AMERICAN LASAGNA
American Lasagna!?! By Einfach und lecker!?! The meat looks like it is being “stewed” in vegetable oil. Is that like New York style Chinese food or New York style pizza? Sacrilege! Oxymoron! People actually eat this and think they are eating Italian food. It is like people telling me they have a great Italian restaurant in their town called Olive Garden or pizzeria called Pizza Hut. You might as well have sushi pizza.
https://youtube.com/shorts/Is68dpPPjUA?feature=share
I have met such people in my travels around America. This lasagna recipe is also similar to how they make Sloppy Joes with an emphasis on the “slop.” SOOEY!
To be truthful, I have never tasted this cream cheese version of lasagna, but have had people make it for me with cottage cheese.
Speaking of sloppy joes, I was weaned on sloppy joes. The closest thing I have tasted in Florida is a Tripple J at TooJays, with a schmear of course. I think the The Lucky Dill is merely poking fun at a traditional Jersey sloppy Joe.
What the rest of the country calls a “sloppy joe” is really Toasted Deviled Hamburgers, Chopped Meat Sandwiches, Spanish Hamburgers, Hamburg a la Creole, Beef Mironton, and Minced Beef Spanish Style.
One theory of the sandwich's origin is that in 1917, Havana, Cuba, bar owner José "Sloppy Joe" Abeal y Otero created "a simple sandwich filled with ground beef stewed in tomatoes." This was possibly his interpretation of ropa vieja or picadillo. His bar was reportedly frequented by Americans and Britons, including Errol Flynn, Ernest Hemingway, and Graham Greene. Circa 1937, Hemingway convinced Joe Russell, a bar owner in Key West, Florida, to rename his Silver Slipper bar Sloppy Joe's.
Marilyn Brown, director of the consumer test kitchen at H.J. Heinz in Pittsburgh, says their research at the Carnegie Library suggests that the sloppy joe's origins lie with the "loose meat sandwiches" sold in Sioux City, Iowa, in the 1930s and were the creation of a cook named Joe.
The Town Hall Deli in South Orange, NJ claims to have invented the New Jersey sloppy joe in the 1930s. According to the deli's owner, a Maplewood politician, Thomas Sweeney, returned from a vacation in Cuba, where he spent time at a bar named Sloppy Joe's. The bar's owner laid out fixings for patrons, who put sandwiches together. Sweeney asked Town Hall to cater his poker games with the same sort of sandwiches, and they caught on.
In the '50s, several Jewish delis in Newark, NJ and surroundings were also selling the sandwich, including places like Tabatchnicks, Kartzman's, Karpen's Deli in Passaic, and Union Pantry in Union.
What the real story is may never be known, although I tend to go with the Cuban theory. All three stories I found take place during the 1930s, so those who claim one is the original because it is older are breathing with their mouth open. Which version you heard and believe most likely depends on where you were born and grew up, just like with religion.
To those of you snickering at my comparison of religion to food, I say to you that food is my religion. Praying won’t keep you alive, but food will. My other passion is music, so I also look for musical segues and tie ins. But I digress. The reason I choose to believe the Cuban stories over the Iowa one is because two out of three ain’t bad!
Thank you, Wikipedia.
Now here is where I predict what you are thinking. You are wondering wtf I consider lasagna to be if not what is described above. Fair question.
So, I checked around the internet to find something similar rather than me having to write it out for you with eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was. And I’ll be damned if I didn’t find one by a Vincenzo with the help of another Sebastian. How’s that for coinkydink! This is so close to the way I make it. And yes, I am a food snob and prefer to do my own cooking! Hint: measure carefully and exactly.
One major difference is that I use 100% ground sirloin. Just a personal taste preference of my wife and myself. Use what ever meat or combination that you like. Just be sure it is fresh, quality meat. If you seek a cheap lasagna, get a frozen one from your store loaded with who knows what.
Some other tips based on my personal experience and research, the tomato. When I make sauce for spaghetti or other Italian dishes, I never use American tomatoes. Trust me, the taste difference is amazing. I use only whole, peeled San Marzano tomatoes from Italy and crush them with my own gloved hands. However, I digress, because these tomatoes are not required for lasagna.
Passata can also be found in bottles resembling the homemade, also imported from Italy. Passata is an uncooked tomato purée that has been strained of seeds and skins.
You should also buy tomato paste in a tube. It is easier to measure than just opening a small can and dumping it all in.
As for herbs, see what is available in the produce section in small tubs if you do not have your own herb garden. The dried herbs in a jar are a last resort, which I resort to a lot. lol
It might sound complicated, but it is not. Canned or jarred tomato sauce is convenient, but you have no control over where the tomatoes come from, what kind they are, what herbs and spices are used to make lower quality tomatoes taste better, nor what preservatives, etc. are added. Using fresh ingredients allows you to skip the chemicals and season to suit your taste buds. You owe it to yourself to try making lasagna this way at least once.
Cheeses: I get deli cut provolone, Buffalo mozzarella in a tub from Whole Foods, and buy imported wedges of aged Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Romano imported from Italy and grate my own as I need it. Freshly grated cheese ha un magnifico favore!
Even the lasagna noodles make a difference. You can get the mass produced cardboard tasting noodles, or get fresh sheets or make your own. I use no boil lasagna egg noodle sheets imported from Italy. I cut them to fit my baking dish. Pieces to fill in around the edges are not noticed once baked and don’t forget to overlap. I use De Cecco, Campofilone, La Molisana or Delverde. Use whatever brand is convenient and available where you are.
I also have learned a bit about olive oil and use Montessori OVO from Morocco and M.G. Pappas garlic infused olive oil from Greece. Olive oil unopened has a long shelf life. But once opened begins to deteriorate. So, since I do not use it daily, I get two small bottles instead of one big.
Well, those are my hints and tricks. Hope this was worth reading and you NJoy!
Here are some alternative recipes:
Mama Leone Restaurant Version
Jean-Pierre Loaded Lasagna
SPECIAL ENCORE PRESENTATION
Baked Spaghetti “better than lasagna.”
The ingenious Americans better than Italy.
Do they bake it to kill the bacteria from the sink? Did he wash his hands after using the lavatory or picking his nose? This they don’t mention. Is this how they make canned spaghetti?
Comments
Post a Comment