I was just curious, do most people do what I do and make meatballs with the EXACT same ingredients? Maybe a little more garlic and some crushed parsley...Isn't meat LOAF just a giant meat BALL? Only baked...actually, there are a few more ingredients depending...
My grandmother (deeeep breath: whom we called Oma, yes it is German - she was an Italian traitor...her last name was Caputo and HER mom Luchese, she met Ludwig Weisbecker, ran away and went back to Germany with him...she NEVER told anyone she was Italian again...LOOONG story; breathe...), Phyllomena Caputo (Phyllis) was a cook like no other, and passed this talent to my Mother, Karin - who is THE best cook anywhere, hands down. NO ONE comes close to her. This is where I got my love and (some say) talent from.
When I was younger, every Sunday was Gravy* and Macaroni+ day. I would wake up to the most wonderful smell of that Gravy cooking on Mom's stove. So, I'd sit in the kitchen, and watch at first, then I got to help. Does anyone remember eating the raw meat/ingredients from the meatballs? We did it all the time. Yummy. Wouldn't try that now, would ya? So, when I tried to make the meatballs (before I had an aversion to sticking my hands into that mixture) I would take a hunk of the meat, and start to roll it...here's where Oma comes in...
Oma: Your're rolling it the wrong way.
Me: What?
Oma: You are rolling it clockwise, it needs to be rolled counter-clockwise.
Me: What's the difference?
Oma: It tastes better when you roll it counter-clockwise.
Me: You can't be serious. That's stupid.
Oma: #SMACK#
I dropped the meatball and from then on, rolled the meatball counter-clockwise. Of course, you also have to broil them (only three or four go into the gravy for taste and cook that way) and when you turn them - which had BETTER be often so they don't lose the "ball" shape - you use a SPOON - again, learned from a smack and a tsk, tsk, tsk...I miss my grandparents. I was lucky enough to have all four of them till I was 14 years old. I learned a lot from watching, and the kitchen is still my favorite place to spend time with my mother. I wish that for every young person. My daughter goes to her "Oma's" house and watches her for Thanksgiving and Christmas. These memories you never lose...
*Gravy is RED made from fresh or canned san-marzano chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, olive oil, basil, parsley, oregeno, fresh ground pepper, sea-salt, garlic (lots of garlic), onions, pecorino romano cheese and occasionally white wine, sometimes - if you want a meat sauce: use pancetta chopped, sweet & hot sausage out of the skin, ground veal, pork and beef. I will NOT argue this being called Gravy, this is what I grew up calling it, this is what if forever shall be known as. And, by the way...it HAS to be made in a pot that is super-sized...I'm talking Army base-feeds hundreds-big. I don't know why, that's just the law.
+Macaroni is Pasta. Does not matter if its rotelli, spaghetti, linguini, cavetelli, etc.
My grandmother (deeeep breath: whom we called Oma, yes it is German - she was an Italian traitor...her last name was Caputo and HER mom Luchese, she met Ludwig Weisbecker, ran away and went back to Germany with him...she NEVER told anyone she was Italian again...LOOONG story; breathe...), Phyllomena Caputo (Phyllis) was a cook like no other, and passed this talent to my Mother, Karin - who is THE best cook anywhere, hands down. NO ONE comes close to her. This is where I got my love and (some say) talent from.
When I was younger, every Sunday was Gravy* and Macaroni+ day. I would wake up to the most wonderful smell of that Gravy cooking on Mom's stove. So, I'd sit in the kitchen, and watch at first, then I got to help. Does anyone remember eating the raw meat/ingredients from the meatballs? We did it all the time. Yummy. Wouldn't try that now, would ya? So, when I tried to make the meatballs (before I had an aversion to sticking my hands into that mixture) I would take a hunk of the meat, and start to roll it...here's where Oma comes in...
Oma: Your're rolling it the wrong way.
Me: What?
Oma: You are rolling it clockwise, it needs to be rolled counter-clockwise.
Me: What's the difference?
Oma: It tastes better when you roll it counter-clockwise.
Me: You can't be serious. That's stupid.
Oma: #SMACK#
I dropped the meatball and from then on, rolled the meatball counter-clockwise. Of course, you also have to broil them (only three or four go into the gravy for taste and cook that way) and when you turn them - which had BETTER be often so they don't lose the "ball" shape - you use a SPOON - again, learned from a smack and a tsk, tsk, tsk...I miss my grandparents. I was lucky enough to have all four of them till I was 14 years old. I learned a lot from watching, and the kitchen is still my favorite place to spend time with my mother. I wish that for every young person. My daughter goes to her "Oma's" house and watches her for Thanksgiving and Christmas. These memories you never lose...
*Gravy is RED made from fresh or canned san-marzano chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, olive oil, basil, parsley, oregeno, fresh ground pepper, sea-salt, garlic (lots of garlic), onions, pecorino romano cheese and occasionally white wine, sometimes - if you want a meat sauce: use pancetta chopped, sweet & hot sausage out of the skin, ground veal, pork and beef. I will NOT argue this being called Gravy, this is what I grew up calling it, this is what if forever shall be known as. And, by the way...it HAS to be made in a pot that is super-sized...I'm talking Army base-feeds hundreds-big. I don't know why, that's just the law.
+Macaroni is Pasta. Does not matter if its rotelli, spaghetti, linguini, cavetelli, etc.
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