Subj : Real Deal was: Cookware ( [1]
To : Dave Drum
From : Ruth Haffly
Date : Thu Apr 18 2024 14:00:49
Hi Dave,
RH> Steve's mom (Italian heritage) gave me her various recipes for sauce,
RH> raviolis, lasagne, meat balls, etc as a wedding present. I've tweaked
RH> some of them over the years (making a meat or spinach lasagne, changes
RH> to the sauce, etc) but keeping fairly close to the original. Best other
DD> Nearly every cook puts a personal "spin" on a recipe. My good friend
DD> Joe DeFrates once told me "You can make my recipe but you can't make
DD> my chilli"
DD> When I asked him "Whassup with that?" He explained that everyone
DD> tastes and "adjusts" as they and wander off the straight and narrow.
Most everybody does, but I know of some that stick to the recipe as
written, every time, no exceptions. I did that when I first started
cooking as my dad insisted on the basics. As time went on, I tinkered
more and more with them, still somewhat trying to cater to his tastes
but seeing what I could "get away with". Some years back, before he
went into the nursing home, we were up visiting and he asked me to make
a meat loaf for supper. I did, putting in some sauteed onion, which I do
when making it at home. He ate--and enjoyed--it; I never did tell him
about the onion because he had declared a few days earlier that he
didn't like onions. I'd put them in other things that I made when we
visited or he came to visit us; he ate them without complaint.
DD> I've always found O.G. to be lowest common denominator Italian. We
DD> have a substantial Italian population (the first generation seems
to DD> be falling off their twigs a lot lately) and have no lack of
really DD> good, authentic Italian restaurants. What we need is a good
Greek DD> venue.
RH> But for most people, O.G. is the Italian taste they grew up with. Those
RH> that were raised with parents that didn't do much cooking--frozen
RH> entrees or take out, O.G. would be the best Italian cooking they know.
DD> If they grew up with Italian food at all. Chef Boyardee
DD> notwithstanding.
I didn't grow up with Chef Boyardee Italian, just my mom's poor version
of it. There was one local-ish Italian place my folks took us to
occaisionally, I remember one time we all ordered lasagne. It came out,
looking nothing like what my mom made but tasted good. Years later,
after meeting Steve, I found out that was the more authentic Italian
lasagne. I've made it myself over the years--taught my mom how to do it
but don't know if she ever did before the dememtia set in.
DD> O. G. does have some decent dishes - but most of their stuff is on
the DD> profitable path of "Hey Diddle Diddle, Straight Up The Middle".
DD> I find that most times that you ask an Italian "Where's the best
DD> Italian food in this town/area?" you'll get an answer very close to
DD> "My mother's kitchen!" Bv)=
I'd probably have answered "my mother in law's kitchen" followed by "my
kitchen", then depends on where we were living. We've encountered some
places that cook like Steve's mom used to (chef coming from the same
region of Italy as her family) but a lot more "nice try, but..." places.
