Food and Fun The Sopranos Way
I know, I know, I am a little bit behind the times. The finale for The Sopranos has come and gone, but at our home, it has all just begun.
We have been devouring The Sopranos episodes via are mailbox and are understanding what the country’s obsession has been. Every time I watch it though I want a glass of wine and some baked ziti.
I wondered about Carmella’s food and Artie’s apparent culinary skills. Just what was in their “gravy”? I then thought, oh, these guys are clever, I bet that there is an answer….and there was.
The Sopranos Family Cookbook tells tales and presents dishes on one of New Jersey’s most famous “families”. From Publishers Weekly:
In what is quite possibly the most fun of all the Sopranos-themed titles being published in time for the show’s September return, this tongue-in-cheek cookbook brings homestyle Soprano family cooking to the table. Artie Bucco, the character (played by John Ventimiglia) who is the chef at the show’s Vesuvio restaurant, sets the tone of this book of insider “family” secrets by explaining his family’s move from Campania, Italy, to New Jersey, then turns to various Soprano characters. (A brief chapter on Neapolitan cooking is explained by the Newark Public Library’s Natalie del Greco, who offers recipes for a simple Marinara Sauce as well as a Sunday Gravy.) In a chapter entitled “The Soprano Family Tradition,” Bucco listens as Corrado Soprano Jr., or Uncle Jun’, reminisces about Newark’s Little Italy (which at one time felt like an “Italian Disneyland”) while whetting his appetite with thoughts of Pasta Fagiole and Panzerotti (Neapolitan Potato Croquettes). While the book’s conceit is playfully written by Rucker (The Sopranos: A Family History) in the voice of each character, the recipes, by Scicolone (Italian Holiday Cooking), are solid and honest-to-goodness Italian-American dishes. In a conversation with Bucco, Carmela Soprano reveals her Sicilian upbringing through such recipes as `Shcarole and Garlic (sauteed escarole), while scale-tipping Bobby Bacala pontificates on the importance of sweets and offers his own way to make Cannoli. Even the godfather himself, Tony Soprano, lectures on the art of the grill (fans will remember his BBQ panic attack). In the end, readers are left with a book-filled with stills from Soprano episodes-that is alternately enticing and wonderfully tacky, just like the Soprano family members themselves.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The reviews look good. It is entertaining and has some great recipes. You can find The Sopranos Family Cookbook at your local bookseller or at Amazon.
2 opinions for Food and Fun The Sopranos Way
Homemaking Around the Channel (July 31, 2007)
Jul 31, 2007 at 8:22 pm
[...] Sopranos Family Cookbook makes its appearance on Foodie [...]
Entertaining with Carmella Soprano
Aug 1, 2007 at 4:57 pm
[...] to be out done by The Soprano Family Cookbook, just in time to reach the masses before they had there big (or not so big) send off, Entertaining [...]
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