Sunday Sauce - Food Blog with Italian Recipes

World Series: NY Pizza vs. Philly Cheesesteaks

Our World Series: NY Pizza vs. Philly Cheesesteaks,

image courtesy of Lohud.com

While the Yankees - Phillies World Series will be extremely entertaining as the true best teams in baseball battle in the Fall Classic, another clash will be taking place with just as much passion involved - bragging rights between the cities as to who has the better food. Liz Johnson from Lohud.com (Westchester County's local news source) has collaborated with Patricia Talorico from a paper in the Philly metro area in a battle pitting the NY pizza versus the Philly cheesesteak. In their contest, NY'ers are asked to submit strategies to improve upon the Philly cheesesteak, and people from Philly's corridor are challenged to create a better pie than those found in NY.

To submit cheesesteak strategies: click here and post in Liz's comments section. 

To submit ways to improve upon the NY pizza: click here

Jonny Mangia's opinion: I traveled to Philadelphia in 2001 to interview Pat, the owner of Pat's King of Steaks. Afterwards, I sampled a few of his cheesesteaks and I nearly bowled over with nausea. The best comparison I can make is that they were eerily similar in taste to a White Castle hamburger (not a favorite). Keep in mind that I didn't try Geno's or Jim's cheesesteaks, so I'm not going to write the dish off altogether, but in my small sample size....FUGGEDABOUTIT...NY PIZZA WINS BY A 1ST ROUND KO.

NYTimes: Pasta as Art and History

In this day and age it's too easy to just grab a handful of Barilla pasta, toss into the boiling water and presto, your pasta is ready in 10 mins. There was a day when pasta was made by hand, an art form that seemingly was lost several generations ago. Today the New York Times features this wonderful story by Rachel Donadio where she profiles the Italian food historian Oretta Zanini de Vita. Ms. de Vita's book "The Encyclopedia of Pasta" was recently published in English (you can buy it below). The book is full of rich detail and stories as Ms. de Vita debunks the myth that Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy after returning from China, states that ravioli actually weren't created in Liguria (they are Arabic) and that the famous orechiette ("little ear") pasta from Puglia is actually from the Angevins of France.

Enjoy the article and the link to the book is below:

The Italian Combo...from Chow.com

Just bumped into this post at Chow.com which highlights a novel recipe for the Italian combo sandwich.
I jumped on this one because Nik and I were thinking of a running feature that would highlight various Italian combos from the delis of the greater New York City area. This one is a bit different as they cut back on the meat, add mayo (!) and also use some pickled items. It's unorthodox to say the least, but a cool feature nevertheless.

PS - I've actually been using marinated grilled artichokes on sandwiches for a number of years and they rock as an ingredient. 

PPS - Nikki will be posting about last Saturday's herb chicken and mushroom ragu as well as the breadcrumb pasta recipe from a few weeks back. She's just had her hands full with our lil lamb Scarlett!

Yonkers Awaits...Frank Pepe Pizzeria is Almost Here

Every day  I leave the Curto's showroom I glance across Central Ave and look at the building that will house Frank Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana. It has been several years of demolition and construction but the wait is almost over as there are now signs in the window which tout a November 2 opening. Suffice to say, we will be there with flying colors! I am trying to set up an interview and walk-through pre-opening, so if we land it, you can check it out here.

In the meantime, check out this blurb on the pizzeria from LoHud.com:

The wait will be over on Nov. 2. The Connecticut restaurant, famous for its thin-crust white clam pizza, is coming to Yonkers. The former Ricky's Seafood will be transformed into 5,000 square feet of old-time pizzeria with tin ceilings, booths, wood floors and pizza served on baking tins. The coal-fired oven, an exact replica of the original in New Haven, Conn., will dominate the space. 1955 Central Park Ave., Yonkers, 914-961-8284, pepespizzeria.com.

New York Times Reviews NYC's Nouveau Pizzerias

Frank Bruni takes his acerbic pen to the City's new wave of pizzerias. It's a great read. Enjoy!

