Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen
by Mark Strausman, Pino Luongo
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mark Strausman, Pino LuongoPhotographer: Christopher Hirsheimer
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-09-12
ISBN: 1579653456
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Artisan
Book Reviews of Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen
Book Review: Don't be fooled; these are fantastic chefs who care about 'home cooking'
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife worked for Pino Luongo for years and years.
Mark Strausman cooked our wedding dinner.
And now, burdened by this long collaboration and friendship, I'm going to try to convince you of a proposition you may find extremely unlikely: This is the most practical --- and certainly the most fun --- Italian cookbook out there.
Let's start with the fun. These guys, as the title almost suggests, are goofballs who will fight with one another over just about anything. Start with meatballs. Luongo insists they should be pan-fried in olive oil, "only occasionally served with tomato sauce and never on the same plate as spaghetti." Strausman wouldn't dream of cooking them that way. For him, meatballs are to be simmered in tomato sauce and invariably to be served over pasta.
And they have their reasons --- just ask them. In one of the dialogues that launch each section, Luongo and Strausman explore the philosophical depths of their disagreement. Here's a highly abridged version:
Strausman: I like the sense of abundance you get with a big, juicy meatball.
Luongo: But the proportion is all off.
Strausman: Is the dish too humble for you? Oh, I forgot: You were born in northern Italy, wearing an ascot.
Luongo: What you're talking about has no basis in Italian tradition.
Strausman: Meatballs are all about the meat. Italian-Americans came to this country with nothing, and as soon as they could afford to buy meat, however inexpensive, they created big, juicy meatballs.
Luongo: Yes, you put raw balls of meat into tomato sauce and cook them long enough to suck all the juices out of the meat.
Who wins? You do. "A cook-off is in order --- let the reader decide," Strausman proclaims. And so you can. And you can also go on to cook Mark's mom's meat loaf, Pino's meat loaf, Pino's fresh pasta with meatballs and mushrooms, Mark's turkey meatballs in spicy tomato sauce and Pino's meatballs with amaretti.
In short, two books in one.
Well, one, actually, for Pino Luongo and Mark Strausman are really brothers separated at birth. Luongo may be one of New York's most successful restaurateurs --- his establishments have included Le Madri, Coco Pazzo, Tuscan Square and Centolire --- but he remains the son of a loving Italian mother. Strausman may have been at the helm of some of Manhattan's most satisfying restaurant's --- he now is chef of Fred's at Barneys New York and Coco Pazzo --- but he too is a kid from the old neighborhood. It's just that Luongo's from Tuscany and Strausman's from a working-class neighborhood in Queens. One's tall, one's short. One's Catholic, one's Jewish. Otherwise, no difference.
What Luongo and Strausman agree on is all that ultimately matters: "The simplest food is best." That's why more than a third of this book is given over to pasta recipes --- hey, it's what you like. Fish? A few recipes, mostly for the grill. Meat? A hearty Tuscan pot roast, ribs (no baby back for Strausman!), even pork chops. There's an entire section on --- gasp! --- Italian-American cooking: veal and chicken parmigiana, sausage and peppers, the dishes you find on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Because Sunday is for family, there's a section on hearty meals. As a sop to modernity, there are nine vegetable recipes. And in the short dessert section, the range goes from "ugly but good" cookies to pears in vin santo with sweet polenta.
This is not, the authors emphasize, a book for readers. It's for daily cooks, people who need to set dinner on the table for their families. Old-fashioned? Try this: They see nothing wrong with serving chicken every Tuesday, pasta every Wednesday, just as it was when the authors were kids.
So okay, these are boys who never grew up. But they're hardly prisoners of their childhoods. They're keepers of the flame, protectors of the idea that "sometimes the best dish for the moment is the one that makes you forget about your problems and brings back happy memories of times past." Amen.
Summary of Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen
When two great chefs?buddies and business partners for twenty-odd years?decide to write a cookbook about the simple Italian food they love, you get decades of experience, sage advice, and wonderful recipes. And you also get a few great arguments thrown in along the way, as Pino and Mark debate the right way to make everything from meatballs to pot roast to eggplant parmigiana.Of course, the issue is not whose recipes are better?Pino and Mark would be first to praise each other's food. And it's not about a right or wrong way. It's about preferences in ingredients, technique, and approach.
Pino, a native of Tuscany cooking in America, is a purist. His food is grounded in tradition. Mark, a New Yorker, loves the Italian-American cooking he grew up with. Each has his favorite recipes (see back cover) and his own way, but they're bonded by a shared philosophy that the simplest food is the best, and a shared desire to please families, friends, and loyal customers with food that makes them happy.
So here are nearly 150 delicious recipes representing the best of Italian and Italian-American cooking from not one master but two, with text that teaches, dialogue that's lively, and photography that's gorgeous. There's no question about who reaps the rewards of their friendly competition?it's the reader, hands down. Whether you make...
- Pino's Oven-Braised Lamb and Artichokes with Oven-Roasted New Potatoes and Spring Onions or Mark's Braised Holiday Capon with Sweet Potatoes and Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Mark's Chopped Roman Salad or Pino's classic Caesar Salad
- Pino's Mushroom Risotto or Mark's Farro with Button Mushrooms, Cherry Tomatoes, and Goat Cheese
- Mark's Pears in Vin Santo with sweet Polenta or Pino's Neapolitan Cheesecake
...the end result is the same?unpretentious food that is timelessly pleasing. This is home cooking at its very best.
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