La Genovese

It is no mystery for anyone: Neapolitans are big on pasta. They love pasta so much they've been called mangia maccheroni, maccheroni eaters, at least since the beginning of the XIX century. It's funny how this half statement-half insult has often become a way to refer in a defamatory way to Italians. Apart it being erroneous historically and socially -most Northern Italians ate very little durum pasta before WWII- it's kind of weird that a preference for a certain food should be used as an insult. I've been called this a few times here in Germany, mostly as a joke, a few times with the intention to insult me, but either way it always makes me smile. Me? Maccheroni eater? Sure, why not? Pass the pasta.

In my years in Naples I've learned you can make pasta with anything: vegetables, meat, fish, butter or oil alone or with cheese, and even sweet. The first pasta was probably cooked in milk and eaten with sugar and cinnamon. You just need to chose the right pasta type (and yes, you need all those shapes) and the proper cooking method and you'll have a tasty filling dish in the worst case and a delicious, happiness-tears-in-your-eyes one in the best. Even with so many dishes to chose from Neapolitans have their "holy trinity" of pasta sauces: pummarola, ragu' and genovese. Pummarola, simple tomato sauce, with no garlic or onion, just flavoured by basil, is the hardest of the three since it only tastes the way it should if made with the proper ripe tomatoes. Forget it otherwise. Ragu', from the French ragout, is actually a tomato based stew: the meat is eaten on the side and the cooking fond as pasta sauce. There are as many recipes for this as Neapolitan families. But my favourite is the third one: Genovese.

Genovese is, in a certain sense, quite similar to ragu': instead of the tomato base here there is a large amount of onions which are stewed with the meat. The other substantial difference is that while ragu' usually uses pork, genovese uses beef. But not always as you'll see. As for ragu' the stew "sauce" is used for pasta while the meat is eaten on its own.

A question that seems bound to remain unanswered is the one concerning where Genovese comes from. The name would indicate an origin in Genoa (Genova) and many authors stick to that. According to them the dish was either copied from a Neapolitan cook visiting Genoa or brought to Naples by a colony of Genoese inn-keepers. The only fault with this theory is that no such dish exist in the Genoese tradition. There might be a reference to this dish in a XIII century book, confirming the Genoese origin but the recipe found there is quite vague. Another idea is that a man, called Genovese, invented the dish. A third one states that actually Genovese is a modification of Genevoise, i.e. from Geneva: does the cuisine of the Swiss town have anything like this? I ignore it.

Genovese is one of those dishes that need time, three hours being the absolute minimum but probably between four and five, making it a classical home-cook dish but not too popular with restaurants. This at least was the situation a few years ago. If you wanted to taste a good genovese you had to get invited to a Neapolitan home since restaurants either didn't serve it or only knocked up a poor version. Then, as the Italian eating scene started realising that traditional cooking was something to be proud and not ashamed of, genovese started coming back. Today there's quite a few places serving a decent version. I often enjoyed the one made in the "Osteria della Mattonella" (Via Nicotera 13, Naples), a small, unpretentious establishment specialising in traditional fare. Still, I prefer to make my own.

Family recipes vary quite a bit in the ratio between meat and onions. Many use more meat,and prepare the dish essentially for the braised meat.  Since I actually make the dish mainly for the sauce, I usually go closer to a 1:1 ratio. Another point of discussion is weather to slice or finely chop the onions: since they should end up almost like a puree you might as well chop them finely with a food processor. That way you'll also avoid all onion induced the crying.

Most recipes use beef, often the flank or the round, but I've found pork to give even better results, usually I use a nice chunk of shoulder. The meat doesn't need to cook the whole time the sauce needs; once it is done it can be removed and set aside while the onion sauce cooks on till it reaches the proper color. The color, together with the degree to which the onions have cooked, is what indicates if the sauce is done.

The sauce should look a reddish amber colour, be quite thick and show almost no recognisable piece of onion, which should have more or less mashed into a puree during cooking. If everything has gone right you'll have an incredibly aromatic sauce, sweet and pungent from the onions, and flavoured from the meat, vegetables and herbs added. Intensly addictive for any onion lover. It's clearly no sauce for those with an easily upset stomach: the sauce is rich, warming, ideal for cold rainy days. The pasta used to go with the sauce is usually cut ziti, smooth penne and similar: in every case serve with loads of grated Parmesan Eat the meat the next day accompanied by a little sauce and greens.

