I don't know a lot about Italian food, and that's pretty apparent on occasion. However, I think some of the home ec teachers from Favorite Recipes of Home Economics Teachers: Casseroles Including Breads (1965) might not entirely understand Italian cooking either.
I know there are plenty of variations of tomato-based sauces, but...
...I don't think many of them start with both catsup AND a half-cup of brown sugar. Maybe Mrs. Ruth Hale thought sloppy joes were Italian?
And yes, I know a lot of tomato sauces do have a hint of sugar to help balance out the acidity, but...
...three-quarters of a cup of brown sugar, PLUS a third of a cup of sugar PLUS a quarter cup of molasses? I imagine more than a few genuine Italians might not appreciate the implication that these "Italian Spaghetti" recipes are from their compatriots. Who wants to take credit for candied spaghetti sauce?
Maybe it's better to simply admit that the "Italian" recipes are just Americanized versions. How about stating right up front that it's American Cheese Lasagna?
I'll bet you thought I was going to make fun of the obvious-- the American cheese in the title. Hey, at least it's melty and cheese-ish. What really disturbs me about this one is the layer of sliced hard-cooked eggs! They were a staple of penny-pinching casseroles, but even in lasagna? Why? I can't imagine biting into those noodly, gooey, cheesy layers and coming up with a mouthful of hard-boiled egg yolk.
Maybe we should just go with a nice American version of ravioli instead.
Wait... What? So American ravioli is spaghetti with ground round, onions, cream cheese, and mushrooms, topped with Chinese noodles (I'm assuming this means the crunchy chow mein ones) and chopped almonds? What this has to do with ravioli, I have not a clue. Mrs. Evelyn W. Hanson could just as easily have labeled this "American Risotto" and I would have been nearly as convinced that the title was an appropriate description.
In short, which is worse: claiming that a recipe is Italian when it's only marginally recognizable as such, or admitting that a recipe is an Americanized version when the resemblance is, at best, a stretch? I guess it just depends who you ask.
Egg lasagna? I've heard of using thin layers of sliced, cooked eggs to replace the noodles, but hard boiled eggs? I also know that spaghetti sauce is a commonly cited place for sugar to hide, but these don't bother hiding it. I was also confused by the ravioli recipe. Don't show me those raviolis!
ReplyDeleteHa! I wanted to make a show me your raviolis joke, but you'd be the only one who got it.... Not that it would have mattered since the audience is only slightly larger than you.
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