WORLD CUISINE — THE IMMIGRANT RECIPE
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Editor's Note: Tom Bernardin, a history buff, preservationist, and avid collector of Statue of Liberty memorabilia, provided this recipe. Bernardin was a National Park Service tour guide at Ellis Island and was the author of The Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook, a collection of heartwarming stories and authentic recipes that recall special memories of far away lands or of dearly loved relatives. The book is more than a recipe compilation — it is a personal journey with stories that will surely touch your heart.
From Theresa Scinto of Winter Springs, Florida:
My parents came through in 1929 from Castelfranco, Benevento, Italy, and also my husband's grandparents earlier, also from the same town. Castelfranco is located in the mountains outside of Naples. In the 1800's living conditions were depressed. Day-to-day living was a struggle. The news of America as a land of opportunity came to Castelfranco. Some young men took the trip to America to see if it was true. Their letters brought whole families to the United States. Lorenzo, my husband's grandfather, was one of seven brothers who left Castelfranco for lands where a future could be built. He was one of the first Castels to come through Ellis Island to settle in the United States. This was in the 1880's.
ITALIAN TOMATO SAUCE
- 1 16-oz. can Italian tomatoes
- 1 16-oz. can tomato sauce
- 1 tsp. sugar salt & pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup grated cheese
- 1 lb. macaroni, spaghetti or homemade noodles
Mash the tomatoes well and let simmer in a large saucepan or kettle for 1/2 hour. Stir occasionally. While tomatoes are cooking, fry meat. Use meatballs, Italian sausage, beef brociola, lamb fore, or pork butt. Two or three of these meats in the sauce give a hearty flavor. Recipes follow. Add tomato sauce to tomatoes. Rinse can with 1/2 cup water and add to tomatoes. Also add sugar, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add meats and simmer 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauce will thicken without a cover. Made a day or so ahead, kept in the refrigerator and then reheated slowly, the sauce will be tastier. Cook macaroni according to directions on the package. Drain and put macaroni in a large dish or platter. Sprinkle 1/4 cup grated cheese over it, and pour 2 ladles of sauce on top. (1 ladle = 1/4 cup) Turn macaroni gently to mix. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and spread 3 ladles of sauce over all. Do not mix again before serving. Meat is served on an individual platter and extra sauce is served in a gravy boat. Use a large spoon and a fork to take out of the platter. Serves 4-6. <
Immigrants from Latin America or Mexico should be credited for making the tamale very popular in the United States. Tamales, a steam-cooked corn meal dough, is often wrapped in corn husks, filled with meats, cheese and chilli. First read the recipe to determine what you will need and choose and filling. You will need a large steamer. Making the tamales is quite easy, but it is quite time consuming.
HOT, HOT MEXICAN TAMALES!
Pork Tamales With Red Chili
- 1 (7-ounce) bag of corn husks
- 1 recipe mesa (tamale dough)
- 1 recipe (2 cups) red chili, at room temperature
- 1 recipe cooked pork butt
For each batch of tamales, you can use a 7-ounce bag of corn husks. Go through the dried cornhusks, separate them and discard the silk, be careful since the husks are fragile when dry.
Soak them in a sink filled with warm water for 30 minutes to soften. Cover the husks with boiling water, weigh them down — a heavy pie plate works well or even a clean brick or canned meat — and let soak for one hour. When corn husks are softened, lightly dry them and lay them on counter top, flattened with curling-up edges facing upward.
Spread a scant 1/4 cup of the mesa batter onto the husk in a 4-inch square, leaving at least a 1-1/2-inch border on the pointy end of the husk, a 3/4-inch border along the other sides. Spoon a good 2 tablespoons of the filling down the center of the batter. (Note: Fillings can be anything from beans to chicken to beef or pork. If you hunt, you can even fill it with venison or whitetail deer meat.)
Pick up the 2 long sides of the husk and bring them together (this will cause the batter to roll around the filling, enclosing it). Roll the flaps of the husk in the same direction around the tamale. (If husk is so small that the tamale doesn't seem very well wrapped, roll it in another husk.)
Fold up the empty, pointy end in a 1/2-inch section to close off the bottom. Secure it by loosely tying a strip of husk (torn from some of the extra husks) around the tamale and fold flap.
To make a steamer, place a metal rack (such as a cooling rack) in the bottom of a large stockpot or canner. Water level should be below the rack. Lay extra corn husks over rack. Stand the tamales on the folded edge in the steamer (the open edge with be facing upward).
First fill the bottom of the steamer, then start stacking tamales on top of one another. Place any extra husks on top of tamales, cover with pot lid and steam for 1 to 1-1/4 hours.
Replenish boiling water if necessary during steaming, time. The tamales are done when the husk peels away easily from the filling. You will produce around 50 tamales.
Serve them plain. Contrary to what is often served in American-Mexican restaurant, most tamales are not served with a sauce. In many U.S. restaurants nowadays tamales are served in a sauce that compliments the filling, such as red chile sauce for beef or green chile for pork.
Got recipe? Immigrants always have that secret recipe handed down through generations. If you'd like to share your recipe to your fellow immigrants, send it to us via e-mail and we will post it in this section.
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