Genovese
serves 4-6 as pasta sauce and main the next day (or during the same meal if you're THAT hungry)
For a long rainy day :-)

1 kg (2.2 lb) pork shoulder (or beef flank) in one piece, tied up to keep its shape, rubbed with salt
1 kg (2.2 lb) yellow or white onions, finely chopped or passed through a food processor
1 carrot, 1 stalk of celery and 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2-3 Tbs olive oil
1 glass white wine
1 tsp tomato concentrate
50 g (1.7 oz) finely chopped prosciutto or pancetta (or a mix of these two plus salame)
and... patience

Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the oil, prosciutto, carrot, celery and garlic. Once the vegetables start turning soft add the onions. Cook till they're starting to softening up than add meat and slightly increase the flame. Seal the outside of the meat then reduce the heat again.

Dissolve the tomato concentrate in half a glass of water, add to the pot. Reduce heat to low or till the liquid in the pan simmers, cover the pot and let cook for an hour, stirring occasionally. After one hour add the wine, cover again, and let cook another hour. If during these first two hours the contents of the pan should start sticking add a bit of water to keep the onions moist.

After this second hour of cooking uncover the pot,slightly increase the heat under the genovese and let cook, stirring from time to time. Check the meat, it will probably need more time to be done but you never know.When the meat is ready, keep checking from time to time, remove and set aside.

The sauce should now really just simmer so that it slowly concentrates while at the same time cooking the onions further. After another hour, during which you'll have stirred the sauce from time to time, check the colour and the consistency of the sauce. The colour should be an amber-reddish one and the onions should practically melt in your mouth. If your sauce is not there yet keep simmering it.

The entire cooking time might take between 3 1/2 and 5 hours. Use the sauce for short pasta like penne and serve the meat, sliced thinly, with a little bit of sauce and a salad or better some greens.

Comments

[Derrick Schneider]

Culinary preferences actually make some sense as insults (if one wishes to insult another culture), since they are both (seemingly) iconic of the one group and alien to the other.

Some others that come to mind:
Germans were Krauts in the U.S. until fairly recently (presumably from sauerkraut).

The English are still often called Limeys (from the limes they took on their ships to prevent scurvy).

The French are often known as Frogs, and this is still used often.

[Deb]

Hi Alberto-
The sauce Genovese sauce looks and sounds terrific, but what I am really interested in is the Pummarola. Now that sounds fabulous. Do restaurants normally serve that or is that more of a home style dish?

Off subject: I've emailed you a couple of times but I'm a little unsure if you recieved them. Mainly I'm concerned that you don't think I was ignoring your emails. I'll try resending.

[Alberto]

Derrick, interesting examples. I didn't know the Limey one. The point you make about why food is used as an insult is very good. Still I can't see why I should feel offended if I'm called maccaroni or similar, apart for the fact that that name is clearly used to offend. I find it a bit silly. But I guess all racist insults are, after all.

Deb: Hope you got my reply, I did get your mails. Regarding Pummarola: it's mostly a home style dish because very few restaurants take the bother to do such an "easy" dish. Doesn't sell. There's one or two places in Naples that still serve this but I never tried since during the time I lived in Naples I always managed to get a taste at friends' places or at home.

[Adam]

Im glad that Pasta Genovese is being talked about. The first time I tried it was in a wondefully unpretentious restaurant called Buon Gustaio which is in the Pignasecca district of Napoli.

The sauce is absolutely wonderful and it seems strange that it is not particularly well known. The restaurant mentioned above is absolutely worth a visit. There are no menus as the waiter simply tells you what there is (however, Pasta Genovese is always there) There arent even any prices, they just decide roughly what you should pay, fantastic!

[Alberto]

Adam thanks for the tip about Buon Gustaio, I'll have to give it a try next time. If you're ever in Naples again, try Osteria della Mattonella too. It's on Ponte di Chiaia not far away from Piazza Plebiscito and serves simple traditional fare, genovese and ragù are always there.

I think one of the reason why the sauce is not so popular is the time neede to cook it. It's one of those dishes that are out of fashion today, especially in restaurants, and it is really a pity.

[Elizabeth]

A pity, indeed, since this is a wonderful new discovery. I'll have to try pork next time as per your suggestion. However, I was reassured by the amount of time you specify for braising, finding my recipe's recommendations inadequate. The explicit description of desired color and texture of the sauce are another strength of this entry. Caramelized onions flavored by white wine and beef are a real pleasure. I wonder where the French got the idea for adding cheese and starch to the beefy broth of their onion soup. Hmmm...