Monday in Amalfi

Slow Food, Fast Food

 

If America is the home of fast food, Italy is the home of slow food, a country where ninety-seven percent of the food consumed is not delivered from behind a counter less than five minutes after being ordered. Italians like home cooking, which is interesting because until the nineteenth century, women were not considered fit to prepare fine food. Misanthropic writers said women were dirty, lazy, drunken practitioners of witchcraft. Households where women did the cooking were poor households. In the kitchens of the rich, only the lowliest tasks were considered suitable for females.

But now every Italian male loves not only his mama, but his mama’s cooking, which features regional and traditional recipes made with the fresh products for which the various regions are famous or food products produced in small factories, for instance the dried pastas and canned San Marzano tomatoes of the Campania.

So what would an Italian choose instead of a fast-food hamburger? How about this very Italian hamburger patty? You could even put it on a round of toast grilled and drizzled with garlic olive oil.

A Hamburger in the Style of the Campania

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

• At a low heat in a small saucepan place 1/2 slice of crustless, white bread and 3 tablespoons milk. Cook gently until bread has absorbed milk. Mash to a pulp and allow to cool.

• Place 1 1/2 pounds ground beef into a bowl with the bread pulp and 1 beaten egg. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well and form 6 patties. Sprinkle 2/3 cup dry breadcrumbs on a plate and dredge patties thoroughly.

• Heat 1/4 inch vegetable oil in a large frying pan and fry patties 2 minutes on each side until brown. Transfer to a greased, ovenproof dish in a single layer.

• Slice 2 large beefsteak tomatoes, and lay a slice on each patty. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano, salt, and pepper. Cut one mozzarella cheese into 6 slices and put a slice on top of each tomato.

• Cut 6 drained, canned anchovies in half. Make a cross on top of each mozzarella slice with anchovy halves. (If you don’t like anchovies, use slices of sun-dried tomatoes or dot cheese with pesto. You could even form the crosses with strips of long green chiles that have been grilled and peeled.)

• Bake 10 to 15 minutes until cheese is melted. (If you want to, place the hamburgers on top of toast rounds drizzled with garlic olive oil and grilled.) Serve hot. Then enjoy your “slow food” Italian hamburger.

Carolyn Blue,
“Have Fork, Will Travel,”
Kansas City Star