Picture it. Carmela's had a busy housewifey morning hiding a dozen wads of big bills she's just lifted from the locked bird feed container. Meadow and A. J. come in from playing with their little chums and want some sandwiches. They're just kids from Jersey, for cryin' out loud. Jersey. The good old U.S.A.
What's more American than a cheese sandwich?
Okay. According to Entertaining with The Sopranos, Carmela uses mozzarella. Understandable. It's always in the fridge. She dips each sandwich on both sides first in milk, then in flour and finally in beaten eggs before frying them. Yeah, she would. She cuts the sandwiches into quarters on the diagonal. Okay, some kids are picky. Carmela places the quarters, overlapping slightly, on a warm serving platter. Then she tops the sandwiches with a lemon anchovy sauce and some parsley. Give me a break.
And you wonder why Meadow and A. J. turned out like they did?
Right off the bat, no, Ma did not make grilled cheese sandwiches. We had cheese sandwiches, sure, but the bread was as it was fresh from the bread bag. If we wanted them hot, we toasted the bread before we made our sandwiches.
But, thanks to the melting pot that College Point was, I had a grilled cheese sandwich. I'd been playing at a friend's house and we were hungry. My pal's Mom was from England and they like to fry things over there. Okay by me. It smelled great and was delicious. It was a little greasy.
So, I asked for a savetta.
One of the problems with being an immigrant is that English is a second language. And sometimes English gets splashes of the first language on it, like the lemon anchovy sauce on Carmela's sandwiches.
When asking for the savetta got a blank stare, I did some miming and was given a savetta. I was told it was called a napkin in English. Okay.
About a decade later, I immigrated to Canada. I was helping a friend set the table and asked her to give me the napkins for the table. My friend looked shocked. In Canada a savetta is called a serviette. A napkin is a personal feminine item. Okay.
English. Gotta love it.
I now carry travel wipes.
The Mozzarella in Carozza. I don't think so.
Another recipe down. Sixty more to go.
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