His top list:

1. MOTORINO 319 Graham Avenue (Devoe Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn; (718) 599-8899.

Bottom line: When I went, every pizza was terrific, at prices ($9 to $16 for individual-size pies) that didn’t rise nearly as high as Lucali’s or Una Pizza Napoletana’s, in an attractive setting with a back patio.

2. VELOCE PIZZERIA 103 First Avenue (East Seventh Street), East Village; (212) 777-6677.

Bottom line: These square pies ($15 to $19) are bigger and more filling than similarly priced round ones, and Veloce doesn’t have the attitude and preciousness of many new-generation pizza places.

3. UNA PIZZA NAPOLETANA 349 East 12th Street (First Avenue), East Village; (212) 477-9950.

Bottom line Excellent but aloof and, at $21 per individual-size pie, expensive.

4. ANSELMO’S 354 Van Brunt Street (Sullivan Street), Red Hook, Brooklyn; (718) 313-0169.

Bottom line: Good food plus a waiter in a dirty white V-neck and “Godfather” music. Irresistible.

5. FRANNY’S 295 Flatbush Avenue (Prospect Place), Prospect Heights, Brooklyn; (718) 230-0221.

Bottom line: It’s a multifacted pizza restaurant, but requires more commitment than others.

Rest in Peace Richie

I just received the news that a friend of ours from Hoboken just passed away from cancer.

Richie Turnbull was the owner of Uptown Pizza, which was located right outside our building on 14th Street. A native Brooklynite, Richie always greeted his customers with a smile that could light up a room.
He had an incredible amount of positive energy that you couldn't help but be positively affected by.

I had a Saturday ritual whereby after I returned from karate class, I would visit Uptown Pizza and spend an hour BS'ing with Richie and the other workers. I'd usually grab a slice with mushrooms and a few onion pinwheels (a specialty that Richie introduced me to - they were phenomenal).

Richie made really good pizza, and we were always thankful that he finally provided an alternative to the mostly-lousy pizza found in Hoboken.

After he was diagnosed with cancer, he had stopped putting in the around-the-clock hours at the pizza shop, instead opting to open it in the mornings then leave by lunch time. When his schedule changed I really didn't see much of him any more, except when I would bump into him in the Shipyard  apartment complex. He lost a ton of weight and looked tired, but he never stopped being upbeat. It was just his nature. And I'm sure that's what helped him battle this insidious disease for several years.

I didn't get to say goodbye to him before we left Hoboken in late January, so I had planned to stop by the pizza shop on one of our trips back to town and say hi. It's too late for that now, so Rich, we just want to say thank you for the great food, but more importantly, thank you for being such a warm, friendly human and for showing us how to be positive and appreciate life even when the chips are down.

Rest in peace.

Jonny

How Much Water Does Pasta Need? - From the NY Times 2/24/09

It's been a LONG time between posts folks...much going on with Nikki and I as we will soon tell you.
In the meantime check out this article from today's NYT where the author intertwines energy consumption and savings with the production of cooking pasta in your kitchen . Do you know that Americans cook over a billion pounds of pasta per year? I think Nikki is probably responsible for a 1/4 of that total.

The Italian Cheese Bailout

Leave it to the Italians...

Salumi Holiday Photo Gallery

Sticking to the Salumi theme, here is a brief photo gallery from SFgate.com with some of our favorite cured meats dressed up for the Holidays.

And you'll enjoy the accompanying article by Georgeann Brennan, where she waxes about creating her own salumi during the Holiday (errr...Christmas!) season.

Savoring Italian Beer

There's more to Italian beer than Moretti and Peroni, the brands that Americans would typically associate with (if they are even aware that they drink more in Italy than red wine in straw-bottomed bottles!).
The New York Times Travel section takes us on a journey throughout Italy describing the new phenomenon of locally-crafted beers. As the author Evan Rail writes:

"Around Italy, a craft beer scene has sprung up, bringing well-made specialty brews into haute cuisine dining rooms and elevating the fare served in brew pubs, creating an attractive destination for beer lovers who also love great food."

 

You can find a great photo gallery capturing not only the suds but some of the dishes that the restaurants mentioned serve.