one Italian take out place on Smith street back in the day who had a very satisfying Bolognese and all in all decent food and we had found the menu under the door one day but yeah, it's a risky business.
I've actually had Tagliatelle with Oxtail at Scalino a few weeks back and it was very good. We were three and all other dishes were not so special though.
yeah bambouche as many details as possible
i make the killer chicken parm in my family, wife makes amazing lasagna
so a month or two back she accidentally burned the sauce pretty bad
it tasted amazing, i tried to duplicate for my parm sauce but had a time crunch and failed to get that good carbony smoke flavor
i guess i cant use teflon coated pots for crud and scrape
My twist on my usual sauce is to really burn the garlic in olive oil before adding the tomato sauce. Even when I'm just heating up a jar brand, I always simmer some garlic and oregano/sage/parsley/etc. in some olive oil before pouring the sauce in the pan. But yeah, about every 10th time I burn that garlic up good and it completely transforms the tatse of the sauce.
Cracking The Spaghetti Code
Thanks...great read.
My mother makes my grandma's sauce pretty much the same way as her...thank goodness. But I'm not sure if either of my sisters have inherited the gift. I think it may finally be time for me to give it a go...now, I just have to get ahold of that recipe.
PBS WINS AGAIN!
depressed elitist bald jerk AKA she a strutter
1) Look for the DOP.
2) Look at the ingredients, if it has anything other than tomatoes, avoid. Regular brands often add salt, or tomato paste.
3) Make sure it says San Marzano, not San Marzano type that's grown elsewhere. The volcanic ash soil (terroir) is a key factor to the taste of the DOP type.
4) try several brands that fit those guidelines...
My suggestion for meat is to use a mixture. I like to mix ground veal/pork with ground lamb.
Salt your pasta water AGGRESSIVELY. #1 mistake of home cooks making pasta. The water should taste like the sea. Also use as much water as possible in a big stockpot.
No slaughter...even for yesterday. Just one of those things I thought was worth mentioning...no big deal.
On the herbs in the oil...I get where you are coming from, but when I do it the oil is just barely heated before I throw the herbs in for a minute and then the sauce on top of it. I picked that practice up from my wife long ago and never do our herbs turn to tasting like straw. And when I'm intent on burning the garlic, I don't throw the herbs in the oil but for a few seconds before the sauce goes in.
Both...and again, I don't really let them sizzle any more than a minute tops.
Oregano, thyme, and sage are the usual suspects.
shes also croatian not italian if that matters at all...
ok if you want to get good italian in nyc theres plenty of really good places. you have to pay for it though. these places dont really serve old school red sauce dishes. thats just not the trend right now. i would avoid all places on mulberry st and arthur avenue...
id suggest convivio, alto, esca, a voce, and in brooklyn al di la and frannys are great...
Shit is on the stove right now son!
Although with that 3 hour simmer, we ain't eating until 11....
I usually go to my local butcher, tell them what I'm making, tell them what it calls for, and then ask what they recommend.
First time, per recipe. Second time ground chuck and regular bacon. Birthday party, ground sirloin and thick cut bacon. To be honest, it cooks so long that it's hard to distinguish the meat from the other heavenly Greek/Italian goddess breast-milk flavors. Even the thick cut bacon chunks are barely solid by the end of the 3 hour simmer.