A “chicken in every pot” is one political promise that has come all too true, at least in the United States, where chicken is about the cheapest protein going except for eggs. Chicken, achingly available in every place and season, is no longer universally regarded as a treat. To many, it’s more of a duty — either to waistline or bottom line.
Mussels are another local glory found on local menus. At Bobby Van’s, they are served “mariniere” (simply steamed in wine and herbs) year-round. But there are so many ways to serve these cheap, easily cooked shellfish: cold as a first course with various sauces or in soups or hot entrees.
The Neapolitan pie, hardly known in this country before the 1930s, must certainly have overtaken the hot dog as the nation’s number one favorite snack food. According to scholarly research conducted in the ’50s by the lat Richard Gehman, one Frank Mastro from Bari (not Naples) is credited with popularizing pizza outside the Italian neighborhoods in New York.
A few herbs, some good oil or butter, a tin of anchovies, salty cured black olives from Europe, tins of plain, unadorned whole tomatoes (until our own great ones come along in late July), a chunk of Parmesan — these are a few essentials to keep in the store cupboard and fridge during houseguest season. Pasta, which can be stored indefinitely either frozen or dry, seems to me one of the most suitable and least painful ways of dealing with unplanned meals.
