Italian-Americans, especially those who settled in the New York/New Jersey area, developed a pidgin language that can still be heard today, though sadly I believe it is disappearing with time. It’s sometimes called American-Italian. If you want to sound like a real paisan, not a fugazy, try to pepper in some of this language into your daily jawing.
You can start with food names. For some reason (though I do have a theory) Italian-Americans decided to truncate the end vowels from some of their favorite foods. Mozzarella cheese got snipped into Mozzarell (Mooz–a–ell) or sometimes just Mooz; Ricotta cheese into Ricott (Ri–got). The delicate (and pricey) cured ham Prosciutto became Prosciutt (Pri–shoot). Another ham favorite, Capicola, got clobbered into Capicol (Gabba-gool) and Soppressata (basically a salami with a college education) got shrunk to Soppressat (Sopra– saad).
Vegetables took a hit too. The lowly Escarole got whacked and now suffers with Scarole (Shca – role).
Once you’ve mastered these, you’ll want a more advanced A-I language course. I recommend Stevie B’s Italian-American Slang Word of the Day – on YouTube. I like to start my morning with a cup of coffee and one of Stevie B’s words. It always makes me smile – which is a good way to start the day.
All this talk of food is making me hungry… Let’s cook something!
Scarole & Beans
The Stuff You’ll Need
4 – 8oz cans of Cannellini beans
2 heads of Escarole
Olive oil
1- 8 oz can of chicken broth
5 cloves of garlic
Cheap White Wine (optional)
Italian bread – preferably a little stale
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
Escarole is the Rodney Dangerfield of vegetables… it doesn’t get any respect. Fresh escarole can have a lot of dirt in it. It’s almost as if the farmer just plucked it out of the soil and said – here, take this. The supermarkets don’t clean it. So the first thing we need to do is JTB* the dirty scoundrels.
How to JTB Escarole
Fill a large pot or bowl with clean cold water.
Chop the Escarole up into about 1 inch squares and drop them into the cold water. The escarole will float and any dirt or sand will sink to the bottom of the bowl. Siphon off the escarole into a colander with a slotted spoon. Throw the dirty water out and rinse the pot real good. Add clean cold water back into the pot. Put the escarole back in the pot and repeat the cleansing process two more times (so that the escarole is triple washed). After the third time, rinse the colander clean as well.
Okay, now open up the cans of beans. Put the colander in the sink and dump the beans in to drain off the liquid. Rinse the beans under cold water.
Bruise 4 cloves of garlic by putting each clove under the flat side of a knife and giving it a little pop with your hand – not too hard as you want the garlic to remain basically whole. Reserve the 5th garlic clove for later.
Pour a couple of glugs of olive oil in a large pot; add the bruised garlic cloves and fry over a medium heat until they get golden.
Toss in the escarole (careful… it might spit at you if it is still wet) and continue frying, stirring often. Escarole is almost all water, so don’t be surprised when it wilts down to about 10% of its original size during the frying process.
When the escarole has wilted down and is dark green in color add the beans, the can of chicken broth and a splash or two of white wine if using. Stir over a medium heat until it comes to a soft boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well, then reduce the heat to low. Cover, and keep warm until you’re ready to serve.
When you’re ready to serve, cut a 1 inch slice of bread for each person. Take that last clove of garlic and rub it on one side of each of the bread slices (as if the bread was a cheese grater).
Place the bread in the center of a shallow soup bowl; ladle the escarole and beans over top and serve hot. Top with grated Parmesan cheese, hot red pepper flakes, and anoint with a little drizzle of olive oil.
Serves a hefty 4. My cost Approx. $ 7.98 total – about $ 2.00 per serving – less than two dollars if we factor in leftovers.
*JTB – John The Baptist